Cloth of gold

This article is about the fabric. For the snail, see Conus textile. For the 16th-century event, see Field of Cloth of Gold.

Cloth of gold is a fabric woven with a gold-wrapped or spun weft - referred to as "a spirally spun gold strip". In most cases, the core yarn is silk wrapped with a band or strip of high content gold filé. In rarer instances, fine linen and wool have been used as the core.

Cloth of gold is not to be confused with various gold embroidery techniques that date to the early Middle Ages, though the type of goldwork thread called "passing" is identical to the weft thread of cloth of gold. It is mentioned on both Roman headstones for women and in the Book of Psalms^[Ps 45:14] as a fabric befitting a princess. The Ancient Greek reference to the Golden Fleece is seen by some as a reference to gold cloth. Cloth of gold has been popular for ecclesiastical use for many centuries. Under Henry VII, its use was reserved to royalty and higher levels of nobility.^[1]is also used today by companies such as Charvet for neckwear.

Few extant examples have survived in Roman provincial tombs. Later producers of cloth of gold include the Byzantine Empire and Medieval Italian weavers, particularly in Genoa, Venice and Lucca.^[2] A similar cloth of silver was also made. It is still made in India and Europe today.

Most modern metallic fabrics made in the West are known as lamé.

"Cloth of gold" is a familiar name occasionally applied to the venomous Conus textile species of cone shell, [1] presumably because of its Byssus or fine hair. Byssus from some species has been made into a very fine cloth.

See also

• Samite

Resources: "The Roman Textile Industry and Its Influence. A Birthday Tribute to John Peter Wild", edited by Penelope Walton Rodgers, et al.

Sources

1. ^ Hayward, Maria (2009). Rich apparel: clothing and the law in Henry VIII's England. Ashgate Publishing. p. 172. ISBN 9780754640967. 
2. ^ Jane Burns, E. (2009). Sea of silk: a textile geography of women's work in medieval French literature. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 47.