Textile printing is the process of applying colour to fabric in definite pattern

s or designs. In properly printed fabrics the colour is bonded with the fibre, s
o as to resist washing and friction. Textile printing is related to dyeing but i
n dyeing properly the whole fabric is uniformly covered with one colour, whereas
in printing one or more colours are applied to it in certain parts only, and in
sharply defined patterns.
In printing, wooden blocks, stencils, engraved plates, rollers, or silkscreens c
an be used to place colours on the fabric. Colourants used in printing contain d
yes thickened to prevent the colour from spreading by capillary attraction beyon
d the limits of the pattern or design.
Textile printing was known in Europe, via the Islamic world, from about the 12th
century, and widely used. However, the European dyes tended to liquify, which r
estricted the use of printed patterns. Fairly large and ambitious designs were p
rinted for decorative purposes such as wall-hangings and lectern-cloths, where t
his was less of a problem as they did not need washing. When paper became common
, the technology was rapidly used on that for woodcut prints.[1] Superior cloth
was also imported from Islamic countries, but this was much more expensive.
The Incas of Peru, Chile and the Aztecs of Mexico also practiced textile printin
g previous to the Spanish Invasion in 1519; but owing to the lack of records bef
ore that date, it is impossible to say whether they discovered the art for thems
elves, or, in some way, learned its principles from the Asiatics.
During the later half of the 17th century the French brought directly by sea, fr
om their colonies on the east coast of India, samples of Indian blue and white r
esist prints, and along with them, particulars of the processes by which they ha
d been produced, which produced washable fabrics.
As early as the 1630s, the East India Company was bringing in printed and plain
cotton for the English market. By the 1660s British printers and dyers were maki
ng their own printed cotton to sell at home, printing single colors on plain bac
kgrounds; less colourful than the imported prints, but more to the taste of the
British. Designs were also sent to India for their craftspeople to copy for expo
rt back to England. There were many dyehouses in England in the latter half of t
he 17th century, Lancaster being one area and on the River Lea near London anoth
er. Plain cloth was put through a prolonged bleaching process which prepared the
material to receive and hold applied color; this process vastly improved the co
lor durability of English calicoes and required a great deal of water from nearb
y rivers. One dyehouse was started by John Meakins, a London Quaker who lived in
Cripplegate. When he died, he passed his dyehouse to his son-in-law Benjamin Ol
live, Citizen and Dyer, who moved the dye-works to Bromley Hall where it remaine
d in the family until 1823, known as Benjamin Ollive and Company, Ollive & Talwi
n, Joseph Talwin & Company and later Talwin & Foster. Samples of their fabrics a
nd designs can be found in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Smit
hsonian Copper-Hewett in New York.