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Muslin

Definition

A lightweight, semi-transparent, finely-woven cotton cloth, generally white and often embroidered or patterned with supplemental threads.
Getty AAT: 300014087

Name Variants

With Qualifiers
muslin [Preferred Spelling, English], mousseline [Dutch], mousseline [French]

Related Textiles

In this database, muslins include: adathaies, alliballies, bethilles, caffa, camcanys, dimity, douriasten, guldars, hammans, jamdanies, mallemolens, sanen, tanjeebs, and therindains.

Textiles, Modifiers, and Values

Application created by: Yifei (Bell) Luo, Alec Gong, DJ Poulin, and Will Holzman
Application Instructions:

Choose a textile from the dropdown list on the upper left. Select modifier(s) for your selected textile, if any. The bar graph will generate visualizations that reflect your selections. X- and y-axis variables can also be changed.

A note about modifiers: The modifier dropdown list will include only those modifiers that relate to the selected textile. Choose OR to see results that match any of the selected modifiers. Choose AND to see results that match all of the selected modifiers. You can select more than one modifier in each field.

Essay

The term ‘muslin’ was not used in the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century documents that are the sources for the project, instead a variety of cloths which early modern European consumers, as well as us today, would categorize as muslins were referred to by names that indicated different origins, qualities, and varying local naming conventions. In this project’s data, the following terms are all types of muslins: adathaies, alliballies, bethilles, caffa, camcanys, dimity, douriasten, guldars, hammans, jamdanies, mallemolens, sanen, tanjeebs, and therindains (in alphabetical order). Other types of muslin known to Europeans that don’t appear in this data include: cummuns, dosooties, humhums, khasas, nainsooks, rehings, sallowes, seerbands, seerbettees, seerhaudconnaes, serribaffs, shalbadts, shash—either the Dutch did not trade these types or they used different terminology. There are spelling variations for each of these, as these non-European terms were transliterated—these spellings were the more common Dutch versions of these terms. These muslins for the most part are described in the dataset as having various grades, ranging from superfine to coarse or heavy, but if no weight is indicated, the case may be that this type or term always referenced the same weight, and thus the clerk had no need to note it specially. Often, the cargo is described by its geographic origin, primarily Bengal or Coromandel Coast, sometimes with a specific port within those regions. Seldom is a color provided, many are white cloths, and where a pattern is indicated, all are floral. Again, if a specific type always has the same pattern (for instance striped), the clerk would not have cause to note that. The term bethilles has a wide range of modifiers in the dataset, and it is also traded in the largest quantities by far.

magnified white textile
Magnified jamdani muslin, c. 1855, Victoria & Albert Museum
white embroidered handkerchief
Muslin handkerchief, 1738, Victoria & Albert Museum

Historical and contemporary glossaries define these as mostly white, lightweight, cotton cloths. A few exceptions: bethilles dasjes, douriasten, jamdanies, and tanjeebs had silk or mixed cotton and silk varieties (see example of silk muslin handkerchief in the gallery below); dimity, douriasten, and jamdanies could be patterned, jamdanies specifically with additional threads woven in (see example at right). Most of the textiles falling under the umbrella of muslins are catalogued in collections today only by the term ‘muslin,’ so it is difficult to connect the individual terms to specific samples. However, examples of muslin abound, like this handkerchief, embroidered with the date 1738, likely of Madras muslin. The dark background in the photo demonstrates how semi-transparent the fine-woven cloth is. The embroidery is a second stage of finishing this square of cloth into a usable object; unlike the jamdani example, the embroidered threads pierce the base cloth in multiple directions, showing they were not incorporated during weaving.

These muslins all originate in the Indian subcontinent, most types from Bengal, bethilles primarily from the Coromandel Coast, and a few shipped from Sri Lanka. The exceptions are dimity and guldars, which in the current dataset only ship from the Dutch Republic, and in very small numbers. Specific quantities and geographical distributions patterns are best seen by searching each type in the app, and eventually each of these textiles will have their own entry in the Visual Textile Glossary.

white dress
Muslin gown, 1800–1820, Victoria & Albert Museum
colorful repeating small floral design embroidered on white cloth
Embroidered muslin turban cloth, 17th/18th century, Gujarat, Victoria & Albert Museum

Muslin was much in demand across Asia and Europe. Lightweight Indian cottons, perhaps muslins, were known and celebrated in antiquity in Greece and Egypt, as we know from textual references. In the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, fine while muslin was the height of fashion for European Neoclassical women’s wear, popularized by Josephine Bonaparte. Muslin was also an important textile in dress across the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent, where it was a desirable cloth for wrapped turbans, sashes, and outer garments. Because of its semi-transparent weight, muslin can be differentiated in visual culture when it reveals the body or other garments beneath it, a challenging texture for artists to represent.

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Related Images

silk muslin handkerchief

silk muslin handkerchief

Samples of handkerchief with pattern of red and white stripes and checks. Barely visible are thin lines of black and light red. This is labeled as silk muslin.

artist: Unknown
date: 1787–1803
type: Sample book
location/object number: Cooper-Hewitt Collection, 1935-46-1
url: link to object
Turban cloth of muslin embroidered with silk

Turban cloth of muslin embroidered with silk

White cotton muslin cloth embroidered with silk thread in chain stitch with a repeating floral motif in red, yellow, and green.

artist: Mochi craftsman from Gujarat
date: late 17th or early 18th century
type: fragment
location/object number: Victoria & Albert Museum, IM.27-1936
url: link to object
Muslin Gown in Empire Style

Muslin Gown in Empire Style

Gown made in England of cotton muslin cloth from Bengal.

artist: English tailor and Bengal weaver
date: 1800–1820
type: garment
location/object number: Victoria & Albert Museum, 444-1888
url: link to object
Mughal Prince Riding an Elephant

Mughal Prince Riding an Elephant

A Mughal prince with two attendants rides an elephant. The white robes worn by the attendants appear transparent, as if they are made of fine muslin, and the prince's garment, though more finely decorated with floral motifs, also appears somewhat transparent.

artist: Unknown Indian artist
date: 1675–1700
type: drawing
location/object number: Rijksmuseum, RP-T-1948-2
url: link to object
Embroidered cotton muslin handkerchief

Embroidered cotton muslin handkerchief

A cotton handkerchief, of plain white lightweight muslin, embroidered on the edge, and dated 1738.

artist: Unknown Madras maker, unknown embroiderer
date: 1738
type: Handkerchief
location/object number: Victoria & Albert Museum, IS.14-1967
url: link to object
Detail of jamdani patterned muslin sari

Detail of jamdani patterned muslin sari

Magnified detail shows the muslin base textile with the discontinuous additional weft, woven in horizontal lines, to create a visual and textural pattern.

artist: Unknown maker in Dhaka, Bengal
date: c. 1855
type: garment
location/object number: Victoria & Albert Museum, 0447(IS)
url: link to object
Muslin Jama (robe), in late Mughal style

Muslin Jama (robe), in late Mughal style

This robe is constructed from white cotton muslin embroidered with gold thread, with red satin inner facing on the hems.

artist: Unknown Indian weaver and tailor
date: ca. 1780–1795
type: garment
location/object number: Victoria & Albert Museum, IS.8-1968
url: link to object
Copyright © 2023 Dutch Textile Trade
how to cite:
Marsely Kehoe. "Muslin." The Dutch Textile Trade Project, edited by Carrie Anderson and Marsely Kehoe. https://dutchtextiletrade.org/textiles/muslin/. Accessed 06/03/2023.
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