Chintz

Chintz is calico cloth printed with flowers. Calico came from the city in India named Calicut which manufactured Calico. It was a colorful fabric produced on cheap and often imperfectly finished cotton. The Hindi word for spotted or variegated is cintra and is reflected in the origin of the word "chintz". It is a plainwoven, printed or solid-colour, glazed cotton fabric. Chintz was originally a woodblock printed, painted or stained calico produced in India from 1600 to 1800. Around 1600, Portuguese and Dutch traders were bringing examples of Indian chintz into Europe.


These early fabrics were extremely expensive and rare. The bright, colorfast, and exotic patterns as well as the cotton fabric itself (which was new to the West) were instantly in demand for home furnishings, and later, for clothing. The early chintzes were widely used for bed coverings, quilts, and draperies.

It became so popular that Fench and English textile mills became concerned because they couldn't make it. In 1686 the French banned chintz and in 1720 the English Parliament forbade the use of chintz. Only the wealthy with ties to the royal courts were allowed to have it. Over the years, with a little textile espionage, the French and English mills were able to replicate the dying process and, in the mid to late 1700's, the bans were lifted.

European producers created their own facsimiles of chintz to take advantage of consumer demand. Now English glazed chintzes are considered the finest in the world. By 1851, it was easily adquired and abundant and the term "chintzy" came into usage to mean commonplace and cheap. Today's chintz is usually on high quality cotton or silk and has beautiful repeating floral patterns with a high gloss. It isn't strictly floral patterns but people usually equate chintz with floral patterns. Chintz wallpaper can be beautiful. Chintz also refers to chintzware which is china with dense floral designs on them.



Here are some of the photos I found on the Internet of chintz and it's uses in decorating.





Chintz room in the White House circa 1963.





























I love this wallpaper!