Textiles for interiors play a fundamental role in the personalisation of a space.
Episode after episode we help you discovering the different types of textiles. We already presented Damasco and Double Damask and then Brocade and Brocatelle, this time we will introduce you to the Lampas.
In our journey among the textiles for interiors we will continue to refer to the Textilarium that we wrote with the precious support of Carlotta Berta @unprogetto and Cecilia Bima.
LAMPAS
It is a fabric with pretty large patterns, where the design is made by the weft in one or more colours that stand from the background, normally with a satin weave.
Lampas is very similar to the brocatelle, but unlike this it shows a flat pattern instead in relief on the background.
Normally it is the result of one warp only, but the finest ones have, in addition to the main warp of the same colour of the weft, an additional warp in a colour in tone with the weft or weaves that result in the pattern.
As the weft are bond on the front and on the back side of the fabric, the lampas result being smooth on both sides.
Originally from China, it spread in Persia in the late tenth century, and its heyday between the sixteenth and seventeenth century.
Thanks to its patterns made of several warps and wefts, which create very elaborated designs, lampas, a French word, looks very similar to brocatelle. It differs from the latter for its motif, which is flat rather than in relief.
It is a very heavy fabric mostly used for tapestry, carpets, upholstery and sacred vestments.
Origin
India/China
Type
Weave
How to recognise it
The motif neatly stands out from the background layer, which is usually in satin weave. You can tell it from brocade because the reverse side threads are seamlessly entangled.
To learn more about the different types of textiles, with a new more tangible approach, refer to the Textilarium.
Carlotta explains the Textilarium “It is a textile glossary, not only a catalogue, but a kind of map showing the bonds, without renouncing to make order. Therefore, a guide to untie, in the real meaning of the word, this fascinating thus multifaceted universe. A glossary that doesn’t start from production or technical procedures, but on the contrary at the end of the process: from the textile.”
The Textilarium is an e-book you can receive registering to our Newsletter
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