In a quiet corner of the bohemian district of San Frediano, behind an 18th-century iron gate leading to a whimsical wisteria-covered alley, is the cultural heritage of Florence. Antico Setificio FiorentinoOr an antique Florentine silk mill that has been producing precious textiles since 1786.
Entering through the large, worn-out wooden doors of the atelier is to go back in time and revisit the charm and beauty of a more luxurious era.
Inside, there are 18th and 19th century wood and iron looms, some over 16 feet high, with tens of thousands of bright silk threads rattling violently, weaving warps and wefts into luxurious fabrics. Guided by carefully selected and skilled hands. A team of skilled craftsmen.
Since moving to Italy in 2003, I have been increasingly fascinated by the country’s highly talented artisans, their intriguing workshops, and especially the quality of their products in the Tuscan capital, Florence. ..
When I first visited Antico Setificio Fiorentino for a private event in 2018, I was fascinated by the huge ancient looms and the exquisite fabrics they produced. Their history, as I learned, was intertwined with Renaissance society.
The facility’s archive contains approximately 200 historic fabric designs that have been passed down to families for generations. Some have Italian and European monarchies and aristocratic names and designs. Lampad of Princess Mary of England. Brocatel of Corsini, Guicciardini, Principe Pio Savoia. Doria’s damask is just a few examples.
Many of these families practiced sericulture (breeding and silk production) and silk weaving in Florence during the time of the Medici family, who came to power in the 15th century.
Silk was introduced to Italy by a Catholic missionary who worked in China around 1100. Tuscan silk weaving and sericulture art flourished in the 14th century. The main production was Lucca, but soon expanded to Florence, Venice and Genoa.
At the peak of production, about 8,000 looms were in operation in Florence. Only a handful remain today, eight of which are produced at the Antico Setificio Fiorentino. (These eight looms were donated by a noble family in the 1700s.) The factory has a total of 12 looms, including recent semi-mechanical looms.
At the heart of the silk mill is a machine called a warper that prepares the warps for use on the loom. Designed to work vertically, this particular warper was built in the early 19th century, according to the original drawing created by Leonardo da Vinci in 1485.
Fabrizio Meucci, a workshop technician and restorer, said:
“It’s not just because of its beauty,” Meucci added, describing the workshop as “a living, working factory that looks like a museum.”
It’s fascinating to see Leonardo’s warp machine moving and spinning the warp threads into a creel that collects valuable threads from a row of spinning spools for perfect alignment. These warps are used for trims, ribbons, cords and braids. It is used for everything from upholstery, furniture, bed linen and bath linen to fashion clothing and accessories.
A 30-year-old craftsman, Dario Jacetti has been working in the textile industry for the past 10 years and most recently joined the weaver team of Antico Cettificio Fiorentino.
“There’s a lot to learn and understand in places like this, even if you’re like me, if you have my level of experience,” he says, and seeing the finished product from raw materials comes true. I added that it was magical.
“You can actually see the fabric grow and move lively,” he said, explaining the process from start to finish — from pure silk fibers to the coloring stage, yarn winding and winding. , Skein the thread until the formation of the cylinder, then the bobbin, the warp, and finally the loom.
The whole process is time consuming, especially hand weaving is very slow. It can take a whole day to make just 15 inches of fabric, like a damask with a complex design.
Other fabrics with thick threads (for example, Brocatel Gichardini, which is usually used for upholstery) can produce more quickly, perhaps 6-7 feet a day.
Outside the walls of the Antico Setificio Fiorentino, the technology for producing handmade textiles is almost gone, engineer Meucci said. Making industrial silk fabrics with the latest machines is faster, easier and cheaper. Most manufacturers cannot justify the cost.
But for weaver Jacqueti, the final product is not just the technical process involved in its creation. When he weaves, he told me, he supplies not only his time but also his heart, his passion.
“You don’t just buy the dough,” he said. “You too have received a part of my heart.”
“This is the real difference between artisan textiles and industrially made textiles,” he added.
Susan Light An Australian photographer based in Italy who has lived since 2003. Instagram..
