# Camlet

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{{short description|Woven fabric}}
'''Camlet''', also commonly known as '''camlot''', '''camblet''', or '''chamlet''', is a woven [fabric](/source/Textile) that might have originally been made of [camel](/source/camel_hair) or [goat](/source/goat)'s hair, later chiefly of goat's hair and [silk](/source/silk), or of [wool](/source/wool) and [cotton](/source/cotton).<ref>''Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary''. 1913.</ref> The original form of this cloth was very valuable; the term later came to be applied to imitations of the original eastern fabric.<ref name="oed">"Camlet". ''Oxford English Dictionary''. Oxford University Press. 2nd edition. 1989.</ref>

In the 18th century, [England](/source/England), [France](/source/France), [Holland](/source/Holland), and [Flanders](/source/Flanders) were the chief places of its manufacture; [Brussels](/source/Brussels) exceeded them all in the beauty and quality of its camlets, followed by England.<ref name="cyclo">{{Cyclopaedia 1728|title=Camelot, or Camlet}}</ref>

A variety of terms have been used for camlet in different forms:

*''Figured camlets'' are of one color, on which are stamped various figures, flowers, foliages, etc. The figures were applied with hot irons, passed together with the fabric, under a press. In the 18th century, these were chiefly brought from [Amiens](/source/Amiens) and [Flanders](/source/Flanders). In antiquity, figured camlets were sought more than in modern times.
*''Water camlets'', after weaving, received a certain preparation with water; and were afterwards passed under a hot press, giving them a smoothness and lustre.<ref name="cyclo"/> 
*Moreen a thick woolen stuff used in [upholstery](/source/upholstery). It is a variety of watered camlet.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lebeau|first=Caroline|url=https://archive.org/details/fabricsdecorativ0000lebe|title=Fabrics : the decorative art of textiles|date=1994|publisher=London : Thames and Hudson|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-500-01631-2|pages=204, 205}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Treasury|first=United States Department of the|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HfZhc2UHD_YC&q=Moreen+fabric&pg=PA599|title=Treasury Decisions Under Customs and Other Laws|date=1892|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|pages=599|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Dooley|first=William Henry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pfchzho0R_cC&q=Moreen+fabric&pg=PT199|title=Textiles For Commercial, Industrial and Domestic Arts Schools; Also Adapted to Those Engaged in Wholesale and Retail Dry Goods, Wool, Cotton and Dressmaker's Trades|date=1914|publisher=Library of Alexandria|isbn=978-1-4655-4393-6|language=en}}</ref>
*''Waved camlets'' feature impressed waves, as on [tabbies](/source/tabby).<ref name="cyclo"/>

Manufacturers of camlets had to take care not to introduce any unnecessary pleats in the fabric, as they were almost impossible to undo. This difficulty was so notorious, that a proverb existed, stating that someone "is like a camlet—he has taken his pleat."<ref name="cyclo"/>

==Etymology==
The origin of the term is uncertain. While certain authors reference camlets as originally being made of camel hair, others believe it is from the Arabic ''seil el kemel'', the [Angora goat](/source/Angora_goat).<ref name="oed"/> According to [Chambers's Encyclopaedia](/source/Chambers's_Encyclopaedia), it comes from Arabic ''chamal'', meaning fine.<ref>{{cite book|title=Chambers's encyclopaedia: a dictionary of universal knowledge, Volume 1|publisher=J.B. Lippincott & Co|date=1888|page=263}}</ref>

French scholar [Gilles Ménage](/source/Gilles_M%C3%A9nage) determined that "camlet" was derived from ''zambelot'', a [Levant](/source/Levant)ine term for stuffs made with the fine hair of a Turkish goat, probably the Angora goat, from which comes the term ''Turkish camelot''. [Bochart](/source/Samuel_Bochart) claimed ''zambelot'' was a corruption from Arabic. Others called it ''capellote'', from ''capelle'', she-goat. Still others have sourced ''camelot'' from the bare Latin ''camelus'', so that ''camelot'' should properly signify a fabric made of camel hair.<ref name="cyclo"/>

== See also ==
* [Harateen](/source/Harateen)

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{fabric}}

Category:Woven fabrics

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Camlet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camlet) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camlet?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.