News, traditions and finds for an endless history
The use of
silk paddingto protect the body against the weather as well as to increase the healthy feeling that a garment can provide or enhance what in this day and age we call
active comfortand/or
thermal physiological comfortis part of our
history and of the
history of mankind.
Italy
- The history of Italian silkworm farmingstarted around 1,000 years ago.
- The first processing techniques (twisting and spinning), dating back to the 14th century, were the work of Ludovic the Moor (so named from scientific name of mulberry, bombyx mori).
- Between the 1700s and 1900s, Italian silk production was among the leading in the world for its quantity and ranked first in terms of quality.
Italy’s
history of the 19
th century and first half of the 20
th century abounds with evidence of the use of
silk materials (especially less valuable and marketable ones) inside blankets, regarded as the first
silk padded duvets.
Yet we can certainly go well far back in time through history…..
China
- Sericulture developed way back in the late-Neolithic culture of Liangzhu, which flourished in China between 3300 and 2200 B.C..
- Thesilkproduced in China (158,400,000 kg – 2016 figure) accounts for 82% of global production.
China’s
historyis rich in legends, traditions and finds that enhance the characteristics of Silk also used as padding:
padded garments belonging to emperors, the custodians of their secret for thousands of years, tapestries,
quilts and clothing for ceremonies. The uniforms of the former Chinese Red Army and then the People’s Liberation Army, located in the coldest areas of the empire, were padded with silk. 1970 – Legend has it that a number of will-o’-the-wisps drew the attention of the people living in the Hunan region (south-western China); recalling the stories of the burials of ancient kings who once lived in this place, excavations were started which brought to light the royal necropolis of Mawangdui. It is considered to be one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the 20
th century, compared in quality and importance with the Egyptian discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. Funerary objects were found belonging to noblemen of the HAN dynasty, who reigned between the 3
rdcentury B.C. and the 3
rd century A.D. in the ancient State of Changsha, called the country of
silkand ceramics. The tomb of Li Cang, the marquis of Dai, who died in 186 B.C., brought to light finds, mummified bodies, jade jewels and a large number of science texts and medicinal recipes. Of incredible interest for the
history of
padding and
silk in general was the discovery of silk garments of exquisite quality and craftsmanship, including a
silk padded garment with ornamental damask motifs symbolising longevity, which probably belonged to the marquis Li Cang himself.
