Calico Working
Calico work is an art which produces colored mould cloth used as table cloth, table covers, prayer rug, bags, etc. and which is formed by printing on a cotton cloth. Production of colorful designs and printing on the cloth by moulds has apparently been created in the 4th century A.D. in India and from there to Alexandria. Printing on the cloth was evolved in Iran during the Sassanid Dynasty and new techniques were initiated in decoration of woolen and cotton clothes. This art was extended generally in Isfahan during the Safavid period. Calico worker is also locally called “chitsaz*, because in the Persian language the word “chit’ means printed cloth. The method which is used today by most calico workers in Isfahan is called 4 color stamp (black, red, blue, yellow), which has been substituted for brush and color since long because of the high level of production.
In order to prevent transformation of the mould, the quality of the wood is from pear tree wood. In calico printing, the cloth, in the first stage, is cut according to the desirable shape and form and the surrounding fibers are spun. The colors are mainly from herbal pigments, which is the main reason for the stability of the color. For example the black color is obtained from walnut skin, the red color from some kind of powder jade stone and the roots of madder, the blue color from azure and the grape’s essence, the yellow color from the skin of sweet pomegranate, the green color from sweet pomegranate, beside a sticky material like gum tragacanth. After being colored by means of wooden stamps and the obtained colors, as we said, the extra colors are washed away from the surface of the work which is locally called “Sahrakary*. During the washing process the red color which is more vaporizable is fairly faded. In order to revive the red color the clothes are boiled in cauldrons containing pomegranate skin and madder. Having passed this pro-cess, in order to make the background of the cloth more vivid, they are floated in cauldrons of cold water and pomegranate skin. This causes the background of the cloth to lose its color while preserving all the colors of the cloth surface. Color stabit-ity indicates the quality of the produced product; therefore, we can easily realize the quality of the calico work by rubbing a damp white tissue on the cloth.
