Colouring the Nation

Here is a new book...Colouring the Nation: The Turkey Red Printed Cotton Industry in Scotland 1840-1940 By S Nemadic and S Tuckett. It is published by the National Museums, Scotland, price £17.99.

This book resulted from a two year project to catalogue the museum's collection of some 200 Turkey Red Pattern books - rare survivals which contain some 40,000 samples of the industry's output. The sample books themselves are in a fragile state and thus not available to researchers, so this book is very welcome. 

Turkey Red was a complex process, but produced a red fabric which was bright coloured and did not fade. Although there was a domestic market for the fabric, much of the output was exported, and the cloth had to be carefully tailored to the taste of various  overseas markets. These fabrics of course were not seen in British quilts, so the samples shown are of interest. 

History has tended to ignore the importance of textiles in British history - but Scotland vied with England in Turkey Red cloth printing and production of cotton goods, and employed thousands along the River Clyde and in the Vale of Leven. 

This book has a readable content and is illustrated with some colourful and nicely detailed photos. Books on fabric are few, so it is a delight to have such an attractive addition to my meagre library. The book is available online at www.shops.nms.ac.uk or from Amazon or The Book Depository. Highly recommended!