DAMASK

This article appears in Volume V07, Page 786 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: DAH-DEM

DAMASK , the technical term applied to certain distinct types of fabric. The term owes its origin to the ornamental silk fabrics of Damascus, fabrics which were elaborately woven in colours, sometimes with the addition of gold and other metallic threads. At the present day it denotes a linen texture richly figured in the weaving with

flowers

FLOWERS, ARTIFICIAL

, fruit, forms of animal life, and other types of ornament. " China, no doubt," says Dr Rock (Catalogue of Textile Fabrics, Victoria and Albert Museum), "was the first country to ornament its silken webs with a pattern. India, Persia, and Syria, then Byzantine

Greece

GREECE

followed, but at long intervals between, in China's footsteps. Stuffs so figured brought with them to the West the name ` diaspron ' or diaper, bestowed upon them at Constantinople. But about the 12th century the city of Damascus, even then long celebrated for its looms, so far outstripped all other places for beauty of

design

DESIGN (Fr. desiin, drawing; Lat. designare, to mark out)

, that her silken textiles were in demand everywhere; and thus, as often happens, traders fastened the name of damascen or damask upon every silken fabric richly wrought and curiously designed, no matter whether it came or not from Damascus." The term is perhaps now best known in reference to damask table-cloths, a
species of figured cloth usually of flax or tow yarns, but sometimes made partly of

cotton

. The finer qualities are made of the best linen yarn, and, although the latter is of a brownish colour during the weaving processes, the ultimate fabric is pure white. The high lights in these cloths are obtained by long floats of warp and weft, and, as these are set at right angles, they reflect the light differently according to the angle of the rays of light; the effect changes also with the position of the observer. Subdued effects are produced by shorter floats of yarn, and sometimes by

special

SPECIAL

weaves. Any subject, however intricate, can be copied by this method of weaving, provided that expense is no object. The finest results are obtained when the so-called

double

damask weaves are used. These weaves are shown under DIE, and it will be seen that each weave gives a maximum

float

FLOAT (in O. Eng. floc and flota, in the verbal form f eotan; the Teutonic root is flut-, another form of flu-, seen in " flow," cf. " fleet "; the root is seen in Gr. a-M e, to sail, Lat. pluere, to rain; the Lat, fluere and fluctus, wave, is not connect

of seven threads. (In some

special

SPECIAL

cases a weave is used which gives a

float

FLOAT (in O. Eng. floc and flota, in the verbal form f eotan; the Teutonic root is flut-, another form of flu-, seen in " flow," cf. " fleet "; the root is seen in Gr. a-M e, to sail, Lat. pluere, to rain; the Lat, fluere and fluctus, wave, is not connect

of nine.) The small figure here shown to illustrate a small section of a damask

design

DESIGN (Fr. desiin, drawing; Lat. designare, to mark out)

is composed of the two single damask weaves; these give a maximum float of four threads or picks. No shading is shown in the design, and this for two reasons(r) the single damask weaves do not permit of elaborate shading, although some very good effects are obtain-able; (2) the available space is not sufficiently large to show the method to advantage. The different single damask weaves used
in the shading of these
cloths appear, however,
at the bottom of the
figure, while between
these and the design
proper there is an illus-
tration of the thirty-first
pick interweaving with all
the

forty

FORTY

-eight threads.
The principal British
centres for fine damasks
are Belfast and Dunferm-
line, while the medium
qualities are made in
several places in Ireland,
in a few places in England, and in the counties of
Fife, Forfar and Perth in

Scotland

Cotton

COTTON
COTTON (Fr. coton; from Arab. qutun)
COTTON, CHARLES (163o–1687)
LYNCH
- LYNCH, PATRICIO (1825–1886)
_181.html">COTTON, GEORGE EDWARD LYNCH (1813–1866)
COTTON, JOHN (1585–1652)
COTTON, SIR ROBERT BRUCE

damasks, which are made
in Paisley, Glasgow, and several places in Lancashire, are used for toilet covers, table-cloths, and similar purposes. They are often ornamented with colours and sent to the Indian and West Indian markets. Silk damasks for curtains and upholstery decoration are made in the silk-weaving centres.

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