Editing Calico (section)

===Calico printing===
[[File:Calico sample Crum & Co..jpg|thumb|left|Sample of calico printed with a six-colour machine by Walter Crum & Co., from [[Frederick Crace Calvert]], ''Dyeing and Calico Printing'' (1878)]]

Early Indian [[chintz]], that is, glazed calico with a large floral pattern, was primarily produced using painting techniques.<ref name=Turnbull>Turnbull, ''A History of Calico Printing in Great Britain'', 1951.</ref> Later, the hues were applied by wooden blocks, and the cloth manufacturers in Britain printed calico using [[Woodblock printing|wooden block printing]]. Calico printers at work are depicted in one of the [[stained glass]] windows made by [[Stephen Adam (stained glass designer)|Stephen Adam]] for the [[Maryhill Burgh Halls]], [[Glasgow]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Maryhill Burgh Halls: Historic Stained Glass |url=https://www.maryhillburghhalls.org.uk/panels |access-date=2022-08-27 |website=Maryhill Burgh Halls |date=18 March 2019 |language=en-GB}}</ref> Confusingly, linen and silk printed this way were known as ''linen calicoes'' and ''silk calicoes''. Early European calicoes (1680) were cheap [[plain weave]] white cotton fabric, or cream or unbleached cotton, with a design block-printed using a single [[Rose madder|alizarin dye]] fixed with two mordants, giving a red and black pattern. Polychromatic prints were possible, using two sets of blocks and an additional blue dye. The Indian taste was for dark printed backgrounds, while the European market preferred a pattern on a cream base. As the century progressed the European preference moved from the large chintz patterns to smaller, tighter patterns.<ref name=dreamstress/>

[[Thomas Bell (printer)|Thomas Bell]] patented a printing technique in 1783 that used copper rollers. In 1785, [[Livesey, Hargreaves and Company]] put the first machine that used this technique into operation in [[Walton-le-Dale]], [[Lancashire]]. The production volume for printed cloth in Lancashire in 1750 was estimated at 50,000 pieces of {{convert|30|yd|m|order=flip|abbr=off|0}}; in 1850, it was 20,000,000 pieces.<ref name=Turnbull/> The commercial method of calico printing using engraved rollers was invented in 1821 in [[New Mills]], [[Derbyshire]], in the [[United Kingdom]]. [[John Potts (engraver)|John Potts]] of Potts, Oliver and Potts used a copper-engraved master to produce rollers to transfer the inks.<ref name="Glover216">{{cite book |last=Glover |first=Stephen |title=The history and gazetteer of the county of Derby |year=1831 |page=216|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BsoHAAAAQAAJ |access-date=26 November 2009}}</ref> After 1888, block printing was only used for short-run specialized jobs. After 1880, profits from printing fell due to [[overcapacity]] and the firms started to form [[Business group|combines]]. In the first, three Scottish firms formed the United Turkey Red Co. Ltd in 1897, and the second, in 1899, was the much larger [[Calico Printers' Association]] 46 printing concerns and 13 merchants combined, representing 85% of the British printing capacity.<ref name=gg>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Calico_Printers_Association|title=Calico Printers Association - Graces Guide|website=www.gracesguide.co.uk}}</ref> Some of this capacity was removed{{how|date=June 2016}} and in 1901 Calico had 48% of the printing trade. In 1916, they and the other printers formed and joined a trade association, which then set minimum prices for each 'price section' of the industry.{{cn|date=August 2017}}

The trade association remained in operation until 1954, when the arrangement was challenged by the government [[Monopolies Commission]]. Over the intervening period much trade had been lost overseas.<ref name="M&M">{{cite book
|last=Hughes
|first=William
|title=Report on the Process of Calico Printing
|url=http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/ulcc-bin/htsearch/Default.aspx?config=COMPCOM2&sort=score&matchesperpage=20&restrict=&words=Calico+printing
|access-date=2010-12-08
|date=1954-04-13
|publisher=Monopolies and Restrictive Practices Commission
|location=House of Commons, London
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121052518/http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/ulcc-bin/htsearch/Default.aspx?config=COMPCOM2&sort=score&matchesperpage=20&restrict=&words=Calico+printing
|archive-date=21 January 2012
|url-status=usurped
}}</ref>