Where does Damask come from?

Damask comes from Damascus, Syria, where it dates to the Middle Ages.

Plate No. 048fabric

The woven self-pattern: figure against ground in one color.

First documented: Middle Ages
Origin: Damascus, Levant, Syria
Fiber: silk, linen, cotton
Weave: jacquard, satin figure on sateen ground
Family: motifs

Plate No. 048 · fabric

Damask

Damask is a self-patterned cloth: its ornament is woven, not printed, by setting a satin figure against a sateen ground in a single color, so the motif appears and disappears as light moves across the two surfaces. The technique is ancient Chinese, the name medieval, taken from Damascus where European traders met the cloth. Its classic vocabulary of symmetric medallions, acanthus scrolls, and pomegranates has made it the default language of formal interiors, tablecloths, and wallpaper for five centuries.

Illustration: a silk merchant's stall in a vaulted Damascus market in the middle ages, lengths of figured cloth catching a single shaft of light, brass lamps, sacks of dyestuff — A silk merchant's stall in a vaulted Damascus market in the middle ages, lengths of figured cloth catching a single shaft of light, brass lamps, sacks of dyestuff.

Named for

Named for Damascus, the great Silk Road trading city through which the figured silks reached Europe.

Common questions

What is Damask made of?: Damask is a self-patterned cloth: its ornament is woven, not printed, by setting a satin figure against a sateen ground in a single color, so the motif appears and disappears as light moves across the two surfaces. It is traditionally made of silk, linen, or cotton.
Where does Damask come from?: Damask comes from Damascus, Syria, where it dates to the Middle Ages.
What is Damask named after?: Named for Damascus, the great Silk Road trading city through which the figured silks reached Europe.