Bay (cloth)

Bay (Bayette, Bayeta) was a napped coarse woolen cloth, introduced to England by Dutch immigrants in the 16th century.[1] It was produced in Essex at Colchester and Bocking, and also in various towns in the West of England.[2][3][4] Production continued until the 19th century.[5]

Colchester bays

Colchester bays had a reputation for high quality in the 17th and 18th centuries.[1][6]

Characteristics

Bay was similar to baize but lighter in weight and with a shorter nap.[7] Bay was a plain weave fabric with worsted warp and woolen weft,[2] although examination of a sample of Colchester bay surviving in 1903 revealed it to have a twill weave.[5]

References

  1. "Tudor and Stuart Colchester: Economic history | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-06-02.
  2. Montgomery, Florence M. (1984). Textiles in America 1650-1870 : a dictionary based on original documents, prints and paintings, commercial records, American merchants' papers, shopkeepers' advertisements, and pattern books with original swatches of cloth. Internet Archive. New York ; London : Norton. p. 159. ISBN 978-0-393-01703-8.
  3. Denney, Patrick (2019-05-15). Colchester at Work: People and Industries Through the Years. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-4456-8532-8.
  4. "Charles II, 1660: An Act for the Regulating of the Trade of Bay makeing in the [Dutchy] Bay Hall in Colchester. | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-06-01.
  5. Howard, Eliot (1903). "Colchester Bays, Says and Perpetuanas" (PDF). Transactions of the Essex Archaeological Society. 8: 223.
  6. Denney, Patrick (2019-05-15). Colchester at Work: People and Industries Through the Years. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-4456-8532-8.
  7. Montgomery, Florence M. (1984). Textiles in America 1650-1870 : a dictionary based on original documents, prints and paintings, commercial records, American merchants' papers, shopkeepers' advertisements, and pattern books with original swatches of cloth. Internet Archive. New York ; London : Norton. p. 152. ISBN 978-0-393-01703-8. Heaton, writing about 1900, noted a difference between bay and baize: "the bay was light, baise is heavy and with a long nap" ("Letter Books of Joseph Holroyd," p. 11n).


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.