PRINTING ON CALICO. 



was condufted by the Indians informer times. The follow- 

 ing is an account of the modern Indian prattice, in one par- 

 ticular branch of their manufafture, which Mr. Parkes 

 fays he procured from a gentleman who had fpent fome 

 time in India, and who had taken pains to inquire into their 

 manipulations. 



This procefs relates to the method of printmg the fine 

 cotton chintz counterpanes, which the natives call pallam- 

 poors, and which are manufatlured at Madras. Thefe are 

 woven iji one piece, from two to four yards fquare, and 

 are printed, or rather painted, with various defigns, and 

 in various colours. Their method is to draw a pattern firft 

 on (heets of paper fewn together, of the fize of the intended 

 pallampoor ; and then to prick out the fame in the paper 

 with a fliarp inftrument. This done, the paper pattern is 

 fmoothly fixed upon the cloth, \vhich is previoufly damped, 

 and a fmall muflin bag containing fome kind of black 

 powder is rubbed over the whole, in order to pafs a part of 

 the powder through the pin-holes, and completely mark 

 out the pattern. 



The pattern being thus fketched upon the cloth, the 

 paper is removed ; and when the outline of the various 

 figures is drawn with a pencil, tlie piece is confidered to be 

 ready for receiving the colours. 



One colour is then laid on with a bruih made with a 

 tough root of a particular kind of tree, or with the hufl< 

 of the cocoa-nut ; and when this is dry, the piece of cotton 

 is given to a woman to wear, or to ufe in the family, till it 

 be very much dirtied ; in order that it might neceflarily 

 undergo a thorough wafhing, which is thought requifite 

 to prove the goodnefs and permanency of the colour. 

 Another colour is then laid on in the fame manner, and the 

 piece is again fubmitted to the fame trial of wearing and 

 wafliing. The Afiatics may not be aware of it ^ but 

 doubtlefs the long expofure to the air in thefe cafes is 

 the important point, as it is well known that the atmo- 

 fphere is a prime agent in rendering many colours per- 

 manent, which, under a different treatment, would be 

 heavy and fugitive. This is repeated for every colour that 

 is employed ; — and when any one of thefe colours is found 

 to be deteriorated by this treatment, it is printed afrefh ; 

 and fo are all the reft, till the workman is fatisfied that all 

 the colours are aftually permanent. 



This tedious procefs is adopted, however, only when 

 the manufaaurer means to warrant the article ; but in all 

 cafes, even in thofe pieces which will not bear wafhing, the 

 colours are laid on by a brufli, as before mentioned. 



Whether they are all fubftantive colours which are thus 

 apphed, or whether they ufe any fpecies of mordants in 

 their faft work, we are unacquainted, as the artifts of India 

 obferve great fecrecy, and are extremely jealous on this 

 fubjeft. ' ■' 



Such are the fafts which we have been able to colleft re- 

 fpefting the progrefs of calico-printing from the earheft ages ; 

 and alfo of the prefent ftate of the art among the Afiatics. 

 i he more difficult part now remains, vi%. to give a brief 

 detail of the moft important proceffes of our own artifts. 

 Ihis, however we ftiall endeavour to do with the utmoft 

 plamnefs, and ftiall not fail to fuggeft any improvement 

 that may have occurred to us during our inquiries 

 refpefting this very mterefting and varied branch of manu- 

 lacture. 



We have not been able to afcertain when calico-printinsr 

 was introduced into this country, though there are various 



reafons for beheving that it is 

 but of modern date." 



an art, among us at leaft, 



As the whole of this ingenious bufinefs, as it 



IS now 



condufted, depends upon the proper application of a few 

 compounds called mordants, it will be neceffary, in the firft 

 place, to explain their nature and ufes. In doing this, 

 one or two preliminary remarks will affift us. 



The colouring fubftances chiefly employed in this art 

 are divided into two claffes, •vt%. fubjlantive and adjeHive. 

 A fiibjlantl've colour is one which is capable of itfelf of 

 producing a permanent dye on wool or woollen cloth ; 

 fuch is the juice of the buccinum, ufed by the ancients 

 for producing the imperial purple ; fuch are alfo the 

 woad and indigo employed by the moderns for producing 

 a permanent blue ; and we may add the metallic folutions, 

 particularly thofe of iron, cobalt, gold, platina, and filver, 

 which give various colours, according to the proceffes by 

 which they are prepared. 



It has been propofed to employ this valuable permanent 

 colour for pencilling on fine muflins. In time of peace it 

 might readily be procured in fufEcient quantities, and 

 would prove an important addition to the refources of the 

 Britifh calico-printer. 



Dr. Bancroft tells us, that the firft mention of indigo, 

 as known in England, is in the Aft of the 23d of queen 

 Elizabeth, chap. 9, where it is called Ancle, or Blue Inde. 

 Bancroft on Permanent Colours, p. 1 38. 



By adjedive colours are meant all thofe which are inca- 

 pable of giving permanent dyes without the aid of certain 

 intermedia, which form as it were a bond of union between 

 them and the fubftances intended to be dyed. 



Thefe intermedia are what are known by the term mor. 

 dants, and are ufed for this purpofe in very confiderable 

 quantities by the calico-printer of the prefent day. 



Several expedients of this kind were employed by the 

 ancients to produce faft, or, more properly, permanent 

 colours, and this appears from the teftimony of Ariilotle 

 and Pliny. The chief articles in ufe at prefent are, the 

 acetate of iron, the acetate of alumine, and the various 

 folutions of tin, all of which fliould be very carefully and 

 correftly prepared. 



We have already given fome account of chemical mor- 

 dants in vol. xxiv. part I, under the article Mordants; 

 which fee. 



When piece-goods are defigned to be dyed of one 

 uniform adjeftive colour, they are firft immerfed in a folu- 

 tion of one of thefe mordants, then hung up to dry, and 

 to abforb the oxygen of the atmofphere. When fufficiently 

 expofed to the air, they are wafhed or dunged, to remove 

 the fuperfluous mordant ; that is to fay, that part of it 

 which is not chemically combined with the cloth ; aiid 

 the goods are then fubmitted to a bath of that particular 

 kind of colouring matter which is to be imparted to them. 



The dung of the cow is ufed in fuch large quantities by 

 the calico-printer, that it has become an article of great 

 expence. The proportion that is employed is ufually 

 about one bufliel to one hundred gallons of water, though 

 frequently a larger proportion would be more effeftual. 

 The brightnef s of the colours, and the purity of the whites, 

 are always dependent upon the quantity of the dung 

 employed. 



Whenever it is meant that the colour fhould be partially 

 inferted, the mordant is applied to thofe particular parts 

 only ; fo that, when the piece is immerfed in the colouring 

 bath, no other place will receive the permanent ftain. If a 

 fufficient number of colouring fubftances fhould ever be 

 difcovered, that have no affinity for any thing but the 

 chemical mordants, the bufinefs of calico-printing would 

 be rendered much more eafy and fimple than it is at prefent. 

 For though the whole texture of the cloth will be coloured. 



