Where does Brocade come from?

Brocade comes from China, where it dates to the Middle Ages.

Plate No. 062fabric

Gold-thread figures on deep silk, the court brocade.

First documented: Middle Ages
Origin: China and the Mediterranean silk centers, China
Fiber: silk
Weave: jacquard, supplementary weft figures
Family: motifs

Plate No. 062 · fabric

Brocade

Brocade is figured cloth with the ornament woven in extra threads: supplementary wefts, often gold or silver, float across the back and surface only where the design needs them, so the figures sit on the cloth like low relief. Where damask is one color playing two finishes against each other, brocade is added material, which is why it reads richer, heavier, and stiffer. Woven silk brocades traveled the Silk Road from China; Renaissance Italy and the Lyon looms made them the cloth of thrones, vestments, and state portraits.

Illustration: a Lyon silk weaving workshop in the 1700s, a tall drawloom with a half-woven length of gold-figured cloth, skeins of gold thread on a bench, a high window — A Lyon silk weaving workshop in the 1700s, a tall drawloom with a half-woven length of gold-figured cloth, skeins of gold thread on a bench, a high window.

Named for

From the Italian broccato, embossed cloth, from brocco, a twisted thread or shoot.

Common questions

What is Brocade made of?: Brocade is figured cloth with the ornament woven in extra threads: supplementary wefts, often gold or silver, float across the back and surface only where the design needs them, so the figures sit on the cloth like low relief. It is traditionally made of silk.
Where does Brocade come from?: Brocade comes from China, where it dates to the Middle Ages.
What is Brocade named after?: From the Italian broccato, embossed cloth, from brocco, a twisted thread or shoot.