The 19th century saw an incredible transition in the manufacture,
availability, and economics of textiles, and printed cottons were at the
center of the Industrial Revolution in fabrics. Many more printed patterns and colors
became available. Improved transportation and communications combined with lower costs
to allow fashions to be more widely adopted by those in the middle and lower classes,
and encouraged fashions to change more quickly than before.
Nineteenth-century advances in photography, printing, archaeology, and museum
practice mean 19th century fabrics are better documented than earlier textiles,
and more examples have survived.
All of this makes "19th Century" a broader and less precise category for textiles. In time
I will attempt to assign the fabrics to more specific fashion eras within the 19th century.
For now I'll note that the block prints with brown and other richly-colored grounds are especially
appropriate for the 1820s through 1860s, and that the white-ground saris with pastel motifs are lovely
as Regency-era
sprigged muslins.
