Historic silks Silk is one of the most important textile materials and highly valued as a luxurious and prestige fibre for its rarity, smoothness, gloss and bright colours. It is a natural animal fibre, usually coming from the moth larva Bombyx mori, which can be cultivated. There are also other types of silk fibres, like the Tussah silk, which is also called wild silk, as it cannot be cultivated and therefore is quite rare. The silk taken directly from the coccoon consists of two filaments stuck together and coated with sericin, a natural gum, which during the manufacturing process is dissolved and removed. This leaves two fibres, which are uneven in diameter along their length. Before the introduction of synthetic fibres, silk was often preferred for the preparation of royal clothing, clothing for special occasions, decorative textiles like embroideries, and ecclesiastical and ceremonial garments. Silk's receptiveness to dyeing with natural dyes gives bright and shining colours, which was also an advantage, especially in association with the red dyes which give silk its royal identity. The sweet orange madder red, the delicate glistening safflower pink and the royal and sacred deep red cochineal, are some of the red shades
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