Oilcloth

MFA Acc. #: 2001.71.1-74

Description

A fabric, usually cotton, coated or impregnated with a pigmented drying oil, usually linseed oil, to make it waterproof. Oilcloth coatings were available in numerous colors and printed designs. It was commonly used for drop cloths, table covers, floor covers, waterproof clothing, umbrellas, and shelf linings. In the second half of the 20th century, oilcloths were replaced by less expensive plastic coated fabrics.

Synonyms and Related Terms

oil cloth; oil-cloth; toile cirée (Fr.); hule (Esp.)

Authority

• Hoechst Celanese Corporation, Dictionary of Fiber & Textile Technology (older version called Man-made Fiber and Textile Dictionary, 1965), Hoechst Celanese Corporation, Charlotte NC, 1990

• Rosalie Rosso King, Textile Identification, Conservation, and Preservation, Noyes Publications, Park Ridge, NJ, 1985

• John S. Mills, Raymond White, The Organic Chemistry of Museum Objects, Butterworth Heineman, London, 2nd ed., 1994

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 558

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• Art and Architecture Thesaurus Online, http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 2000