Publication Date
2009
Categories
Related entries
Filament obtained through the gilding of paper sheets (normally made of rice or of the blackberry bush wood), drenched in animal glue or resin, over which a layer of Armenian bole is applied followed by gold (leaf or dust), after which the paper is cut into very thin strips which are then rolled around silk filaments (nucleus).
This thread is one of the most important raw materials used in Chinese textile production both for internal and external markets, as it happened with the Chinese- Portuguese one, being specifically designed and made for the Portuguese consumers.
It is also noteworthy for being one amongst the many luxury products which impressed the Portuguese and other foreigners who went to China, mainly from the middle of the 16th century on. A thorough analysis of narratives and descriptions about the Celestial Empire, between the 16th and the 18th century, corroborates this praise. In fact, researchers have access to information from diverse sources about this thread, especially due to priests of the Society of Jesus like Alvaro Semedo, Antonio de Gouveia and, later on, Du Haldé, who were sensitive and interested in everything related to that country. They were not the only, as members of other religious orders such as the Augustinian Juan Gonzalez de Mendonza and the Dominican Gaspar da Cruz, and even civilians like the Florentine trader Francesco Carletti (1573-1636), also displayed great interested in that nation.
Chinese gold thread soon roused true admiration amongst foreigners, not only from nearby countries like Korea and Japan, but also from the Europeans who reached that faraway corner of the globe. This was a phenomenon to which it was not indifferent its composition, the procedures to obtain it - totally different from the one used in European textile manufacture and which remained a mystery to Europe until the last decades of the 18th century -, its widespread usage amongst the autochthonous population and, last but not least important, its much lower price compared to its European congener.
All of the latter soon contributed for the incorporation of this metallic thread in the trading lists between the Chinese and foreigners, and its commerce was not confined to the Celestial Empire's territory. In fact, and although the Chinese were forbidden to leave the country, it is known that the people from the South took the gold thread not only to the Philippines, but also to Batavia (today's Jakarta). Duarte de Sande and Alessandro Valignano also referred that the Portuguese bought it in China and sold it in India and Japan, an eager consumer of Chinese goods, namely silk, which they considered to be of better quality than theirs. The recognition of this reality becomes of major pertinence considering that the presence of laminated golden paper thread in textile goods presupposes that they were made in China.
Bibliography:
CHANG, Tien-Tsê, O Comércio Sino-português entre 1514 e 1644 : Uma síntese de fontes portuguesas e chinesas, Macau, Instituto Português do Oriente, 1997. FERREIRA, Maria João Pacheco, As Alfaias Bordadas Sinoportuguesas Datáveis dos Séculos XVI a XVIII. Contextualização. Caracterização. Análise, Lisboa, Universidade Lusíada, 2007. FERREIRA, Maria João Pacheco, "Hilado por modo jamas visto en la Christandad. O fio de ouro chinês aos olhos dos europeus (séculos XVI a XVIII)", in Revista da Faculdade de letras - Ciências e Técnicas do Património, Porto, vol. VII, 2008 (no prelo). TÁVORA, Bernardo Ferrão Tavares e, A Imaginária Luso-oriental, Lisboa, Imprensa Nacional - Casa da Moeda, 1983. Translated by: Marília Pavão
This thread is one of the most important raw materials used in Chinese textile production both for internal and external markets, as it happened with the Chinese- Portuguese one, being specifically designed and made for the Portuguese consumers.
It is also noteworthy for being one amongst the many luxury products which impressed the Portuguese and other foreigners who went to China, mainly from the middle of the 16th century on. A thorough analysis of narratives and descriptions about the Celestial Empire, between the 16th and the 18th century, corroborates this praise. In fact, researchers have access to information from diverse sources about this thread, especially due to priests of the Society of Jesus like Alvaro Semedo, Antonio de Gouveia and, later on, Du Haldé, who were sensitive and interested in everything related to that country. They were not the only, as members of other religious orders such as the Augustinian Juan Gonzalez de Mendonza and the Dominican Gaspar da Cruz, and even civilians like the Florentine trader Francesco Carletti (1573-1636), also displayed great interested in that nation.
Chinese gold thread soon roused true admiration amongst foreigners, not only from nearby countries like Korea and Japan, but also from the Europeans who reached that faraway corner of the globe. This was a phenomenon to which it was not indifferent its composition, the procedures to obtain it - totally different from the one used in European textile manufacture and which remained a mystery to Europe until the last decades of the 18th century -, its widespread usage amongst the autochthonous population and, last but not least important, its much lower price compared to its European congener.
All of the latter soon contributed for the incorporation of this metallic thread in the trading lists between the Chinese and foreigners, and its commerce was not confined to the Celestial Empire's territory. In fact, and although the Chinese were forbidden to leave the country, it is known that the people from the South took the gold thread not only to the Philippines, but also to Batavia (today's Jakarta). Duarte de Sande and Alessandro Valignano also referred that the Portuguese bought it in China and sold it in India and Japan, an eager consumer of Chinese goods, namely silk, which they considered to be of better quality than theirs. The recognition of this reality becomes of major pertinence considering that the presence of laminated golden paper thread in textile goods presupposes that they were made in China.
Bibliography:
CHANG, Tien-Tsê, O Comércio Sino-português entre 1514 e 1644 : Uma síntese de fontes portuguesas e chinesas, Macau, Instituto Português do Oriente, 1997. FERREIRA, Maria João Pacheco, As Alfaias Bordadas Sinoportuguesas Datáveis dos Séculos XVI a XVIII. Contextualização. Caracterização. Análise, Lisboa, Universidade Lusíada, 2007. FERREIRA, Maria João Pacheco, "Hilado por modo jamas visto en la Christandad. O fio de ouro chinês aos olhos dos europeus (séculos XVI a XVIII)", in Revista da Faculdade de letras - Ciências e Técnicas do Património, Porto, vol. VII, 2008 (no prelo). TÁVORA, Bernardo Ferrão Tavares e, A Imaginária Luso-oriental, Lisboa, Imprensa Nacional - Casa da Moeda, 1983. Translated by: Marília Pavão