At Pooky, we’re a little obsessed with materials. We spend an inordinate amount of time seeking out the very best of them. Feeling, testing and experimenting, and asking: what can this material do that others can’t?
In this series, The Language of Materials, we take a closer look at the substances that shape the things we make, exploring their origins, their qualities and the long traditions of craft behind them.
Here we unravel the story of cotton and discover why this most adaptable of materials has never gone out of style…
Cotton is a perennial favourite for lightweight summer clothes but it’s strong enough to dress your home too, from bedding and upholstery to curtains, tea towels and, of course, lampshades. Ethically sourced and produced block-printed cotton is a mainstay of Pooky’s dazzling and expansive lampshade collection.
Plain and simple in its natural state, cotton can take on colour, pattern and embellishment with ease. It has been around for thousands of years and has a history that combines the fascinating and extraordinary with the grim and savage…
Cotton: back to the source
We can’t be sure exactly when and where the cotton plant first appeared on earth, nor when its fibres were first woven into cloth, but cotton bolls and fragments of cloth found by scientists in Mexican caves were thought to be about 7,000 years old. It also proved to be remarkably similar to the cotton produced today in the USA. (In 1492, Columbus found cotton growing in the Bahamas; by the 1550s it had arrived in Florida and, by the early 1600s, it was a major cash crop alongside Virginia’s James River.)
But we also know that cotton was being grown and woven along the Nile Valley 5,000 years ago, as it was along Pakistan’s Indus Valley. Europeans, however, would have to wait until around 800CE to get their hands on cotton cloth, brought to the continent by Arab merchants trading along the Silk Roads.
India’s cotton colours
The Indus Valley cultivation heralded the start of the sub-continent’s cotton story that would eventually become an important part of Pooky’s own…
It was the unsurpassed skills of India’s textile makers and what they achieved that would, in time, lead to cotton becoming a decorative fabric that took the world by storm. The artisans of the Coromandel Coast and Gujarat became renowned for their exquisite block-printed, dyed and painted cottons, with some examples surviving from the 13th and 14th centuries.
And then they developed chintz, a richly coloured, cotton-based fabric with fabulous botanical motifs. Chintz could be found in Europe from the 17th century onwards. Europe, it seemed, could not get enough of this washable, lightweight, colourful but colourfast fabric that brought sub-tropical exuberance and warmth into hitherto greyish interiors.
Inevitably, this prompted a backlash from European textile manufacturers. In the 18th century, Britain and France introduced restrictions and bans on the domestic use of Indian-produced cotton, and their own manufacturers began to produce printed cottons. This would be the platform from which the mammoth European printed textile industry was launched.
The European cotton revolution and a shameful history
Cotton was everywhere: bed hangings, curtains, decorative covers, quilts and upholstery. Cotton was king, as was pattern, including florals, botanicals and single-colour Toile de Jouy, which appeared on the scene in France in 1760.
A great favourite of Marie-Antoinette, Toile de Jouy often featured charming, if highly idealised, images of country life, perfect for Le Petit Trianon, for example, but a far cry from the reality of life for the actual paysannerie. The revolutionary versions of Toile de Jouy told a rather different tale.
The European love affair with cotton went hand-in-hand with the Industrial Revolution, which was transforming production methods and output. The demand for cotton bolls was seemingly unstoppable. This, of course, is where the story takes a sinister turn…
Most of the cotton being woven and printed in Europe was grown in the Americas, on plantations worked by enslaved people. To put this in a domestic context, despite Britain having abolished slavery earlier in the century, by 1860 American plantations were supplying up to 90% of the raw cotton processed in Lancashire.
The cotton mills were pretty hellish places too. In 1860, Lancashire had 2,650 mills, employing a total of 440,000 workers, many of whom were women and children. Working life was brutal: up to 12 hours a day, six days a week, spent in hot, dry and fibre-filled air and operating machinery that was notoriously dangerous.
However, the American Civil War and the consequent Lancashire Cotton Famine would soon drastically reduce Britain’s cotton imports from America. British textile producers had to diversify their cotton supply chains, increasingly importing from India and Egypt, as well as Brazil and the Caribbean. But the events of the 1860s and their aftermath would mark the beginning of the end of what had once been Britain’s premier industry. (Most raw cotton and cotton-based products currently sold in the UK are imported via Austria and Italy, which are now Europe’s main cotton trading and processing countries.)
The demand for cotton continues
Despite the cotton production turmoil of the 19th century, industrialisation meant that even elaborately patterned and richly coloured cotton was now more affordable and available to many more people. The Victorians could not get enough of pattern, and their homes overflowed with fabric. No surface was left uncovered and budget-friendly, printed cotton fitted the bill wonderfully.
Few understood the decorative potential of cotton better than William Morris. Designs such as Jasmine, Marigold, Strawberry Thief, Trellis and Tulip are still in production today and you can even find some of them here at Pooky.
In the Arts and Crafts movement, cotton enriched with pattern and colour reached its apex. This, combined with the advent of artificial lighting, is when the first cotton lampshades appeared on the domestic scene. Using cotton meant that lampshades could be not only useful but beautiful too. Apart from absorbing colour and pattern, a cotton lampshade was versatile; it could be gathered, pleated or simply left in its natural state.
At home with cotton today
If there is a more adaptable fabric than cotton, we can’t think of one. Which is why it remains as popular as ever, whether adorned in delicate florals, stripes, spots, botanicals or striking geometrics. Unashamedly traditional or boldly modern, the cotton choice is yours.
Cotton is also a key element of layering. There’s no need to match the fabric of your lampshade to that of your curtains or upholstery. Instead, pick out one or two colours from your lampshade and introduce them elsewhere in the same room, for example, in cushions, flowers, rugs, or in the lamp base itself. Our fabulous single-colour bases, in ceramic or resin, are perfect for just that.
Designs on cotton at Pooky
With some 500 cotton lampshades to choose from, we were not quite sure where or how to begin to whittle them down to a select few to illustrate Pooky’s own cotton story. But, knowing how much the designers and artisans we work with love cotton, we decided to put together a micro collection drawn from our special collections.
Let’s start with Matthew Williamson, who has designed two special collections for us. Alongside traditional ikat patterns, Matthew’s designs include colourful contemporary interpretations of paisley, and fauna and flora, such as this beautiful English Meadow print. It began life as “a naïve watercolour painting of tiny meadow flowers,” according to Matthew. We think it’s perfect for bringing a little cottage charm and warmth to a corner shelf or side table.
It’s no secret that William Morris’s designs have been an enduring inspiration here at Pooky, and our Morris & Co collaboration brings some of his most timeless patterns to cotton lampshades in a glorious range of colours. Take this delightful Wallflower printed cotton lampshade, for instance. The fabric design dates from 1890, and with its gracefully scrolling acanthus leaves framing delicate wallflowers, it is a stunning example of Morris’s artistry.
Ellen Merchant was the hugely talented winner of our 2022 student design competition. Since then, she has designed three collections for Pooky, combining traditional hand-blocking techniques with vibrant, contemporary botanical styles. Her delightful Poppies range is a lovely example, with the softly gathered cotton bringing extra texture and character to the design.
Finally, we are celebrating India, and Jaipur in particular, with its centuries-old tradition of hand block-printing. This is our Temple lampshade in red… a warm, deep, earthy shade somewhere between terracotta and pomegranate, with an almost architectural rhythm and real presence.
See what a hint of Jaipur could add to your surroundings.
And then take a stroll through Pooky’s entire cotton lampshade range here.
You may be some time…
See also:
The Language of Materials: Brass
The Language of Materials: Paper
The Language of Materials: Rattan and cane
The Language of Materials: Linen