![Calico Sample](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Calico_Sample.JPG)
Calico (; in British usage since 1505) is a heavy
plain-woven textile
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
made from unbleached, and often not fully processed,
cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
. It may also contain unseparated husk parts. The fabric is far coarser than
muslin
Muslin () is a cotton fabric of plain weave. It is made in a wide range of weights from delicate sheers to coarse sheeting. It gets its name from the city of Mosul, Iraq, where it was first manufactured.
Muslin of uncommonly delicate handsp ...
, but less coarse and thick than
canvas
Canvas is an extremely durable plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, shelters, as a support for oil painting and for other items for which sturdiness is required, as well as in such fashion objects as handbags ...
or
denim
Denim is a sturdy cotton warp-faced textile in which the weft passes under two or more warp threads. This twill weaving produces a diagonal ribbing that distinguishes it from cotton duck. While a denim predecessor known as dungaree has been pr ...
. However, it is still very cheap owing to its unfinished and undyed appearance.
The fabric was originally from the city of
Calicut
Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...
in southwestern
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. It was made by the traditional weavers called
cāliyans. The raw fabric was dyed and printed in bright hues, and
calico prints became popular in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
.
History
Origins
Calico originated in
Calicut
Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...
, from which the name of the textile came, in
South India
South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...
, now
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
, during the 11th century,
[ where the cloth was known as "chaliyan". It was mentioned in Indian literature by the 12th century when the ]polymath
A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...
and writer Hemachandra
Hemachandra was a 12th century () Indian Jain saint, scholar, poet, mathematician, philosopher, yogi, grammarian, law theorist, historian, lexicographer, rhetorician, logician, and prosodist. Noted as a prodigy by his contemporaries, he gain ...
described calico fabric prints with a lotus design.[''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (2008)]
"calico"
Calico was woven using Gujarati cotton from Surat
Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...
for both the warp and weft
Warp and weft are the two basic components used in weaving to turn thread or yarn into fabric. The lengthwise or longitudinal warp yarns are held stationary in tension on a frame or loom while the transverse weft (sometimes woof) is drawn ...
. By the 15th century, calico from Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
made its appearance in Cairo, then capital of the Egypt Eyalet
The Eyalet of Egypt (, ) operated as an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire from 1517 to 1867. It originated as a result of the conquest of Mamluk Egypt by the Ottomans in 1517, following the Ottoman–Mamluk War (1516–17) and the a ...
under the Ottoman Empire.[ Trade with Europe followed from the 17th century onwards.][
]
Politics of cotton in the British Empire
In the 18th century, England was famous for its woollen
Woolen (American English) or woollen (Commonwealth English) is a type of yarn made from carded wool. Woolen yarn is soft, light, stretchy, and full of air. It is thus a good insulator, and makes a good knitting yarn. Woolen yarn is in contrast t ...
and worsted cloth. That industry, centered in the east and south in towns such as Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
, jealously protected their product. Cotton processing was tiny: in 1701 only of cottonwool was imported into England, and by 1730 this had fallen to . This was due to commercial legislation to protect the woollen industry. Cheap calico prints, imported by the East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
from Hindustān (India), had become popular. In 1700 an Act of Parliament
Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...
passed to prevent the importation of dyed or printed calicoes from India, China or Persia. This caused demand to switch to imported grey cloth instead—calico that had not been finished—dyed or printed. These were printed with popular patterns in southern England. Also, Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
businessmen produced grey cloth with linen warp and cotton weft, known as fustian
Fustian is a variety of heavy cloth woven from cotton, chiefly prepared for menswear. It is also used figuratively to refer to pompous, inflated or pretentious writing or speech, from at least the time of Shakespeare. This literary use is beca ...
, which they sent to London for finishing.[ Cottonwool imports recovered though, and by 1720 were almost back to their 1701 levels. ]Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...
woollen manufacturers claimed that the imports were taking jobs away from their workers. The Woollen, etc., Manufactures Act 1720 was passed, enacting fines against anyone caught wearing printed or stained calico muslins. Neckcloths and fustians were exempted. The Lancashire manufacturers exploited this exemption; coloured cotton weft
Warp and weft are the two basic components used in weaving to turn thread or yarn into fabric. The lengthwise or longitudinal warp yarns are held stationary in tension on a frame or loom while the transverse weft (sometimes woof) is draw ...
with linen
Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant.
Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...
warp were specifically permitted by the 1736 Manchester Act.
In 1764, of cottonwool was imported. This change in consumption patterns, as a result of the restriction on imported finished goods, was a key part of the process that reduced the Indian economy from sophisticated textile production to the mere supply of raw materials. These events occurred under colonial rule, which started after 1757, and were described by Nehru
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat—
*
*
*
* and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...
and also some more recent scholars as "de-industrialization".
Calico printing
Early Indian chintz
Chintz () is a woodblock printed, painted, stained or glazed calico textile that originated in Golconda (present day Hyderabad, India) in the 16th century. The cloth is printed with designs featuring flowers and other patterns in different colou ...
, that is, glazed calico with a large floral pattern, was primarily produced using painting techniques.[Turnbull, ''A History of Calico Printing in Great Britain'', 1951.] Later, the hues were applied by wooden blocks, and the cloth manufacturers in Britain printed calico using wooden block printing. Calico printers at work are depicted in one of the stained glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
windows made by Stephen Adam for the Maryhill Burgh Halls
Maryhill Burgh Halls is a local heritage site located in the Maryhill area of Glasgow, a few miles North-West of Glasgow city centre. Maryhill Burgh Halls was initially opened in 1878 as a municipal building complex, which served as a police stat ...
, Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
. Confusingly, linen and silk printed this way were known as ''linen calicoes'' and ''silk calicoes''. Early European calicoes (1680) were cheap plain weave
Plain weave (also called tabby weave, linen weave or taffeta weave) is the most basic of three fundamental types of textile weaving, weaves (along with satin weave and twill). It is strong and hard-wearing, and is used for fashion and furnishin ...
white cotton fabric, or cream or unbleached cotton, with a design block-printed using a single alizarin dye fixed with two mordants, giving a red and black pattern. Polychromatic prints were possible, using two sets of blocks and an additional blue dye. The Indian taste was for dark printed backgrounds, while the European market preferred a pattern on a cream base. As the century progressed the European preference moved from the large chintz patterns to smaller, tighter patterns.[
Thomas Bell patented a printing technique in 1783 that used copper rollers. In 1785, ]Livesey, Hargreaves and Company
Livesey, Hargreaves and Company was an English business involved in the textile industry during the late 18th century.
Business
The company took a lead in the mechanisation of printing cloth using a process that had been developed by Thom ...
put the first machine that used this technique into operation in Walton-le-Dale, Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
. The production volume for printed cloth in Lancashire in 1750 was estimated at 50,000 pieces of ; in 1850, it was 20,000,000 pieces.[ The commercial method of calico printing using engraved rollers was invented in 1821 in ]New Mills
New Mills is a town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England, south-east of Stockport and from Manchester at the confluence of the River Goyt and Sett. It is close to the border with Cheshire and above the Torrs, a deep gorge cut thro ...
, Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
, in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. John Potts of Potts, Oliver and Potts used a copper-engraved master to produce rollers to transfer the inks. After 1888, block printing was only used for short-run specialized jobs. After 1880, profits from printing fell due to overcapacity
Capacity utilization or capacity utilisation is the extent to which a firm or nation employs its installed productive capacity. It is the relationship between output that ''is'' produced with the installed equipment, and the potential output whic ...
and the firms started to form combines. In the first, three Scottish firms formed the United Turkey Red Co. Ltd in 1897, and the second, in 1899, was the much larger Calico Printers' Association
The Calico Printers' Association Ltd was a British textile company founded in 1899, from the amalgamation of 46 textile printing companies and 13 textile merchants. The industry had prospered in the latter half of the 19th century but the fierce ...
46 printing concerns and 13 merchants combined, representing 85% of the British printing capacity. Some of this capacity was removed and in 1901 Calico had 48% of the printing trade. In 1916, they and the other printers formed and joined a trade association, which then set minimum prices for each 'price section' of the industry.
The trade association remained in operation until 1954, when the arrangement was challenged by the government Monopolies Commission
The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competition regulator under t ...
. Over the intervening period much trade had been lost overseas.
Terminology
In the UK, Australia and New Zealand:
*Calico – simple, cheap equal weft and warp plain weave fabric in white, cream or unbleached cotton
*Calico bag - a bag made of calico used by banks and other financial institutions
*Muslin
Muslin () is a cotton fabric of plain weave. It is made in a wide range of weights from delicate sheers to coarse sheeting. It gets its name from the city of Mosul, Iraq, where it was first manufactured.
Muslin of uncommonly delicate handsp ...
– a very fine, light plain weave cotton fabric
*Muslin gauze – US: muslin – simple, cheap equal weft and warp plain weave fabric in white, cream or unbleached cotton and/or a very fine, light plain weave cotton fabric
*Gauze – extremely soft and fine cotton fabric with a very open plain weave
*Cheesecloth – US: gauze – any very light fabric, generally with a plain weave
*Tote Bag - sometimes made of calico
In the US:
*Calico – cotton fabric with a small, all-over floral print[Kadolph, Sara J., ed. (2007) ''Textiles'', 10th ed., p. 463, Pearson/Prentice-Hall ]
*Muslin – UK: muslin gauze – simple, cheap equal weft and warp plain weave fabric in white, cream or unbleached cotton and/or a very fine, light plain weave cotton fabric
*Muslin gauze – the very lightest, most open weave of muslin
*Gauze
Gauze is a thin, translucent fabric with a loose open weave. In technical terms "gauze" is a weave structure in which the weft yarns are arranged in pairs and are crossed before and after each warp yarn keeping the weft firmly in place. ...
– UK: cheesecloth – any very light fabric, generally with a plain weave
*Cheesecloth
Cheesecloth is a loose-woven gauze-like carded cotton cloth used primarily in cheesemaking and cooking.
Grades
Cheesecloth is available in at least seven different grades, from open to extra-fine weave. Grades are distinguished by the numbe ...
– extremely soft and fine cotton fabric with a very open plain weave
Printed calico was imported into the United States from Lancashire in the 1780s, and here a linguistic separation occurred. While Europe maintained the word calico for the fabric, in the States it was used to refer to the printed design.[
These colourful, small-patterned printed fabrics gave rise to the use of the word calico to describe a cat coat colour: ]calico cat
A calico cat is a domestic cat of any breed with a tri-color coat. The calico cat is most commonly thought of as being typically 25% to 75% white with large orange and black patches (or sometimes cream and grey patches, which is called a mu ...
. The patterned fabric also gave its name to two species of North American crabs; see Ovalipes ocellatus
''Ovalipes ocellatus'', known as the lady crab, is a species of crab from eastern North America. Other names for it include the leopard crab or Atlantic leopard crab due to the leopard-like rosette patterns on its shell, the calico crab (not to b ...
.
See also
*Bafta cloth
Bafta (baft, baftae, bath, bufta or bafetta) is a kind of calico, initially made in India.
Characteristics
Bafta is a coarse, cheap woven material made in long, narrow pieces, chiefly of cotton. It has a closed plain weave structure, and has be ...
*Calico Acts
The Calico Acts (1700, 1721) banned the import of most cotton textiles into England, followed by the restriction of sale of most cotton textiles. It was a form of economic protectionism, largely in response to India (particularly Bengal), which dom ...
*Calico cat
A calico cat is a domestic cat of any breed with a tri-color coat. The calico cat is most commonly thought of as being typically 25% to 75% white with large orange and black patches (or sometimes cream and grey patches, which is called a mu ...
*Calico (goldfish)
Calico goldfish are goldfish of any breed that have a type of scale that is intermediate between the metallic type of scales and the transparent type. These scales have a slight sheen that produces a pearly appearance."An Interpet Guide to Fancy ...
*Calico Jack
John Rackham (26 December 168218 November 1720), commonly known as Calico Jack, was an English pirate captain operating in the Bahamas and in Cuba during the early 18th century. His nickname was derived from the calico clothing that he wore, whil ...
*Piecegoods
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
References
External links
*
*
* Charles O'Neill (1869
''A dictionary of dyeing and calico printing''
- digital facsimile from the Linda Hall Library
The Linda Hall Library is a privately endowed American library of science, engineering and technology located in Kansas City, Missouri, sitting "majestically on a urban arboretum." It is the "largest independently funded public library of scien ...
* William Crookes (1874
''A practical handbook of dyeing and calico-printing''
Illustrated with period fabric swatches. - digital facsimile from the Linda Hall Library
* Baba Gee Calico Printin
''A calico Printing store''
where design fabric with calico technique.
* Deazley, R. (2008) ‘Commentary on the Calico Printers' Act 1787', in Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschme
{{Authority control
History of Kerala
Woven fabrics
Indian inventions
History of Kozhikode
Economy of Kozhikode
Cotton industry in India