It is a rough fabric made from cotton. is used a lot in soft furnishing. The name comes from the city of Calicut, in the Kerala region of India. It was originally made by the traditional weavers of Calicut called 'chaliyans.'
The cloth is made from unbleached, and sometimes not fully processed, cotton. It can for example contain unseparated husk parts. Compared to canvas or denim it isn't as coarse or thick but owing to its unfinished and undyed appearance, it remains inexpensive.
England banned the importation, wearing or use of the cloth from India in 1700.This was in an effort to support the English textile industry. There was a ready market for the printed cloth among women at that time who were known as the Calico Madames.
In the end the ban could not be sustained. An attempt to impose it came in 1720 with the Calico Act but it was repealed in 1774. The effects of this ban almost destroyed the Indian textile industry. Indeed India was forced to buy cloth from England.
The first place in England to weave the material was Rishton in Lancashire, England.
The cloth is made from unbleached, and sometimes not fully processed, cotton. It can for example contain unseparated husk parts. Compared to canvas or denim it isn't as coarse or thick but owing to its unfinished and undyed appearance, it remains inexpensive.
England banned the importation, wearing or use of the cloth from India in 1700.This was in an effort to support the English textile industry. There was a ready market for the printed cloth among women at that time who were known as the Calico Madames.
In the end the ban could not be sustained. An attempt to impose it came in 1720 with the Calico Act but it was repealed in 1774. The effects of this ban almost destroyed the Indian textile industry. Indeed India was forced to buy cloth from England.
The first place in England to weave the material was Rishton in Lancashire, England.
