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Furnishing Fabric

1900-1949 (manufactured)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This is a piece of leathercloth, or artificial leather, made by Crocketts & Co, the successors to JR&CP Crocketts, of West Ham, Essex, England and formerly of Newark, New Jersey in the USA.
All forms of artificial leather seem to be made by coating a woven cotton backing with something that can be pigmented and marked with lines to imitate leather grain. The process which is probably the oldest, developed in 1884, used cellulose nitrate which is explosive if the nitrogen content exceeds 13%. Since the Second World War it has been more common to use Polyvinyl Chloride [PVC] as the coating. This plastic material is made from the basic chemicals found in salt, water and petroleum. Rudimentary experiments were begun in 1840 in France but it was not developed until the Dow Chemical Company began systematic work on it in the USA in 1939.
Artificial leather is used extensively in upholstery, including vehicle interiors, and in book-binding.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Woven cotton laminated with either cellulose nitrate or PVC
Brief description
Laminated woven cotton furnishing fabric, manufcatured by Crocketts & Co, West Ham, Essex, 1900-1949.
Physical description
Furnishing fabric, woven cotton laminated with cellulose nitrate or PVC. Light blue-grey textured ground, undecorated, with a backing of off-white cotton plain weave.
Dimensions
  • Length: 78.5cm
  • Width: 49.5cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • Excelsior Crocketts & Co Original Leathercloth made by the successors to JR&CP Crockett First Manufacturers 12 Yds West Ham Essex England formerly Newark NJ USA Late Crockett International Leather Cloth Company (1) Makers's mark; English; Back of fabric; Stencil; Black ink)
  • Transliteration
Credit line
Given by Dr Philip Sykas
Summary
This is a piece of leathercloth, or artificial leather, made by Crocketts & Co, the successors to JR&CP Crocketts, of West Ham, Essex, England and formerly of Newark, New Jersey in the USA.
All forms of artificial leather seem to be made by coating a woven cotton backing with something that can be pigmented and marked with lines to imitate leather grain. The process which is probably the oldest, developed in 1884, used cellulose nitrate which is explosive if the nitrogen content exceeds 13%. Since the Second World War it has been more common to use Polyvinyl Chloride [PVC] as the coating. This plastic material is made from the basic chemicals found in salt, water and petroleum. Rudimentary experiments were begun in 1840 in France but it was not developed until the Dow Chemical Company began systematic work on it in the USA in 1939.
Artificial leather is used extensively in upholstery, including vehicle interiors, and in book-binding.
Collection
Accession number
T.38-2004

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Record createdFebruary 3, 2004
Record URL
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