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the  History of the Ming Dynasty (Ming shi) indicate   who was also heiress to the Crown of Aragón. As both the Queen of Portugal and
                                                                                                                                                                       that complex  luo gauze, a type of mid-weight silk   the youngest sister of Emperor Charles V (r. 1519–1556), Catherine led a privileged
                                                                                                                                                                       fabric woven with crossing ends, was used to make
                                                                                                                                                                       ceremonial costumes and ordinary clothing of the   life.  As  will  be  shown  in  the following  Chapters,  Catherine  acquired  quantities  of
                                                                                                                                                                       emperor and empresses, the court dress of the
                                                                                                                                                                       prince, and the audience uniforms of the bulwark-  luxury goods from Asia for the decoration of the Lisbon royal palace as well as for her
                                                                                                                                                                       commandant of the state, the seventh highest of   personal use, which served as emblems of her power.  Her collection became the first
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      32
                                                                                                                                                                       eight ranks of imperial nobility.  Sha gauze, a type
                                                                                                                                                                       of thin silk woven fabric in which one set of crossing   kunstkammer on the Iberian Peninsula.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           33
                                                                                                                                                                       (doup) ends and one set of fixed ends are crossed
                                                                                                                                                                       the same way after each shuttle movement. The   From the documents discussed thus far it is possible to conclude that relatively
                                                                                                                                                                       little holes of this type of gauze make it lightweight   large quantities of raw silk and various woven silk cloths began to reach Lisbon in
                                                                                                                                                                       and breathable, thus appropriate for hot and
                                                                                                                                                                       humid weather. For a discussion on these gauzes   the early years of direct Portuguese trade relations with China, even when trade was
                                                                                                                                                                       and  their  various  decorative  techniques,  as  well  as
                                                                                                                                                                       images of surviving Ming examples, see Kuhn, 2012,    prohibited from 1522 to 1554.  These imported silks appear to have been much
                                                                                                                                                                       pp. 387–393, figs. 8.23–8.35, and pp. 526–527.
                                                                                                                                                                                                          appreciated by the royal courts of Manuel I, and his successor, John III. One can
                                                                                                                                                                     25   Silk satin (duan) is a fabric with a lustrous surface,
                                                                                                                                                                       a smooth appearance, and a soft feel. During the   also observe that despite the royal monopoly of trade in silk imposed in 1520, some
                                                                                                                                                                       Ming dynasty there were four main varieties of   Portuguese private individuals were trading not only woven silk cloths, but also
                                                                                                                                                                       satin: monochrome patterned satin damask (anhua
                                                                                                                                                                       duan), satin woven with gold (zhijin duan), plain   finished silk products, such as silk stockings.
                                                                                                                                                                       satin (suduan),  and brocaded  satin (zhuanghua
                                                                                                                                                                       duan). From the fourteenth century onwards, the
                                                                                                                                                                       most common silk satin was a monochrome five-end   Evidence of silk in Portugal after the settlement of Macao in 1557
                                                                                                                                                                       damask weave (wumei duan) consisting of a five-end
                                                                                                                                                                       warp satin ground and a five-pick weft satin pattern.   After settling in Macao in 1557, the Portuguese merchants gained regular access to the
                                                                                                                                                                       For a discussion on Ming satin weaves and surviving
                                                                                                                                                                       examples, see Kuhn, 2012, pp. 375–384, figs. 8.4–8.17.  bi-annual fair of Canton. This enabled them to establish a direct triangular trade route
                                                                                                                                                                     26   Twill damask (ling) is a silk fabric formed by a warp-  of relatively short distances between Canton, Macao and Japan. Raw silk, together
                                                                                                                                                                       faced and a weft-faced binding. By the Ming dynasty,
                                                                                                                                                                       figured ling damask was produced as a fine, lustrous,   with Japanese and New  World silver, became the main commodity traded by the
                                                                                                                                                                       sleek  fabric  with  a  twill  pattern  on  a  twill  ground,   Portuguese in Macao. At this point it is important to note that, as discussed in Chapter
                                                                                                                                                                       which used untwisted raw silk for both warp and weft.
                                                                                                                                                                       After weaving, the damask fabric was processed   I, the vast majority of silk traded by the Portuguese was not destined to Europe. It
                                                                                                                                                                       and dyed. The  finest types  of figured  ling damask
                                                                                                                                                                       were used for embroidery and for underwear. For   was used for their inter-Asian trade, distributed mainly to India, Japan (by both
                                                                                                                                                                       a discussion on Ming twill damasks and a surviving   Portuguese merchants and Jesuits until 1639) and Manila (after 1571) in exchange for
                                                                                                                                                                       example, see Kuhn, 2012, p. 402, fig. 8.43, and
                                                                                                                                                                       pp. 524–525.                       silver and gold.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       34
                                                                                                                                                                     27   A fine, plain silk fabric formed by interweaving a warp   The Portuguese used the Macao-Malacca/Goa-Lisbon trade route to supply silk
                                                                                                                                                                       and a weft yarn in a simple way. Taffeta fabrics are
                                                                                                                                                                       usually shiny. Scott, 1993, p. 241,   and other Asian luxury goods to India, Portugal and the rest of Europe.  In the period
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     35
                                                                                                                                                                     28   Anselmo Braamcamp Freire, ‘Inventário da casa de   1581 to 1586, the years following the union of Spain and Portugal, the Crown allowed
                                                                                                                                                                       D. João III em 1534’, Archivo histórico portuguez, vol.
                                                                                                                                                                       8, Lisbon, 1910, pp. 276–277. Mentioned in Ferreira,   freedom of trade, but continued to reserve for itself the profitable trade in pepper,
                                                                                                                                                                       2013, p. 48.
                                                                                                                                                                                                          silk and cinnamon.  In late Ming China, meanwhile, silk production began to shift
                                                                                                                                                                                                                          36
                                                                                                                                                                     29   According to Guimarães Sá any account book or
                                                                                                                                                                       inventory of members of the royal family dating to the   after 1581 from rural areas to suburban villages in the Lower Yangtze.  Taxes in kind
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    37
                                                                                                                                                                       fifteenth century documents that there were several
                                                                                                                                                                       tailors dedicated to make liturgical vestments, such as   were abolished that year, which meant that the state no longer provided any direct
                                                                                                                                                                       altar fronts, chasubles, dalmatics, altarpiece curtains,   demand for silk tabbies even in traditional silk weaving regions.  A small amount of
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                38
                                                                                                                                                                       and coffin covers, as well as others that made clothes
                                                                                                                                                                       for  profane use,  including  bed attire, canopies,   silk tabbies continued to be produced in Zhili and Jiangxi for sale in central markets,
                                                                                                                                                                       hanging cloths, or horse and mule dressings. Isabel
                                                                                                                                                                       dos Guimarães Sá, ‘Dressed to impress; clothing,   such as Hangzhou; as well as in Sichuan, Guangdong and Fujian, but these latter
                                                                                                                                                                       jewels and weapons in court rituals in Portugal (1450–  regions mostly exported raw silk to the Lower Yangzi.
                                                                                                                                                                       1650)’, paper presented at the Conference Clothing
                                                                                                                                                                       and the Culture of Appearances in Early Modern   Textual sources contain valuable data to identify the various types and prices
                                                                                                                                                                       Europe. Research perspectives, Madrid, Fundación
                                                                                                                                                                       Carlos Amberes, Museo del Traje, 3–4 February 2012,   of silks purchased at Canton, and estimate the volumes shipped to Goa. Among the
                                                                                                                                                                       p. 7.
                                                                                                                                                                                                          earliest is the three-volume book Itinerário of 1596 written by the Dutch merchant
                                                                                                                                                                     30   Covado is a measure used in Portugal that was
                                                                                                                                                                       equivalent to ¾ of a yard, or a Flemish ell.  Annemarie   and explorer Jan Huygen van Linschoten (1563–1611), who observes that ‘only from
                                                                                                                                                                       Jordan,  The Development of Catherine of Austria’s   the town of Canton there is yearly carried into India above three thousand quintals of
                                                                                                                                                                       collection in the Queen’s household: its character
                                                                                                                                                                       and cost, unpublished doctoral dissertation, Brown   silk, which are sold by weight, besides the silks that are yearly carried to the Islands of
                                                                                                                                                                       University, Providence, 1994, p. 435.
                                                                                                                                                                                                          Japan, Luzon, of Philippines, and to the land of Sian…’.  The Florentine merchant
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          39
                                                                                                                                                                     31   Archivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo (Hereafter cited
                                                                                                                                                                       as ANTT), Lisbon, Núcleo Antigo, no. 790, ‘Catalina   and traveller Francesco Carletti (1573–1636) in the account of his travels around the
                                                                                         Fig. 2.1.1.1  Kesi slit tapestry weaving                                      de Austria, Inventario de joyas y guardarropa, 15 de
                                                                                         Silk and metallic thread                                                      Mayo de 1528’, fol. 93v. Mentioned in Jordan, 1994,   world which began that same year, notes that the merchandise acquired twice a year at
                                                                                         China, Ming dynasty                                                           p.  384;  Annemarie  Jordan,  ‘Catherine  of  Austria:  A   the Canton fair to be taken to India in the months of April and May was ‘chiefly raw
                                                                                                                                                                       Portuguese Queen in the Shadow of the Habsburg
                                                                                         Dimensions: 224.2cm x 180.3cm                                                 Court?’,  Portuguese Studies Review, Vol. 13, Nos.   silk, of which they transport on each voyage 70,000 to 80,000 pounds of twenty ounces
                                                                                         The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York                                      1 and 2, Fall-Winter 2005 (Publ. 2007), p. 184; and
                                                                                         Seymour Fund, 1960 (acc. no. 60.1)                                            Pacheco Ferreira, 2013, p. 48. A full transcription   to the pound, which they call catti. They also carry quantities of diverse cloths…’.
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