TITLE:
Silk Mills in the Early Modern Italy
AUTHORS:
Stefano Comino, Alessandro Gasparetto
KEYWORDS:
Silk, Silk Mill, Factory System, Silk Spinning
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Historical Studies,
Vol.9 No.5,
December
8,
2020
ABSTRACT: In early modern times, Italian silk fabrics and
threads dominated European markets. One of the drivers of the success of
Italian artisans was the silk mills, able to carry out some crucial phases of
silk processing. Particular importance had the mill developed by Bolognese
artisans, a fully mechanized mill which is considered an early example of
factory system. In this paper, after presenting a brief historical overview of
the silk sector in the early modern Italy, we provide a technical description
of the working principles of two families of silk mills: the mulino da seta
alla bolognese (Bolognese silk mill) and the mulino da seta alla milanese
o alla genovese (Milanese or Genoese silk mill).