Fustian

MFA Acc. #: 19.602

Description

A sturdy, short-pile fabric originally made from cotton weft and linen warp using a satin weave. Fustian was popular during the Middle ages and probably orginated in Al-Fustat (Egypt) about 200 CE. It has a smooth twill surface on one side and a short, heavy-napped surface on the other. Fustian is used for sportswear and work clothing and, at one time, was used for covering blankbooks. Since the 19th century, cotton has been used for both the warp and weft.

Synonyms and Related Terms

moleskin; velveteen; corduroy

Authority

• G.S.Brady, G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 846

• Matt Roberts, Don Etherington, Matt Roberts, Don Etherington, Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books: a Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1982

• Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com Comment: "Fustian." Encyclopdia Britannica. 2004. Encyclopdia Britannica Premium Service. 30 July 2004 .

• Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, at http://www.wikipedia.com Comment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fustian (Accessed Nov. 2, 2005)

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

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

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