ABSTRACT

Textiles in the domestic environment were highly visible and made a big impact on interiors in the past. They communicated wealth and prestige, cultural values, fashion and taste but also contributed to the warmth and comfort of homes; they provided physical pleasure because they kept out draughts, made hard furniture comfortable and offered pleasing tactile qualities. Textiles brought colour and texture into interiors. Many luxurious textiles were imported and contributed opulence and exoticism to the homes of the elite. Even the use of particular dyestuffs was an indicator of wealth and prestige. Pictorial textiles such as tapestry and embroidery declared education and religious faith. Locally produced wool and linen mixtures might be more humdrum but could also be a demonstration of good housewifery in the production, making up and maintenance of textile furnishings.1 Before mechanisation all textiles were hand-made and involved a lot of skill so that the use of expensive and good quality materials were recognised, and the most labour intensive methods of production and making up were all indicators of wealth. By the nineteenth century industrial production and technological change lowered costs and brought far more variety within the grasp of middle-class households. Textiles in the modern home have lost much of their importance, but in the past they were all important for creating attractive interiors and making a house a home. As fashions changed away from textile-rich interiors the special place of furnishing textiles as precious, desirable and worthy of care has disappeared for most people, and this affects how visitors react to historic textiles in houses open to the public.