Woman in dress made of Siamoise material 1687

Siamoise is a term for various

woven Woven fabric is any textile formed by weaving. Woven fabrics, often created on a loom, are made of many threads woven in a warp and weft. Technically, a woven fabric is any fabric made by interlacing two or more threads at right angles to one anot ...

fabric varieties, usually cotton and linen blends, with patterns such as checks and stripes. Siamoise was so named because it imitated clothing worn by 17th century Siamese ambassadors.

History

At first, Siamoise was made with

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

in warp and

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

filling yarn. The fabric resembled the clothing of the Siamese (Thai) ambassadors who visited King Louis XIV in 1684 and 1686. That is why the name 'Siamoise' was given to it.

Modifications

Initially, the fabric was a combination of silk and cotton, and the silk warp weakened the material. Replacing the silk with

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong and absorbent, and it dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. Lin ...

produced a stronger fabric that was highly successful.

Further additions

Since then, Siamoise has undergone many additions such as linen and cotton patterns, varied stripes, and checks and blends of different fibers such as silk and wool.

Influences

The Siamese Embassy to France in 1686 had brought to the Court samples of multicolor Thai ''

Ikat ''Ikat'' (literally "to bind" in Malayo-Polynesian languages) is a dyeing technique from Southeast Asia used to pattern textiles that employs resist dyeing on the yarns prior to dyeing and weaving the fabric. In Southeast Asia, where it is th ...

'' textiles. These were enthusiastically adopted by the French nobility to become ''Toiles flammées'' or ''Siamoises de Rouen'', often with checkered blue-and-white designs. After the French Revolution and its dislike for foreign luxury, the textiles were named "Toiles des Charentes" or cottons of

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

.McCabe, Ina Baghdiantz (2008) ''Orientalism in Early Modern France'', , Berg Publishing, Oxford, p.222-223

Gallery

File:Siamoise flammee France 18th century.jpg, ''Siamoise flammée'' textile, derived from Thai

, French manufacture, 18th century File:SiameseEmbassyToLouisXIV1686NicolasLarmessin.jpg, upright=1.5, Siamese embassy to

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

led by

Kosa Pan Kosa Pan (, ; 1633 – 15 November 1699) was a Siamese diplomat and minister who led the second Siamese embassy to France sent by King Narai in 1686.Rajanubhab, D., 2001, ''Our Wars With the Burmese,'' Bangkok: White Lotus Co. Ltd., He was pre ...

in 1686, by Nicolas Larmessin

References