Moire is made by pressure, not by weaving. Two lengths of cloth are laid face to face and passed through metal cylinders, and the calendering flattens some of the weave while leaving the rest standing. The wave that results is never quite the same twice. The Venetians called it amuer and pasted it to the walls of their palaces; Bellini and Crivelli painted it behind their Madonnas.
This one is a gros-de-Tours in Trevira CS, so it is flame-retardant by fibre while keeping a silky hand. Twenty-two colourways, 21,000 Martindale rubs, and it can be paper-backed for walls, which is where the technique started. 140 cm, made in Italy.
