Vitale Barberis Canonico

Once again, we turn to Abbé Pluche. Third episode (the first and second stories). As usual, the author of the book Spectacle de la nature (1732) introduced his arguments with reflections all of his own devising. In effect, writing about clothes of which man had need and/or desire to cover himself and for …. and for what? To communicate, to socialise, to belong, to appear? Certainly, a little of all these things.
It was said that, when discussing clothing, the Abbé started his analysis of human apparel with an accessory, namely the hat. Of course, hats are a normal constituent of a human being’s wardrobe, but in order of priority, he could have chosen something else, seeing as one’s head can remain uncovered while trousers and jackets, not to mention underclothes, would seem to have greater value. However, after a few pages (in which the good old Pluche just hints at cotton and then goes on and on about silk) woollen fabrics appear: «Animal skins are doubtless the most plentiful material, and generally most used to cover man. Beaver skins, ostrich feathers, camel skins, goat skins from Asia and Africa, the wool of the vicuña, which is the Peruvian sheep, are but a very small part of this rich supply, and the wool from our common sheep is that which, together with the other skins, most safely protects us from the insults of the elements».

Abbé Pluche, from Reims where he taught and wrote, had his own vision of the European trade in wool raw materials. A vision which he summarised in these few lines: «The quality of the wool varies according to the country, with new varieties in how to prepare it; even greater varieties in how to accompany it. There is no wool manufacturer who does not give first place to Segovia wool and almost generally to all the wools from Castile, Estremadura, or Andalusia; or also the larger part of the provinces of Spain, but to different degrees. Second place in terms of fineness goes to English wools; and third place to those from Languedoc, and Berry. The strictness of the laws which prohibit the English from transporting their wool outside of the island, and the risks of smuggling have little by little accustomed our manufacturers to do without them.» And so, Spain, meaning Merino. The British were too jealous of their own sheep, while the Saxon variety had not yet been invented (this would happen later in 1765), otherwise the zealous Pluche would have mentioned it.

The Abbé was also well informed of the processes of blending various fibres, processes which had the same end purpose and the same methods as today. «Now they use pure Segovia wool, then they blend it with other Spanish wool. They blend one, and the other with Berry wools, or from other sources. This has all helped our factories to be able to proportion the fineness of the winter and summer fabrics to the needs of all states, and not to fear in any way comparison with our neighbours.» Amongst such “neighbours” were also included the subjects of the Duke of Savoy, namely the Biellesi, and amongst these there was also a certain Barbero, a 17th-century artisan and ancestor of the present Vitale Barberis Canonico family.

The surprising Pluche also knew the secrets of the preparation of raw wools: «The wools, whether dyed or white, must be washed, then beaten on a grating, opened up or loosened using heavy blows with sticks, and this is the necessary preparation for carding them later, either with oil or water.»

Then there came the oiling. «Dyed wools, and also, in certain cases white wools, cannot be used without being bathed in oil using olive oil are colza oil, in the quantity of one third or one fourth, sometimes one half of their own weight. Spanish wools, which have not been washed, but are worn by the sheep and preserve their natural oils, are normally carded with water and not any foreign oil: after beating them, they only need to be immersed in a basin of hot water with liquid soap dissolved in it.» N.B.: according to the author, the “colzat”, as he wrote it, «is a small cabbage plant whose seeds, when pressed, produce much oil, and is very similar to that of the rape plant.»
While waiting for our next meeting with Dr. Noël-Antoine Pluche, we can only take a last glance at the prints from his tomes on exhibition in the corridors of the Pratrivero facility.