Graham's Magazine, Vol. XLI, No. 5, November 1852Various
General
Graham's Magazine, Vol. XLI, No. 5, November 1852
Various
Literature -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals
cool, furnishing a cast of the patterns desired, in the form of upright
thorns or spikes on a metallic ground or plate. These plates are filed
smooth at the back, and fixed on wood, and you have the blocks ready to
print from; one representing one color, another another, and so on, till
the plates for a single shawl of many colors may mount up in value to a
very large sum.
Before printing, the fabric has been well washed; the barège being
passed, by machinery, over cylinders which apply and squeeze out a wash
of soap, soda, and glue. All roughness had previously been removed by a
“cropping” machine. After drying, it comes to the printing-table, where
it is treated much like a paper-hanging. This is all very well; but what
is to be done in case of a shower of rain? a not improbable incident in
the life of a shawl. A paper-hanging would not stand a driving rain. Are
ladies imposed upon in this matter, when they are offered a gay-printed
shawl as wearable out of doors? By no means. Nobody knows how it is, but
the fact is certain, that a good steaming, at a tremendous heat, fixes
the colors by some chemical action, without in the least hurting their
lustre: so the shawls go into the steaming-box, and come out of it able
to bear as many washings as you please, without any change of color.
After drying, in a heat of one hundred and ten degrees, they go up
stairs to be surveyed, fringed, folded and pressed.
It seems a pity that the fat, easy, lazy Bokharian, and the slim, lithe,
patient Hindoo, should not come to Paisley, and see how shawls are made
there. To the one, shaving his camel on the plain, and the other,
throwing his antique shuttle under the palm, how strange would be the
noise, and the stench, and the speed, and the numbers employed, and the
amount of production! To the one, it may be the work of years to furnish
to the traveling merchant strips of eight inches wide, enough to make a
shawl; and to the other, the production of such an article is an event
in life; while here, at Paisley, if the pattern requires months, the
weaving of the most genuine and valuable kind occupies only a week. We
do not believe that the simple and patient Oriental will be driven out
of the market by us, because there is no promise, at present, of our
overtaking their excellence. We hope there will be room in the world of
fashion for them and us forever--(the “forever” of that world.) We shall
not go back to their methods, and it is not very likely that they should
come up to ours; so we shall probably each go on in our own way, which
is what everybody likes best.
* * * * *
=AMONG THE MOORS.=
=THE LEGEND OF THE CASTLE.=
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account