Calico

Calico (in British usage, 1505,AmE "muslin") is a plain-woven textile made from unbleached and often not fully processed cotton. It may contain unseparated husk parts, for example. The fabric is less coarse and thick than canvas or denim, but it is still very cheap owing to its unfinished and undyed appearance.

The fabric was originally from the city of Kozhikode (known by the English as Calicut) in southwestern India. It was made by the traditional weavers called cāliyans. The raw fabric was dyed and printed in bright hues, and calico prints became popular in Europe.

History

Calico originated in Kozhikode (also known as Calicut, from which the name of the textile came) in southwestern India during the 11th century. The cloth was known as "cāliyan" to the natives.

It was mentioned in Indian literature by the 12th century when the writer Hēmacandra described calico fabric prints with a lotus design. By the 15th century calico from Gujǎrāt made its appearance in Egypt. Trade with Europe followed from the 17th century onwards.

Calico (disambiguation)

Calico is a plain-woven cotton textile. It may also refer to:

Textiles

Plants and animals

Places

Calico (goldfish)

Calico or nacreous goldfish are goldfish of any breed that have a type of scale that is intermediate between the metallic type of scales and the transparent type. These scales have a slight sheen that produces a pearly appearance. The name "calico goldfish" came about because the first fish that were introduced with this type of scales had a mottled calico pattern with several colours.

Calico goldfish often have patches of red, yellow, grey and black along with dark speckles on a blue background. This coloration usually extends over the fins.

Although calico coloration occurs in many fancy goldfish varieties such as telescope eyes, fantails, ryukins, orandas, and ranchus, the nacreous scale characteristic is usually exclusive to the shubunkins which are single-tailed fish that are similar to the common goldfish and could grow up to 12 inches in length.

See also

References

Chintz

Chintz (from the plural of chint) was originally glazed calico textiles, initially specifically those imported from India, printed with designs featuring flowers and other patterns in different colours, typically on a light plain background. Since the 19th century the term has also been used for the style of floral decoration developed in those calico textiles, but then used more widely, for example on chintzware pottery and wallpaper. Chintz designs are mostly European patterns loosely derived from the style of Indian designs themselves reflecting, via Mughal art, decorative traditions in Islamic art such as the arabesque, and especially the Safavid art of Persia.

Unglazed calico was traditionally called "cretonne". The word calico is derived from the name of the Indian city Calicut (Kozhikkode in native Malayalam) to which it had a manufacturing association. In contemporary language the word "chintz" and "chintzy" can be used to refer to clothing or furnishings which are vulgar or florid in appearance, and commonly in informal speech, to refer to cheap, low quality, or gaudy things, including personal behavior.