18th Century Cotton Printed Fabrics
Chintz | 18th Century Cotton Prints
Chintz
Chintz (from the Hindi word chint, meaning to sprinkle or spray) were made using a multi-step process involving painting, resist dyeing, and mordant dyeing. A final finish was applied by burnishing with shells or beaten with a mallet to give them a shiny surface.
Both in America and Europe but especially in Britain and the Netherlands chintz fabric from India soon became the craze from gentry to servants after their first introduction in the 17th century. The glazed and printed cotton was a favorite long into the 19th century until the cheaper machine made copies replaced the hand painted cloth from India. In the 17th century it was used at first for bed hangings and bedcovers of the gentry then when worn out reused for clothing the children of the lower sorts. But the bright colors of the beautiful prints were soon being used for linings and later into women's jackets, skirts, and gowns and men's banyans and enjoyed by all economic classes. Much of what is written here is summarized from the book Chintz: Indian Textiles for the West by Rosemary Crill.
The Dutch Chintz is made closely to the originals including the light glazing. The less expensive Williamsburg chintz style cloth is representative of the designs and colors of historic prints and does not have the glaze.
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Williamsburg Small Sprigs
44" wide $8.50/yd.
 Just in time for Christmas!
Williamsburg small sprigs is a simple repeat of a vine of sprigs on a creamy ground. This has the same repeat as Williamsburg brown below and is inspired from a chintz in the Collonial Williamsburg collection from 1730 to 1800.
Chintz was often used to make men's banyans, women's gowns and jackets during the the second half of the 18th century. For example in The Pennsylvania Gazette of 1782 "Run Away . . . in the . . . State of New Jersey . . . a Negroe Wench . . . of a yellow complexion, something like an Indian: Had on a light chintz gown" which is included in Wenches, Wives and Servant Girls. Ivory linen thread 80/3 is a good match for hand sewing.
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Williamsburg Brown
44" wide $8.50/yd.
Now in stock!
Brown chintz fabric makes a very different look although not common they are found. This chintz has the same repeat as Williamsburg small sprigs above. Chintz fabric found its way into the clothing of all economic classes toward the end of the 18th century such as the gown in The New Jersey Journal of 1781 "Ran away . . . a Negro Wench . . . had on or took with her a dark brown chintz gown" as cited in Wenches, Wives and Servant Girls. This could also be used to make a women's jacket or a man's banyan. Brown linen thread 80/3 is a good match for hand sewing.
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Williamsburg White
44" wide $8.50/yd.
Now in stock!
Williamsburg white is a relatively simple repeat of a flowered branch surrounded by sprigs on a creamy ground. This has the same repeat as Williamsburg red below and is inspired from a chintz in the Collonial Williamsburg collection from 1730 to 1800.
This chintz will make a great man's banyan, woman's gown or jacket for the second half of the 18th century. For example The Virginia Gazette of 1770 "Stolen from the subscriber . . . by Elizabeth Dugal, who was hired in the house, the following things, viz. two chintz gowns, one dark, the other light, with sprigs and branches, and a [petti]coat of the same". As cited in Wenches, Wives and Servant Girls. Ivory linen thread 80/3 is a good match for hand sewing.
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Williamsburg Red
44" wide $8.50/yd.
Now in stock!
Although this is inspired by a 1730 to 1800 chintz, those with red grounds seem to have been most popular by the Dutch in the late 17th century. In the book Chintz: Indian Textiles for the West Crill cites the representitive of the Dutch India company who wrote in 1675 "ye Dutch have taken up and bespoke all ye red cloaths". The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has a chintz man's banyan with a red ground dated as 1750 to 1775. This would also make a beautiful 18th century woman's gown or jacket. For example in The Pennsylvania Gazette of 1777 "Ran away . . . a servant woman . . . had on, and took with her, a light chintz gown, one dark ditto". As cited in Wenches, Wives and Servant Girls. This chintz has the same repeat as Williamsburg white above.
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Williamsburg Vines
44" wide $8.50/yd.
Now in stock!
Williamsburg Vines is inspired from chintz fabrics in the Collonial Williamsburg collection from 1730 to 1800.
Chintz is a good choice for men's banyans, women's gowns or jackets for the second half of the 18th century. For example The Pennsylvania Gazette of 1776 "Ran away . . . a Dutch servant woman . . . took with her one cotton chintz gown". As cited in Wenches, Wives and Servant Girls. Ivory linen thread 80/3 is a good match for hand sewing.
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Dutch Chintz
Dutch chintz are from the Netherlands and the design is reproduced at the accurate scale. Three are actual reproductions 'Island Marken'; 'Les roses Jardin de Jouy' and 'Borg Verhildersum' all dating to the last quarter of the 18th century. The remaining design, Wilhelmina is reproduced using part of an original 18th century design.
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Island Marken
60" wide $31.99/yd.
Island Marken is copied from an original chintz from the last quarter of the 18th century. This chintz will make a historically accurate women's gown or jacket. The gown or jacket may have a matching petticoat of the same fabric but petticoats were usually not made of chintz unless the upper garment is also of the chintz. Men's banyans were also made of chintz.
Gowns were commonly made of chintz in the last half of the 18th century. For example The New York Gazetter of 1773 "Ran away . . . a negro wench . . . before she went off she took away a large quantity of chintz gowns". As cited in Wenches, Wives and Servant Girls. Ivory linen thread 80/3 will work well for hand sewing this fabric.
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Wilhelmina
is available in blue (right) and red (below)
60" wide $31.99/yd.
Wilhelmina is reproduced using part of an original 18th century design. Chintz will make a historically accurate women's gown or jacket. The gown or jacket may have a matching petticoat but petticoats were usually not made of chintz unless the upper garment is also of the chintz. Men's banyans were also made of chintz.
For example in The New York Gazette of 1774, "Run away . . . two Dutch bound servants, a man and a woman; . . . The woman . . . had on and took with her . . . a Dutch chintz jacket". As cited in Wenches, Wives and Servant Girls. Ivory linen thread 80/3 is a good match for hand sewing.
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Borg Verhildersum
60" wide $31.99/yd.
Borg Verhildersum is copied from an original chintz from the last quarter of the 18th century. This chintz will make a historically accurate women's gown or jacket. The gown or jacket may have a matching petticoat but petticoats were usually not made of chintz unless the upper garment was also of the chintz. Men's banyans were also made of chintz.
Gowns were commonly made of chintz in the last half of the 18th century. For example The New York Gazetter of 1773 "Ran away . . . a servant woman . . . had on, and took with her, a light chintz gown". As cited in Wenches, Wives and Servant Girls. Ivory linen thread 80/3 is a good match for hand sewing.
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Les roses Jardin de Jouy
60" wide $31.99/yd.
Special order only.
The designs of Les roses Jardin de Jouy are inspired by parts of the original design of Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf (1738-1815) and is dated to the last quarter of the 18th century. This print is also illustrated and discussed on pages 74-75 of Toil de Jouy by Virginia Straeten and calls it a "block printed design of about 1775 in which realistically rendered lotuses, poppies and clove pinks arranged in the manner of an Indienne with spikey foliage typical of Indian florals.". This chintz will make a historically accurate men's banyan and a women's gown or jacket. The gown or jacket may have a matching petticoat but petticoats were usually not made of chintz unless the upper garment is also of the chintz.
For example in The American Journal of Rhode Island in 1781, "the House of the Subscriber . . . was broken open, and the following Articles were stolen, viz. One Chintz Gown". As cited in Wenches, Wives and Servant Girls. Ivory linen thread 80/3 is a good match for hand sewing.
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18th Century Cotton Prints
These printed cottons that are true copies of the original designs are now available thanks to the work of the people at Durán Textiles from Stockholm, Sweden.
Using examples of textiles from clothing in museum collections in Sweden and the USA they have presented us the opportunity to fulfill the desire to add clothing to our wardrobe that will produce not only the correct print but also the proper drape of the fabric for the late 18th century.
Printed cottons made before the process became much more sophisticated in the early 19th century have a charm that was lost with the advent of the roller printing machines. Some of the prints offer the sought after monochrome designs on a light background that in the period were printed using the color resist method or by block printing, others are block printed with the blues and yellows "penciled' in. Today Durán Textiles has used the block printed method to duplicate some of the original designs while others are screen prints.
You may choose to make an entire printed gown, a jacket or a banyan and have a garment to be proud of. Alternatively you may buy a small piece to border a petticoat, line the turn back cuffs on your short gown or to make a pair of pockets adding a touch of luxury to your wardrobe. The preshrunk cotton fabric from Durán Textiles will only produce 2-3% shrinkage with washing: all are 59" (150cm) wide.
All fabrics noted below are currently in stock others may be special ordered with a 50% deposit. Due to the exchange rate all special orders will be placed at the new price and any orders less than 25 meters will be charged an additional 10%. To see Durán Textiles complete line of fabrics please visit their website: Durán Textiles, AB.
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You may special order any Durán Textiles fabric from
Wm. Booth, Draper at the sign of the Unicorn.
262-886-9133 or 815-648-9048.
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Shell WDT 102
56" wide $34.00/yd.
Block printed cotton dated 1760-80 used as lining for a Banyan that is in the collection of the Winterthur Museum, Delaware.
The original print is brown on a light ground; the others use common printed colors. These one color prints were the most common and least expensive in the 18th century. Small patterned monochrome prints were used as linings for clothing as well as furnishing. Besides banyans this fabric will make an attractive woman's gown or petticoat or man's waistcoat.
Another example is in The Pennsylvania Chronicle of 1772 "Ran away . . . an indented servant woman . . . had on when she went away, a blue and white linsey petticoat, blue and white figured callico gown". As cited in Wenches, Wives and Servant Girls. Ivory linen thread 80/3 will work well for hand sewing.
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Brown Klint
59" wide
$35.00/yd.
This is copied from the hem facing of an underpetticoat dated to 1780-1800 in the Chester County (Pennsylvania) Historical Society 00/76CLF 186 B. The original is a printed linen, two color brown on off white ground.
This is a two color print of two shades of brown being one of the most common prints available in the 18th century. Brownish black, brown and shades of red were the pigments that best suited the 18th century printing technology.
Pictured in Fitting and Proper by Sharon Ann Burnston pages 26-27. Also for example in The Pennsylvania Evening Post in 1777 "Ran away from . . . Philadelphia, a Scotch Servant Girl . . . She had on, and took with her, a black long gown, printed short ditto". As cited in Wenches, Wives and Servant Girls. Ivory linen thread 80/3 is a good match for hand sewing.
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Dorotea
59" wide, $39.00/yd. There is a very limited quantity left. This item is soon to be discontinued.
This print being dated to c. 1800 is copied from one on a Swedish apron now in the collection of Värmland’s Museum, Karlstad (inv.nr: VM 6608). Although originally printed on a brocade cambric it is reproduced on a plain weave.
This is block printed in brown with ocher red flowers. Being a true block print, misalignments may be seen in the brown stems and sometimes the printer did not push hard enough so that the dye did not take evenly. These imperfections give this fabric true character consistent with the time period. For example in Rhode Island's Newport Herald, of 1788 "RAN-AWAY . . . a wench . . . had on and took with her three gowns, one a striped cotton, a light chints small figur'd, and a calico". White linen thread 80/3 will work well when hand sewing.
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Daisy WDT 106
59" wide, $34.00/yd.
The original printed fabric was used to make a shortgown, which is lined with off-white linen and has sleeve facings in another print and is illustrated in Fitting and Proper by Sharon Ann Burnston, p. 23.
"Typical of those from the 1780s to 1790s, this print has small flowers and a striped ground. Printed cotton like this is ideal for late American Revolution up to 1830s gowns and petticoats.
For example in The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, London 1782 "FRANCES FIELDING was indicted for stealing two printed cotton gowns, value 20 s." The shortgown was an everyday garment worn mostly by Quakers and German-Americans, but by many others as well. It was a practical working garment, nearly always made of printed cotton or linen. It had a very simple cut, in one piece, without shoulder seam and sleeves cut with the body. White linen thread 80/3 is a good match for hand sewing.
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Ranka
59" wide $39.00/yd.
Sample print on paper dated 1748, Anders Berch collection Nordiska Museet, Stockholm.
This beautiful print is screen printed and hand painted, the hand painting is noticeable in the small flowers. In The Virginia Gazette of 1746, "RAN away . . . [an] Irish Servant Woman . . . She took with her . . . a new flower'd Calico [gown]". Ivory linen thread 80/3 is a good match for hand sewing.
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Veronica WDT 105
59" wide $34.00/yd.
Panel of block printed cotton dated 1760-80, provenance unknown, from the collection at Winterthur Museum, Delaware. The original fabric is printed brown on a white ground.
The brown and red colors were often achieved by printing with mordents on the printing blocks and dyed with madder. Different chemicals gave a variation of red and brown hues from the same dye pot. The untreated surfaces remained white. The printed cottons with big repeats were used both for clothing and as interior fabrics like curtains, bedspreads and covers.
In 1777 in The Providence Gazette "was stolen and carried away from the house of the subscriber, one calico gown, with ruffled cuffs lined with Russia linen. The person who stole the said articles had on when she went away a short calico gown with long sleeves". As cited in Wenches, Wives and Servant Girls.
Although calico can be tightly woven white cotton often calico had an all-over print, usually in a small floral pattern. The large pattern of Veronica would be appropriate for a gown or for furnishing fabric but it is too large for a smaller garment such as a woman's jacket. White linen thread 80/3 is a good match for hand sewing.
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Dutch Chintz | Cotton Prints
