Calamanco (also calimanco, callimanco, or kalamink) is fabric with a glazed surface that was popular in Europe and the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries.[1] It was typically made of worsted-spun wool yarn, and the glazing was achieved by calendaring (pressing the cloth between hot rollers),[2] by surface-rubbing with a stone, or by applying wax to the surface.[1] The name comes from a Spanish term for worsted wool.[1]

Calamanco goes back to the late 16th century but was most popular in the 18th and 19th centuries.[2] It was made in a number of different weaves, including plain and satin weaves, damasks and brocades.[2] Early in the period, it was used in clothing,[2] but later on it was more commonly used for bed coverings, and surviving fragments are often found in quilts of the era, especially whole-cloth quilts.[1] The surface sheen of the calamanco sets off intricate quilting patterns.[1]

Calimanco has also been used as an alternative name for calico cats. It appears to have originated as a regional term in the English county of Norfolk.[3] Norwich in Norfolk was a center of calamanco manufacture.[4]

Calamanco is the name of a mare in Great Britain born around 1990; several of her offspring won races in the early 2000s.[5][6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Crayne, Dian. "Glazed and Glorious: The Calamanco Quilt". Patches from the Past, 2003.
  2. 1 2 3 4 “Terminology: What Is Calamanco?”. The Dreamstress, February 9, 2012.
  3. ↑ Weir, Harrison William. Our Cats and All About Them. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1889, p. 53.
  4. ↑ “Norwich Calamanco c. 1760”. Meg Andrews: Antique Costumes and Textiles.
  5. ↑ “Calamanco (GB) Dam Report”. The-recehorse.com.
  6. ↑ “Calamanco Catching Up Her Sister“. The Free Library, 2008.
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