The cloth industry
The chief uses of woven cloth at the time were clothing and sails for ships and windmills. The clothing made by this method was so durable that it would often last longer than the person wearing it and be beqeathed to heirs. The raw materials were high quality and the skills of the tailor (kleermaker) were extraordinary.
One of the measures of fabric quality is the thickness and density of the threads. Since there was so little standardization, merchants like van Leeuwenhoek relied on their own eyes, aided by a thread counter (dradenteller). It is a low-powered lens, like a jeweler's loupe, magnifying perhaps three to five times, with resolution good enough to calibrate and count even the thinest threads.
The image above from the Collectie Centraal Museum Utrecht, cat. No. 8803 shows 16 steps in the process.
| 1. washing | 2. painting | 3. flattening | 4. fluffing |
| 5. scribbling | 6. spinning | 7. rinsing | 8. weaving |
| 9. studding | 10. fulling | 11. roughening | 12. dry shaving |
| 13. brushing | 14. stoping | 15. approving |
16. pressing
|
Trade organizationss with records in Delft archives
- 228 Gilde van apothekers (collegium medico-pharmaceuticum Delphense) 1682-1804
- 229 Gilde van bakkers 1613-1796
- 230 Bezemmakers- of Sint Michielsbus 1656-1937
- 232 Brouwersgilde 1615-1816
- 233 Gilde van chirurgijns 1584-1804
- 234 Gilde van goud- en zilversmeden 1502, 1536-1807
- 235 Gilde van grofsmeden of Sint Eloy's gilde 1581-1816
- 239 Gilde van knopen-, bezem- en ballenmakers of St. Michielsgilde 1626-1803
- 242 Gilde van Lakenwerkers en -bereiders en droogscheerders 1638-1793
- 243 Sint Nicolaas-, Marskramers- of Kooplieden gilde (1400)-1792 (1808)
- 248 Schilders- of Sint Lucasgilde 1537-1966
- 249 Schippersgilde 1574-5, 1750-1963
- 250 Schoenmakers en leerlooiers- of Sint Chrispijn gilde. 1752-1945
- 253 Turfdragersbus 1580-1880
- 254 Gilde van visverkopers 1797-1808
- 255 Gilde van warmoeziers 18e eeuw
- 256 Gilde van wijnkopers. 1716-1965
