Glazier, Richard: Historic textile fabrics: a short history of the tradition and development of pattern in woven & printed stuffs (London: B. T. Batsford, 1923)

VIII
THE PRINTED PATTERN

rr^ HE process of printing, compared with that of weaving a
pattern, is comparatively simple, rapid, and economical.
Printed fabrics are of two classes—(a) block printed ;
(Z») machine printed.
Block printing is the earliest and the most
universal, and is still used extensively both in
the East, and also in Europe, when quality
and breadth of colour are required, or when
the run or length of a specific pattern is not
sufficient to incur the cost of engraving the
number of rollers required.
The engraved blocks of wood vary in size
and shape according to the scale and detail of
the pattern ; and also in relief, which varies,
from | to j inch; where fine details or delicate
lines are required, brass strips are frequently used. The metal strip
is also used to define the boundary of broad masses of ornament
made up of thick felt.
Fig. 43 shows a small Indian block with a pattern of sym-
metrical ogival bands. Fig. 44 gives
the back of an English block
showing the clutch for handling the
block.
In printing, the block is charged
with colour by being lightly pressed
upon a leather sieve or cloth covered
colour, which is then transferred by
pressure on to the fabric.
Machine or roller printing, with its accuracy and delicacy of
engraving and printing simultaneously in various colours, and its
95

Fig. 43.—Indian Wood
Block.


Fig. 44.—English Wood Block.
with the requisite amount of