Caratex Stamps

TEXTILES - From Fibre to Fashion

A textile themed stamp collection

Spinning and Weaving

The collection includes everything connected with textiles but excludes apparel or costumes, which is a theme well worth collecting on its own. There are many hundreds of stamps featuring a wide range of textiles from raw materials to the finished product.

The two basic textile processes of yarn spinning and cloth weaving have captured the imagination of stamp designers of many industrial nations, particularly if the textile industry contributes significantly to the general economy of the country.

The native handloom is frequently utilised by designers, each country illustrating its own version of the handloom, depending on local skills and craft development. The most famous yarn spinner, Mahatma Ghandi, has been shown on a stamp of Great Britain, 1969. Eleanor Roosevelt is pictured with a spinning wheel on an Indian stamp in 1963

Cotton

Cotton in spite of competition from man-made fibres, is still the major fibre for production of apparel cloth. Over 30 countries have featured the cotton plant, plantations, or processing because of the significant contribution of cotton to their national economies.

Lace fabrics and Lace making

Countries which have given prominence to their lace making heritage are Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Columbia, East Germany (Plauen lace), Italy, Malta. Portugal, St. Helena, Sweden and Switzerland. The set from Hungary (Halasi lace) is a fine example.

Industry

There are textile factories or mills featured in philately. Great Britain featured Saltaire mill on a 1999 issue in a reproduction of a painting by the artist David Hockney. Poland features one of the world's best known, medieval textile trading centres the "Sukiennice" or Cloth Hall in Krakow.