Horsecloth Fabrics
Residence Fine Furniture has a unique and splendid range of horsecloth fabrics.
The fabrics combine beauty and lustre with the more practical benefits of durability and ease of care, making them ideal for a wide range of interior design and furnishing applications in residential and commercial settings. They are particularly suited to seaside situations, and are an ideal material for upholstering seats in luxury boats.
There are over 100 variations of colour, including vibrant red, gold, blue and green, styles including sateen and damask, and patterns including tabby's, twills and stripes, in the standard range. Cloth widths range from 55 to 70cms, with most being 65cms wide. The horsecloth can also be woven to meet your individual design, pattern and colour requirements, with a minimum order of only 30 meters required.
In addition we offer you horsecloth-covered seats on any of our extensive range of beautifully hand crafted dining and easy chairs.
Horsecloth was first used in Europe as long ago as the 17th century. Because of its qualities of versatility, hardiness and prestige it soon became one of the most popular coverings of fine furniture and was used by many leading furniture designers and manufacturers from the 18th century onwards including Chippendale and Hepplewhite.
Horsecloth is made from the tails of live working horses mainly from Argentina, Russia, Mongolia and China. The fabric is produced by weaving the treated hair as the weft (cross fibre) into either cotton, silk, or occasionally synthetic warp (long fibre).
Horses' tails regrow so the hair can be harvested up to five times during its lifetime, without harm to the horse, whilst tail hair from dead horses cannot be used, as it is too brittle and cannot be dyed. |
