velvet

 

fabric having a soft, thick, short pile, usually of silk, and a plain twill or satin weave ground. The pile surface is formed by weaving an extra set of warp threads that are looped over wires as in Wilton carpet, the rods being withdrawn after the weft thread is placed, leaving a row of loops or tufts across the breadth. The loops may remain uncut, forming terry velvet, or be cut, automatically in machine weaving or by a special tool in handlooming. The fabric may also be woven double, face to face, then cut apart. Velvet is supposedly one of the silk weaves developed on the ancient shuttle looms of China. The most beautiful weaves, such as brocades, are still done by hand. India has produced velvet from remote times, often richly embroidered, for the furniture and trappings of royalty. Many fine velvets were made in Turkey, and Persia was famous for its beautiful designs and colors. Magnificent velvets were used in Europe in 12th- and 13th-century religious and court ceremonials. Lucca and Genoa apparently were the first cities to make fine velvets and excelled through the 16th and 17th cent. Genoese velvet was notable for designs formed by contrasts of cut and uncut pile. Venetian and Florentine fabrics were sumptuous brocades, floral designs on contrasting grounds or on cloth of gold. Utrecht made a rich, heavy velvet used for wall and furniture coverings. Modern velvets are of many types and grades. Lyons velvet has a stiff ground and erect pile. Transparent velvet has a sheer foundation. Panne velvet is a long-napped weave, pressed. Plush and velveteen resemble velvet and are sometimes used as substitutes; the weft loops, rather than the warp loops, form the pile on these substitutes.

This article is about velvet, the fabric. For other uses of the word, see velvet (disambiguation).

Velvet is a type of tufted fabric in which the cut threads are very evenly distributed, with a short dense pile, giving it its distinct feel. Velvet can be made from many different kinds of fibres. It is woven on a special loom that weaves two pieces of velvet at the same time. The two pieces are then cut apart and the two lengths of fabric are wound on separate take-up rolls.

Velvet's knitted counterpart is velour. Velvet was very expensive and was considered to be among the luxury goods together with silk. Corduroy and velveteen were considered the "poor man's velvet" when they were first produced.

Velvet is difficult to clean, but in modern times, dry cleaning is used.

Panne is a type of finish for velvet which gives it a special shiny look, similar to many velours.

Velvet is made, ideally, from silk. Cotton can also be used, though this often results in a slightly less luxurious fabric. More recently, synthetic velvets have been developed, mostly polyester, viscose, acetate and mixtures of different synthetics, or synthetics and natural fibres (eg. viscose and silk).

A small percentage of lycra is used sometimes to give stretch.

History

The art of velvet-weaving probably originated in the Far East. Earliest references occur around the beginning of the 14th century.

The peculiar properties of velvet, the splendid yet softened depth of dye colour it exhibited, made it fit for official robes and sumptuous hangings. The most magnificent textiles of medieval times were Italian velvets. These were ornamentated by such techniquesain silk, with uncut pile or with a ground of gold tissue, etc.

The earliest sources of European artistic velvets were Lucca, Genoa, Florence and Venice, and Genoa continues to send out rich velvet textures. Somewhat later the art was taken up by Flemish weavers, and in the 16th century Bruges attained a reputation for velvets not inferior to that of the great Italian cities

Black velvet paintings

A brief history of black velvet paintings is presented by Pamela Liflander in Black Velvet Artist, a booklet published by Running Press, Philadelphia, 2003, and included in an identically-titled art kit. She notes that "The birthplace of black velvet paintings can be traced to ancient Kashmir, which is considered to be the fabric's original homeland. These paintings were religious in nature, portraying the iconic artwork of the Caucasus region by Russian Orthodox priests." She further wrote that Marco Polo and others introduced the West to this art form, and that some of these early works still hang in the Vatican. Liflander also details the life of Edgar Leeteg (1904–1953), "the father of American black velvet kitsch," whose "raucous and bawdy" life was previously captured by James Michener in Rascals in Paradise (1957).

Velvet paintings are widely sold in rural America, and usually have kitsch themes. They often depict images of Elvis Presley, Dale Earnhardt, John Wayne, Jesus, Native Americans, and cowboys. They can also include more exotic or avant-garde themes.

Ciudad Juárez, Mexico was the Florence of velvet painting in the 1970s. A displaced Georgia farmboy, Doyle Harden, was the pioneer who created an enormous factory, where velvets were turned out by the thousands by artists sitting in studios. Each artist would paint one thing, slide the velvet along to the next artist, who would add something else. That way velvet paintings were mass produced by hand, fueling the boom in velvet paintings in the 1970s in the United States.

For more on Doyle Harden and the velvet boom in Ciudad Juárez, see journalist Sam Quinones' book, Antonio's Gun and Delfino's Dream: True Tales of Mexican Migration (Univ. of New Mexico Press).[1].

Velvet is also a common type of name for dark or light purple colors in western Canada.

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

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