telares - History Lab

Wide looms at work in Toledo in 1692

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:07 +0000

During the Modern Age in the city of Toledo, the silk weaving industry stood out. From its great splendour in the 16th century, it began to decline from the last quarter of the century until its disappearance at the end of the 18th century or the beginning of the 19th century. The legislation in force and the guild’s own constrictions, added to the discrimination against artisans from other cities such as Valencia, led them to paralyse their looms in 1737 as a sign of their discontent.
As the author of the article points out, at the end of the 17th century (in 1690) there were 530 looms in operation in Toledo, falling to 500 a year later and decreasing drastically to 285 in 1692, the time of the appeal. According to testimonies of the time, the cause of this decline was the radical increase in the price of silk; for a few months this raw material did not arrive in Toledo, which forced many manufacturers to cease production directly.
Faced with this situation, the overseers of Toledo asked for methodological and technical exemptions so as not to have to adjust to the weight required for their products, alleging inconsistent guidelines such as the fact that thicker silks did not fit together well or that clothes with a smaller amount of weaving could be of higher quality. In the face of their submissions and evidence, the Board of Trade accepted their tolerance of these modifications. A year later, in 1693, the number of looms in operation rose again to 622.

The post Wide looms at work in Toledo in 1692 first appeared on History Lab.

Weaving establishments and number of looms in Catalonia, by judicial districts, in 1841

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:57 +0000

The post Weaving establishments and number of looms in Catalonia, by judicial districts, in 1841 first appeared on History Lab.

Monthly wages in spinning and weaving in Catalonia according to the type of spinning, in 1841 (reals of fleece)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:57 +0000

Until the 1970s, the eighteenth-century Indian factories had constituted the continuity of Catalan industry during the nineteenth century. In this sense, Catalan industrialisation did not respond to an exclusive Barcelona model, but rather emerged as a response to the diverse productive structures of the territory, combining the new fibre with new technologies. Nevertheless, cotton reinforced Barcelona in the industry by being the point of entry and distribution. Although there are certain inconsistencies in the different areas, the data are fairly homogeneous. In the area of spinning with mules, wages were much higher. Men earned 272-298 reais as opposed to women, who earned 116-146 while a child earned between 50-59 reais; in the berdagana zones men earned between 146-164, women 59.2-76.8 and children between 33.4-33.6.something similar happened with weaving, since based on the average of the prices of the different parties, men in the mule area charged 62% more than those in the berdeganas area, women 70% more and children 47% more. In weaving, men were paid 28.9% more, women 100% more and children 26.5% more. In Manresa, all salaries were in an intermediate position, while in Reus, weavers were close to Barcelona salaries. Therefore, there were significant wage differences from one area to another.

The post Monthly wages in spinning and weaving in Catalonia according to the type of spinning, in 1841 (reals of fleece) first appeared on History Lab.