Finished!

[justawench]

I have officially printed, cut, sorted, and tallied the fabrics in the V&A bed hanging. To recap for those not following my boring posts, the V&A Museum has a set of ca. 1730-1750 pieced bed hangings made of thousands of scraps of printed fabrics. They have graciously made high resolution photos available on their website of one of the panels. The

Comments

[virginiadear]

Please don't write that these entries of yours are boring, not even in jest; I'm someone who often doesn't respond to such entries because I'm never sure what to say.
I want not to weary you with a load of questions, but I know I can't say much that's informed or even vaguely intelligent so I try to remember to take my cue from Mr. Lincoln: "It's better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."

But I do have questions! At least, I think I have.
"...[N]o one-step green in the 18th century:" does that mean for printing cotton or linen, or does that mean "not at all, not ever, not for printing or dyeing silks or woolens, either?"

I know you're talking about printing, but the printing is done with dyes, yes, and not with "inks?" ---because there's something racing around in my mind about how many different and surprising, unsuspected colors which can be obtained from milkweed, but those are for dyeing and probably only for dyeing wool, at that. (8^(

[justawench]

I really can't speak to dyeing silk or wool because I haven't studied that at all. I have read that it was possible to dye olive (though I don't remember the source specifying how) but as for other shades there is nary a mention that I can remember. Every text emphasizes how green was made from indigo and a yellow (usually weld) dye and that a single-step green was sought for decades, into the 19th century.

The printing is done with mordants for the most part. The mordant must be applied to the fabric and aged in order to create a bond with the dyestuff, otherwise it's not fast. Pigment inks couldn't survive laundering, and the ability to launder was the printed cotton's main selling point.

I appreciate your questions because it makes me think about it more and work out *why* rather than just accepting what I read!

[virginiadear]

So it's not unbearably annoying, then? I'd hate to...annoy any of my LJ friends.

[justawench]

Of course not! I wouldn't post if I didn't want responses. :)

[bauhausfrau]

[heidilea]

This is so cool. I do not have much to say at this time, but I'm really interested to see what else you are able to find out from this.