Cotton Prints and Chintz

18th Century Cotton Prints and 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.

Reproducing the print and drape of late 18th century fabrics, these preshrunk cottons will only produce 2-3% shrinkage with washing.