Hanover Square, Westminster
Hanover Square is a square in Mayfair, situated to the south west of Oxford Circus, the major junction where Oxford Street meets Regent Street. The streets which converge at Hanover Square are: Brook Street, Dering Street, Hanover Street, Harewood Place and Princes Street. Hanover Square was developed from 1713 as a fashionable residential address by Richard Lumley, 1st Earl of Scarbrough, a soldier and statesman best known for his role in the Glorious Revolution. Like Scarbrough, most of the early residents were staunch supporters of the Hanoverian succession of 1714. "Early Hanover Square was decidedly Whig and most decidedly military", commented the architectural historian Sir John Summerson. Early residents included Generals Earl Cadogan, Sir Charles Wills, Evans, Lord Carpenter and John Pepper, "names conspicuously associated with episodes in Marlborough’s war and the'Fifteen'."While a few of the 18th-century houses remain intact, most of the square has been reconstructed in a variety of periods.
It is now entirely occupied by offices, including the London office of Vogue, the UK headquarters of the telecoms and data consultancy Expect Solutions, MVA Consultancy, the global headquarters of property consultancy SMART4. The parish church of St George's, Hanover Square, is a short distance to the south of the square at the junction of St George Street and Maddox Street, built on land given by William Steuart. In 1759 James Abercrombie, commander-in-chief of British forces in North America during the French and Indian War, resided in St George Street. BibliographySir John Summerson, Georgian London, London: Penguin, 1969 Edward Walford, Hanover Square and neighbourhood and New London: Volume 4, pp. 314–326
Satin
Satin is a weave that has a glossy surface and a dull back, one of three fundamental types of textile weaves along with plain weave and twill. The satin weave is characterized by four or more fill or weft yarns floating over a warp yarn, four warp yarns floating over a single weft yarn. Floats are missed interfacings, for example where the warp yarn lies on top of the weft in a warp-faced satin; these floats explain the high luster and sheen, as unlike in other weaves, the light reflecting is not scattered as much by the fibres. Satin is a warp-faced weaving technique in which warp yarns are "floated" over weft yarns, although there are weft-faced satins. If a fabric is formed with a satin weave using filament fibres such as silk, polyester or nylon, the corresponding fabric is termed a satin, although some definitions insist that the fabric be made from silk. If the yarns used are short-staple yarns such as cotton, the fabric formed is considered a sateen. Many variations can be made including a granite weave and a check weave.
Satin is used in apparel: women's lingerie, nightgowns and evening gowns, but in boxer shorts and neckties. It is used in the production of pointe shoes for use in ballet. Other uses include interior furnishing fabrics and bed sheets. During the Middle Ages, satin was made of silk. Satin became famous in Europe during the twelfth century; the name derives its origin from the Chinese port city of Quanzhou. During the latter part of the Middle Ages, it was a major shipping port of silk, using the maritime Silk Road to reach Europe, it was used in the Arabian countries. Fabrics created from satin weaves are more flexible, with better draping characteristics than plain weaves, allowing them to be formed around compound curves, useful in carbon-fiber composites manufacturing. In a satin weave, the fill yarn passes over multiple warp yarns before interlacing under one warp yarn. Common satin weaves are: 4-harness satin weave called crowfoot satin, in which the fill yarn passes over three warp yarns and under one warp yarn.
It is more pliable than a plain weave. 5-harness satin weave. 8-harness satin weave, in which the fill yarn passes over seven warp yarns and under one warp yarn, is the most pliable satin weave and forms most around compound curves. Antique satin is a type of satin-back shantung, woven with unevenly spun weft yarns. Baronet or baronette has a rayon or silk front, similar to georgette. Charmeuse is a draping satin-weave fabric with a dull reverse. Double face satin is woven with a glossy surface on both sides, it is possible for both sides albeit using the same colors. Duchess satin is a luxurious, stiff satin. Faconne is jacquard woven satin. Farmer's satin or Venetian cloth is made from mercerised cotton. Gattar is satin made with a cotton weft. Messaline is loosely woven. Polysatin or poly-satin is an abbreviated term for polyester satin. Slipper satin is medium - to heavy-weight fabric. Sultan is a worsted fabric with a satin face. Surf satin was a 1910s American trademark for a taffeta fabric used for swimsuits.
Shaeffer, Claire. Sew Any Fabric. Iola, WI: Krause Publications. ISBN 9781440222627. Shaeffer, Claire. Claire Shaeffer's Fabric Sewing Guide. Cincinnati, Ohio: Krause Publications. ISBN 1440223424. Media related to Satin at Wikimedia Commons The dictionary definition of satin at Wiktionary
George Romney (painter)
George Romney was an English portrait painter. He was the most fashionable artist of his day, painting many leading society figures – including his artistic muse, Emma Hamilton, mistress of Lord Nelson. Romney was born in Beckside in Dalton-in-Furness, the 3rd son of John Romney, cabinet maker, Anne Simpson. Raised in a cottage named High Cocken in modern-day Barrow-in-Furness, he was sent to school at nearby Dendron, he appears to have been an indifferent student and was withdrawn at the age of 11 and apprenticed to his father's business instead. He proved to have a natural ability for making things from wood -- including violins. From the age of 15, he was taught art informally by a local watchmaker called John Williamson, but his studies began in earnest in 1755, when he went to Kendal, at the age of 21, for a 4-year apprenticeship with local artist Christopher Steele – a portraitist who had himself studied with distinguished French artist Carlo Vanloo. All costs were to be borne by George's father.
In October 1756, Romney married Mary Abbot, but the couple were separated when he was called away to York on business by his employer. After a year, Steele agreed to cancel the apprenticeship, at George's request, leaving the young artist – now a father of a son – free to pursue his own career as a painter. In 1757, Romney rejoined his wife and young son in Kendal, working as a portraitist and historical painter. In this period he became friends with Adam Walker, the inventor and writer, pursued musical interests in his spare time. In March 1762, he parted from his wife and daughter, to seek his fortune in London, where he stayed until 1799. Throughout the separation, he maintained contact with his family and financially supported them, but they never lived with him in the capital. In 1763, Romney entered his painting, The Death of General Wolfe, into a Royal Society of Arts competition. According to friends of Romney, he was awarded the second prize of 50 guineas, but this was to reduced to 25 guineas on questionable grounds.
It is said that Sir Joshua Reynolds himself was the prime mover behind this decision, a fact which may have accounted for the lifelong aversion of the two men for each other. Despite his success, Romney was never invited to join the Royal Academy of Arts, though he was asked, urged to exhibit there – nor did he apply to join; this decision cost him valuable royal patronage and support from others connected at court. While there has been much speculation about his actual relationship with the Academy, there is no doubt that he remained aloof, maintaining that a good artist should succeed without being a member, his own career supported this belief, it was only towards the end of his life that he expressed the slightest regret for his views. His early years in the capital were something of a struggle financially. In September 1764, he travelled to Paris for a few weeks to study the works of the old masters. In 1765 he again won the second prize of 50 guineas in the Royal Society of Arts competition.
In 1768, he made the acquaintance of Richard Cumberland, the dramatist, whose portrait he painted, and, helpful in introducing him to influential patrons. He became friends with miniature painter Ozias Humphrey. 1769 was a breakthrough year – he exhibited a large portrait of Sir George Warren and family at the Free Society of Artists, admired and helped to lay the foundations of his future popularity. In 1770 he started to exhibit his work at the Chartered Society of Artists rather the rival "Free Society of Artists". By 1772 Romney was financially secure enough to make the journey to Italy to study the great artists of the past, as he had always intended, he set off in March, arriving in Rome in June. A letter of introduction allowed him to meet the Pope, Clement XIV, who allowed him to set up scaffolding in the Vatican to study the frescoes of Raphael, he spent 18 months in Rome making sketches of the great art works on view there. He returned to London in July 1775 after an absence of over 2 years.
On his return, in 1775, Romney moved to Cavendish Square, in a house owned by noted portraitist Francis Cotes. He was in debt, not only on his own account but due to being saddled with the debt of his artistic but dissolute brother Peter. However, he was offered commissions by the Duke of Richmond and his circle of friends, which helped turn the tide of fortune permanently in the artist's favour. In 1776–77, he made the acquaintance of William Hayley, striking up a lasting friendship with the writer, painting portraits for him. 1782 was the beginning of an important new chapter in Romney's life, for in that year he was first introduced to Emma Hamilton who became his muse. He painted over 60 portraits of her in various poses, sometimes playing the part of historical or mythological figures, he painted many other contemporaries, including fellow artist Mary Moser. In 1797 Romney left his studio at 32 Cavendish Square, where he had worked for more than twenty years, to move to Holly Bush Hill in Hampstead.
In Hampstead Romney embarked on a series of costly building projects, sol
Regency era
The Regency in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a period when King George III was deemed unfit to rule due to his illness and his son ruled as his proxy as Prince Regent. On the death of George III in 1820, the Prince Regent became George IV; the term Regency can refer to various stretches of time. The period from 1795 to 1837, which includes the latter part of the reign of George III and the reigns of his sons George IV and William IV, is sometimes regarded as the Regency era, characterised by distinctive trends in British architecture, fashions and culture, it ended in 1837 when Queen Victoria succeeded William IV. The Regency is noted for its elegance and achievements in the fine arts and architecture; this era encompassed a time of great social and economic change. War was waged with Napoleon and on other fronts, affecting commerce both at home and internationally, as well as politics. Despite the bloodshed and warfare, the Regency was a period of great refinement and cultural achievement and altering the societal structure of Britain as a whole.
One of the greatest patrons of the arts and architecture was the Prince Regent himself. Upper-class society flourished in a sort of mini-Renaissance of refinement; as one of the greatest patrons of the arts, the Prince Regent ordered the costly building and refurbishing of the beautiful and exotic Brighton Pavilion, the ornate Carlton House, as well as many other public works and architecture. This required dipping into the treasury and the Regent, the King's exuberance outstripped his pocket, at the people's expense. Society was considerably stratified. In many ways, there was a dark side to the fashion in England at this time. In the dingier, less affluent areas of London, womanising, the existence of rookeries, constant drinking ran rampant; the population boom—the population increased from just under a million in 1801 to one and a quarter million by 1820—created a wild, roiling and vibrant scene. According to Robert Southey, the difference between the strata of society was vast indeed: The squalor that existed beneath the glamour and gloss of Regency society provided sharp contrast to the Prince Regent's social circle.
Poverty was addressed only marginally. The formation of the Regency after the retirement of George III saw the end of a more pious and reserved society, gave birth of a more frivolous, ostentatious one; this change was influenced by the Regent himself, kept removed from the machinations of politics and military exploits. This did nothing to channel his energies in a more positive direction, thereby leaving him with the pursuit of pleasure as his only outlet, as well as his sole form of rebellion against what he saw as disapproval and censure in the form of his father. Driving these changes was not only money and rebellious pampered youth, but significant technological advancements. In 1814, The Times adopted steam printing. By this method it could now print 1,100 sheets every hour, not 200 as before—a fivefold increase in production capability and demand; this development brought about the rise of the wildly popular fashionable novels in which publishers spread the stories and flaunting of the rich and aristocratic, not so secretly hinting at the specific identity of these individuals.
The gap in the hierarchy of society was so great that those of the upper classes could be viewed by those below as wondrous and fantastical fiction, something out of reach yet tangibly there. 1811 George Augustus Frederick, Prince of Wales, began his nine-year tenure as regent and became known as The Prince Regent. This sub-period of the Georgian era began the formal Regency; the Duke of Wellington held off the French at Fuentes Albuhera in the Peninsular War. The Prince Regent held a fete at 9:00 p.m. June 19, 1811, at Carlton House in celebration of his assumption of the Regency. Luddite uprisings. Glasgow weavers riot. 1812 Prime Minister Spencer Perceval was assassinated in the House of Commons. Final shipment of the Elgin Marbles arrived in England. Sarah Siddons retired from the stage. Shipping and territory disputes started the War of 1812 between the United Kingdom and the United States; the British were victorious over French armies at the Battle of Salamanca. Gas company founded. Charles Dickens, English writer and social critic of the Victorian era, was born on 7 February 1812.
1813 Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen was published. William Hedley's Puffing Billy, an early steam locomotive, ran on smooth rails. Quaker prison reformer Elizabeth Fry started her ministry at Newgate Prison. Robert Southey became Poet Laureate. 1814 Invasion of France by allies led to the Treaty of Paris, ended one of the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon was exiled to Elba; the Duke of Wellington was honoured at Burlington House in London. British soldiers burn the White House. Last River Thames Frost Fair was held, the last time the river froze. Gas lighting introduced in London streets. 1815 Napoleon I of France defeated by the Seventh Coalition at the Battle of Waterloo. Napoleon was exiled to St. Helena; the English Corn Laws restricted corn imports. Sir Humphry Davy patented the miners' safety lamp. John Loudon Macadam's road construction method adopted. 1816 Income tax abolished. A "year without a summer" followed a volcanic eruption in Indonesia. Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein. William Cobbett published his newspaper as a pamphlet.
The British returned Indonesia to the Dutch. Regent's Canal, phase one of c
St Anne's Church, Kew
St Anne's Church, Kew, is a parish church in Kew in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The building, which dates from 1714, is Grade II* listed, forms the central focus of Kew Green; the raised churchyard, on three sides of the church, has two Grade II* listed monuments – the tombs of the artists Johan Zoffany and Thomas Gainsborough. The French Impressionist painter Camille Pissarro, who stayed in 1892 at 10 Kew Green, portrayed St Anne's in his painting Church at Kew. On Sundays the church holds three morning services – a Said Eucharist in traditional language, Morning Prayer and a Sung Eucharist. An Evening Prayer is held; the church is used as a venue including those of the local orchestra, Kew Sinfonia. Built in 1714 on land given by Queen Anne, as a church within the parish of Kingston, St. Anne's Church has been extended several times since, as the settlement of Kew grew with royal patronage. In 1770, King George III undertook to pay for the first extension, designed by Joshua Kirby who, four years was buried in the churchyard.
The church became a parish church in its own right in 1788. In 1805, a new south aisle, designed by Robert Browne, was added, along with a gallery for the royal family's own use. Under King William IV it was further extended in 1837 by Sir Jeffry Wyattville. A mausoleum designed by the architect Benjamin Ferrey was added in 1851 and an eastern extension, including a dome, in 1882. Further extensions occurred in 1902, 1979 and 1988; the interior of the roof was repainted in 2013. To mark the church's tercentenary in 2014, a new baptismal font was installed; the present parish hall, at right angles to the church and incorporates the previous choir vestry, was built in 1978. Its design echoes the forms of the church building. A collection of funerary hatchments honouring deceased royal or noble parishioners is on display in front of the church's gallery, flanking a rare representation of Queen Anne's coat of arms. A hatchment commemorating George III's son, Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover, was hung in the church in 1821.
It is now in the collection of the Museum of Richmond. Just outside the church walls, on the south side, is the Kew war memorial, in the form of a large stone cross, commemorating the local people who fell in the First and Second World Wars, their names are listed not in the church. Francis Perceval Eliot, soldier and man of letters, 9 October 1755 Francis, Duke of Teck married Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, 12 June 1866 William Aiton, first keeper of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Franz Bauer, the Austrian microscopist and botanical artist, whose epitaph pays tribute to his brother the botanical illustrator Ferdinand Bauer: "In the delineation of plants he united the accuracy of a profound naturalist with the skill of the accomplished artist, to a degree, only equalled by his brother Ferdinand" George Engleheart, painter of portrait miniatures to the Court of King George III Thomas Gainsborough, English portrait and landscape painter Rev. Thomas Haverfield, chaplain to Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex Sir William Hooker, director of the Royal Gardens at Kew, his son, English botanist and explorer Sir Joseph Hooker Joshua Kirby, 18th-century painter known for his work on linear perspective Richard Levett, Lord Mayor of London and former owner of Kew Palace.
The Barn Church, Kew St Luke's Church, Kew Official website "St Anne's Church, Kew Green". Local History Notes from Richmond Libraries’ Local Studies Collection. London Borough of Richmond upon Thames; the Friends of St Anne's Church, Kew Speel, Bob: Kew Church Monuments Blomfield, David. St Anne's Kew, 1714–2014. R J L Smith and Associates. ISBN 978-0-9573492-8-5. Blomfield, David. "Queen Anne's Little Church". Richmond History: Journal of the Richmond Local History Society. 35: 18–24. ISSN 0263-0958. Cassidy, G E. "The eccentric Vicar of Kew, the Revd Caleb Colton, 1780–1832". Richmond History: Journal of the Richmond Local History Society. 2: 13–16. ISSN 0263-0958. Cassidy, G E. "Extracts from the Kew Church Archives". Richmond History: Journal of the Richmond Local History Society. 5: 14–21. ISSN 0263-0958. Cassidy, G E. "The first Organ at St Anne's Church, Kew Green". Richmond History: Journal of the Richmond Local History Society. 6: 39–41. ISSN 0263-0958. Cassidy, G E. "The Pew cushions in St Anne's Church, Kew".
Richmond History: Journal of the Richmond Local History Society. 8: 33–41. ISSN 0263-0958. Mollett, Marian. "Remembering the Men of Kew". Richmond History: Journal of the Richmond Local History Society. 36: 10–23. ISSN 0263-0958
1795–1820 in Western fashion
Fashion in the period 1795–1820 in European and European-influenced countries saw the final triumph of undress or informal styles over the brocades, lace and powder of the earlier 18th century. In the aftermath of the French Revolution, no one wanted to appear to be a member of the French aristocracy, people began using clothing more as a form of individual expression of the true self than as a pure indication of social status; as a result, the shifts that occurred in fashion at the turn of the 19th century granted the opportunity to present new public identities that provided insights into their private selves. Katherine Aaslestad indicates how "fashion, embodying new social values, emerged as a key site of confrontation between tradition and change."For women's dress, the day to day outfit of the skirt and jacket style were practical and tactful, recalling the working class woman. Women's fashions followed classical ideals, laced corsets were temporarily abandoned in favor of a high-waisted, natural figure.
This natural figure was emphasized by being able to see the body beneath the clothing. Visible breasts were part of this classical look, some characterized the breasts in fashion as aesthetic and sexual. In Britain, the era of Regency in England covered the years when King George III was deemed unfit to rule and his son, the Prince of Wales ruled England as Prince Regent before his accession as King George IV, but the broadest definition of the period, characterized by trends in fashion, architecture and politics, begins with the French Revolution of 1789 and ends with Queen Victoria's rise to power. The names of popular persons who lived in this time are still famous: Napoleon I Bonaparte and Josephine, Madame Recamier, Jane Austen, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, Beau Brummell, Lady Emma Hamilton, Queen Louise of Prussia and her husband and many more. Beau Brummell introduced trousers, perfect tailoring, unadorned, immaculate linen as the ideals of men's fashion. In Germany, republican city-states relinquished their traditional and practical garments and started to embrace the French and English fashion trends of short-sleeved chemise dresses and Spencer jackets.
American fashion trends emulated French dress, but in a toned down manner with shawls and tunics to cope with the sheerness of the chemise. However, in Spain, members of the Aristocracy, as well as citizens of the lower class and rebelled against French enlightenment ideals and fashion by dressing as majas and majos to contain their Spanish pride. By the end of the eighteenth century, a major shift in fashion was taking place that extended beyond changes in mere style to changes in philosophical and social ideals. Prior to this time, the style and traditions of the "Ancien Régime" prevented the conceptualization of "the self". Instead, one's identity was considered malleable. However, by the 1780s, the new, "natural" style allowed one's inner self to transcend their clothes. During the 1790s, there was a new concept of the external self. Before this time, there had only been one self, expressed through clothing; when going to a masquerade ball, people wore specific clothing, so they could not show their individuality through their clothing.
Incorporated in this new "natural" style was the importance of comfort of one's dress. Not only was there a new emphasis on hygiene, but clothing became much lighter and more able to be changed and washed frequently. Upper class women began wearing cropped dresses as opposed to dresses with long trains or hoops that restricted them from leaving their homes; the subsequent near stasis of the silhouette inspired volumes of new trims and details on trimmed skirts back into fashion. In the Regency years, complicated historic and orientalist elements provided lavish stylistic displays as such details were a vigorous vehicle for conspicuous consumption given their labor-intensive fabrications, therefore a potent signifier of hierarchy for the upper classes who wore the styles; this kind of statement was noticeable in profuse trimmings on skirts where unrestrained details were common, along with cut edge details and edge trims. Women's fashion was influenced by male fashion, such as tailored waistcoats and jackets to emphasize women's mobility.
This new movement toward practicality of dress showed that dress became less of a way to categorize between classes or genders. It was during this time period that the fashion magazine and journal industry began to take off, they were most monthly periodicals that allowed men and women to keep up with the ever-changing styles. In the late 18th century, clothes were sold by individual shopkeepers who were the artisans who made the goods. Customers lived in the same neighborhood as the shops and the shops would gain popularity by their customers' word-of–mouth recommendation, with the exception of warehouses, where goods being sold were not made in the shop. However, things started to change during the transition to the 19th century. People sought variety; the first sewing machine emerged in 1790, Josef Madersperger began developing his first sewing machine in 1807, presenting his first working machine in 1814. The introduction of the sewing machine sped up garment production. Meanwhile, advanced spinning and cotton-printing techniques developed in the 18th century had brought de
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons; the best-known silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity. The shimmering appearance of silk is due to the triangular prism-like structure of the silk fibre, which allows silk cloth to refract incoming light at different angles, thus producing different colors. Silk is produced by several insects. There has been some research into other types of silk. Silk is produced by the larvae of insects undergoing complete metamorphosis, but some insects, such as webspinners and raspy crickets, produce silk throughout their lives. Silk production occurs in Hymenoptera, mayflies, leafhoppers, lacewings, fleas and midges. Other types of arthropods produce most notably various arachnids, such as spiders; the word silk comes from Old English: sioloc, from Ancient Greek: σηρικός, translit.
Sērikós, "silken" from an Asian source — compare Mandarin sī "silk", Manchurian sirghe, Mongolian sirkek. Several kinds of wild silk, which are produced by caterpillars other than the mulberry silkworm, have been known and used in China, South Asia, Europe since ancient times. However, the scale of production was always far smaller than for cultivated silks. There are several reasons for this: first, they differ from the domesticated varieties in colour and texture and are therefore less uniform. Thus, the only way to obtain silk suitable for spinning into textiles in areas where commercial silks are not cultivated was by tedious and labor-intensive carding. Commercial silks originate from reared silkworm pupae, which are bred to produce a white-colored silk thread with no mineral on the surface; the pupae are killed by either dipping them in boiling water before the adult moths emerge or by piercing them with a needle. These factors all contribute to the ability of the whole cocoon to be unravelled as one continuous thread, permitting a much stronger cloth to be woven from the silk.
Wild silks tend to be more difficult to dye than silk from the cultivated silkworm. A technique known as demineralizing allows the mineral layer around the cocoon of wild silk moths to be removed, leaving only variability in color as a barrier to creating a commercial silk industry based on wild silks in the parts of the world where wild silk moths thrive, such as in Africa and South America. Silk was first developed in ancient China; the earliest example of silk has been found in tombs at the neolithic site Jiahu in Henan, dates back 8,500 years. Silk fabric from 3630 BC was used as wrapping for the body of a child from a Yangshao culture site in Qingtaicun at Xingyang, Henan. Legend gives credit for developing silk to Leizu. Silks were reserved for the Emperors of China for their own use and gifts to others, but spread through Chinese culture and trade both geographically and and to many regions of Asia; because of its texture and lustre, silk became a popular luxury fabric in the many areas accessible to Chinese merchants.
Silk was in great demand, became a staple of pre-industrial international trade. In July 2007, archaeologists discovered intricately woven and dyed silk textiles in a tomb in Jiangxi province, dated to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty 2,500 years ago. Although historians have suspected a long history of a formative textile industry in ancient China, this find of silk textiles employing "complicated techniques" of weaving and dyeing provides direct evidence for silks dating before the Mawangdui-discovery and other silks dating to the Han Dynasty. Silk is described in a chapter of the Fan Shengzhi shu from the Western Han. There is a surviving calendar for silk production in an Eastern Han document; the two other known works on silk from the Han period are lost. The first evidence of the long distance silk trade is the finding of silk in the hair of an Egyptian mummy of the 21st dynasty, c.1070 BC. The silk trade reached as far as the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and North Africa; this trade was so extensive that the major set of trade routes between Europe and Asia came to be known as the Silk Road.
The Emperors of China strove to keep knowledge of sericulture secret to maintain the Chinese monopoly. Nonetheless sericulture reached Korea with technological aid from China around 200 BC, the ancient Kingdom of Khotan by AD 50, India by AD 140. In the ancient era, silk from China was the most lucrative and sought-after luxury item traded across the Eurasian continent, many civilizations, such as the ancient Persians, benefited economically from trade. Chinese silk making process Silk has a long history in India, it is known as Resham in eastern and north India, Pattu in southern parts of India. Recent archaeological discoveries in Harappa and Chanhu-daro suggest that sericulture, employing wild silk threads from native silkworm species, existed in South Asia during the time of the Indus Valley Civilization dating between 2450 BC and 2000 BC, while "hard and fast evidence" for silk production in China dates back to around 2570 BC. Shelagh Vainker, a s
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Williamson, George Charles (1911). "Engleheart, George". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 9 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 455.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the 
