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CANVAS

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Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 223 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CANVAS , a stout See also:

cloth which probably derives its name from cannabis, the Latin word for See also:hemp. This would appear to indicate that canvas was originally made from yarns of the hemp fibre, and there is some ground for the See also:assumption. This fibre and that of See also:flax have certainly been used for ages for the See also:production of cloth for furnishing sails, and for certain classes of cloth used for this purpose the terms " See also:sailcloth " and " canvas " are synonymous. See also:Warden, in his See also:Linen See also:Trade, states that the manufacture of sailcloth was established in See also:England in 1590, as appears by the See also:preamble of See also:James I., cap. 23:—" Whereas the cloths called Mildernix and Powel See also:Davies, whereof sails and other See also:furniture for the See also:navy and See also:shipping are made, were heretofore altogether brought out of See also:France and other parts beyond See also:sea, and the skill and See also:art of making and See also:weaving of the said sailcloths never known or used in England until about the See also:thirty-second See also:year of the See also:late See also:Queen See also:Elizabeth, about what See also:time and not before the perfect art or skill of making or weaving of the said cloths was attained to, and since practised and continued in this See also:realm, to the See also:great benefit and commodity thereof." But this, or a similar cloth of the same name had been used for centuries before this time by the Egyptians and Phoenicians. Since the introduction of the See also:power See also:loom the cloth has undergone several modifications, and it is now made both from flax, hemp, See also:tow, jute and See also:cotton, or a mixture of these, but the quality of sailcloth for the See also:British See also:government is kept up to the See also:original See also:standard. All flax canvas is essentially of See also:double warp, for it is invariably intended to withstand some pressure or rough usage. In structure it is similar to jute See also:tarpaulin; indeed, if it were not for the difference in the fibre, it would be difficult to say where one type stopped and the other began. " See also:Bagging," " tarpaulin " and " canvas " See also:form an ascending See also:series of cloths so far as fineness is concerned, although the finest tarpaulins are finer than some of the See also:lower canvases. The cloth may be natural See also:colour, bleached or dyed, a very See also:common colour being tan. It has an enormous number of different uses other than See also:naval. Amongst other articles made from it are: receptacles for photographic and other apparatus; bags for fishing, See also:shooting, See also:golf and other sporting implements; shoes for See also:cricket and other See also:games, and for See also:yachting; travelling cases and hold-alls, See also:letter-bags, school-bags and See also:nose-bags for horses.

Large quantities of the various makes of flax and cotton canvases are tarred, and then used for covering goods on See also:

railways, wharves, docks, etc. See also:Sail canvas is, naturally, of a strong build, and is quite different-See also:CANYON 223 from the canvas cloth used for See also:embroidery purposes, often called " art canvas." The latter is similar in structure to See also:cheese cloths and strainers, the See also:chief difference being that the yarns for art canvas are, in See also:general, of a See also:superior nature. All kinds of See also:vegetable See also:fibres are used in their production, chief among which are cotton, flax and jute. The yarns are almost invariably two or more ply, an arrangement which tends to obtain a See also:uniform thickness—a very desirable See also:element in these open-built fabrics. The See also:plain weave A in the figure is extensively used for these fabrics, but in many cases See also:special weaves are used which leave the open spaces well defined. Thus weave B is often employed, while the " See also:imitation See also:gauze " weaves, C and D, are also largely utilized in the production of these embroidery cloths. Weave B is known as the hopsack, and probably owes its name to being originally used for the making of bags for hops. The cloth for this purpose is now called " See also:hop pocketing," and is of a structure between bagging and tarpaulin. Another class of canvas, single warp termed" artists' canvas," is used, as its name implies, for paintings in See also:oils. It is also much lighter than sail canvas, but must, of See also:necessity, be made of level yarns. The best qualities are made of cream or bleached flax See also:line, although it is not unusual to find an admixture of tow, and even of cotton in the commoner kinds. When the cloth comes from the loom, it undergoes a special treatment to prepare the See also:surface for the paint.

End of Article: CANVAS

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