Mockado

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Mockado (also moquette, [1] moucade) is a woollen pile fabric made in imitation of silk velvet from the mid-sixteenth century. [2] [3] [4] Mockado was usually constructed with a woollen pile on a linen or worsted wool warp and woollen weft, although the ground fabric could be any combination of wool, linen, and silk. Mockado was used for furnishings and carpeting, and also for clothing such as doublets, farthingales, and kirtles. [3] [5] [6]

Mockado was introduced to England from Flanders in the mid-sixteenth century. Dutch and Walloon weavers fleeing Spanish rule in the Low Countries were creating mockadoes and other fabrics combining silk and linen with combed woollens in the weaving center of Norwich by 1571. Varieties included plain, with an even pile, and "tuft" or voided mockado. Mockadoes were woven in solid or changeable colours, and were sometimes stamped with patterns in imitation of more expensive Utrecht velvets [3] [6] [7] Mockado was always a rough fabric, and by the 1580s, the term "mockado" was synonymous with "inferior" or "tawdry". [3] In discussing the old English tradition of new clothes at Easter, folklorist Peter Opie cites Thomas Lodge's 1596 pamphlet Wits Miserie :

"The farmer that was contented in times past with his Russet Frocke & Mockado sleeues, now sels a Cow against Easter to buy him silken geere for his Credit". [8]

In the seventeenth century, the term mockado ends was used for a wool yarn, probably a worsted yarn similar to crewel yarn of that period, likely used for embroidery and making braids and fringes. [3]

Mockadoes continued in use for furnishings such as wall hangings, chair covers, and stools, as well as carpeting. A patent was issued in England in 1741 for a "new invention of making carpeting commonly called French carpeting or Moccadoes and in France moucades or moquets." [4]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tufting</span>

Tufting is a type of textile manufacturing in which a thread is inserted on a primary base. It is an ancient technique for making warm garments, especially mittens. After the knitting is done, short U-shaped loops of extra yarn are introduced through the fabric from the outside so that their ends point inwards.

In the context of materials, stuff can refer to any manufactured material. This is illustrated from a quote by Sir Francis Bacon in his 1658 publication New Atlantis: "Wee have also diverse Mechanicall Arts, which you have not; And Stuffes made by them; As Papers, Linnen, Silks, Tissues; dainty Works of Feathers of wonderfull Lustre; excellent Dies, and many others." In Coventry, those completing seven-year apprenticeships with stuff merchants were entitled to become freemen of the city.

The manufacture of textiles is one of the oldest of human technologies. To make textiles, the first requirement is a source of fiber from which a yarn can be made, primarily by spinning. The yarn is processed by knitting or weaving, which turns yarn into cloth. The machine used for weaving is the loom. For decoration, the process of colouring yarn or the finished material is dyeing. For more information of the various steps, see textile manufacturing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Units of textile measurement</span> Systems for measuring textiles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nap (fabric)</span> Raised fibers on the surface of a textile, or the directionality of such a raised surface

Primarily, nap is the raised (fuzzy) surface on certain kinds of cloth, such as velvet or moleskin. Nap can refer additionally to other surfaces that look like the surface of a napped cloth, such as the surface of a felt or beaver hat.

Textile manufacturing is one of the oldest human activities. The oldest known textiles date back to about 5000 B.C. In order to make textiles, the first requirement is a source of fibre from which a yarn can be made, primarily by spinning. The yarn is processed by knitting or weaving to create cloth. The machine used for weaving is the loom. Cloth is finished by what are described as wet process to become fabric. The fabric may be dyed, printed or decorated by embroidering with coloured yarns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caffoy</span> Furnishing material

Caffoy was a cut pile woolen velvet material popular for upholstery. It was a decorative textile characterized by its wool pile designs, which were designed to imitate the appearance of silk velvets and damasks. It was originally made from wool and was used to imitate silk furnishing damasks. However, in the 16th century, it may have also been made from silk. Norwich, a major center for worsted weaving, was a major producer of caffoy. In 1579, it was featured alongside other contemporary fabrics such as Darnex, Mockado, and figure-sized Russel in a pageant commemorating the queen's visit to Norwich. Caffoy was` popular during the 17th and early 18th centuries.

References

  1. Moquette has the connotation of a woolen mixture commonly used for carpeting and upholstery.
  2. Jenkins, David, ed. (2003). The Cambridge History of Western Textiles. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 434. ISBN   0-521-34107-8.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Dictionary of Traded Goods and Commodities, 1550-1820". 2007. Retrieved 11 April 2010..
  4. 1 2 Montgomery, Florence M. (2007). Textiles in America, 1650-1870: a dictionary based on original documents (2nd ed.). W. W. Norton. p. 295. ISBN   978-0-393-73224-5.
  5. Mikhaila, Ninya; Jane Malcolm-Davies (2006). The Tudor Tailor. London: Batsford. p. 37. ISBN   0-7134-8985-5.
  6. 1 2 Montgomery (2007) pp. xiv-xv
  7. Kerridge, Eric (1988). Textile Manufactures in Early Modern England. Manchester University Press. p. 68. ISBN   9780719017674.
  8. Opie, Peter (1964). "Proposals for a Dictionary, Arranged on Historical Principles, of English Traditional Lore". Folklore. 75 (2): 79. doi:10.1080/0015587X.1964.9716951.