Velvet as we know it possibly originated in China, coming to Europe via invasion and trade by the 13th century, although a cloth called kutuf (Arabic for velvet) was made in Damascus during the late 7th and early 8th centuries AD. Surviving documents from 1311 show that Pope Clement V owned velvet items, including two red pieces made in Lucca, northern Italy. Flourishing near Pisa, Lucca had been famous for silk textiles since the early 12th century, with large-scale velvet production beginning there in the early 14th century. The Tuscan city’s velvet was soon in demand throughout Europe, spread by merchants, fairs and the commissions of the wealthy and elite. When Richard II died in 1400, he left instructions that he was to be buried wearing velvet.
'When Richard II died, he left instructions that he was to be buried wearing velvet'
However, by the mid 14th century, Lucca’s domination of the velvet market began to wane due to a period of economic difficulty, partly caused by political strife and competition between towns. After the Black Death of 1348 took its toll, many velvet and silk weavers and merchants migrated to Venice, Genoa, Florence and Milan, where they established a flourishing velvet trade by the end of the century.
Esta historia es de la edición February 09, 2022 de Country Life UK.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición February 09, 2022 de Country Life UK.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Happiness in small things
Putting life into perspective and forces of nature in farming
Colour vision
In an eye-baffling arrangement of geometric shapes, a sinister-looking clown and a little girl, Test Card F is one of television’s most enduring images, says Rob Crossan
'Without fever there is no creation'
Three of the top 10 operas performed worldwide are by the emotionally volatile Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who died a century ago. Henrietta Bredin explains how his colourful life influenced his melodramatic plot lines
The colour revolution
Toxic, dull or fast-fading pigments had long made it tricky for artists to paint verdant scenes, but the 19th century ushered in a viridescent explosion of waterlili
Bullace for you
The distinction between plums, damsons and bullaces is sweetly subtle, boiling down to flavour and aesthetics, but don’t eat the stones, warns John Wright
Lights, camera, action!
Three remarkable country houses, two of which have links to the film industry, the other the setting for a top-class croquet tournament, are anything but ordinary
I was on fire for you, where did you go?
In Iceland, a land with no monks or monkeys, our correspondent attempts to master the art of fishing light’ for Salmo salar, by stroking the creases and dimples of the Midfjardara river like the features of a loved one
Bravery bevond belief
A teenager on his gap year who saved a boy and his father from being savaged by a crocodile is one of a host of heroic acts celebrated in a book to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Humane Society, says its author Rupert Uloth
Let's get to the bottom of this
Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all's well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply
Sing on, sweet bird
An essential component of our emotional relationship with the landscape, the mellifluous song of a thrush shapes the very foundation of human happiness, notes Mark Cocker, as he takes a closer look at this diverse family of birds