A.
Over the weekend, I posted some information about Querétero
cloth (paño de Querétaro) on several Facebook group pages
that I thought might find it interesting.
Mostly, it was just a repeat of what I wrote recently on this blog.
On the “Alamo Legacy & Missions
Assoc.,” this led to further discussions about just what kind of cloth paño
de Querétaro was, and more research. [https://www.facebook.com/groups/433620486697981/group]
I found that Querétero
cloth was the only woolen
fabric called for in the Mexican Army’s 1832 uniform regulations for enlisted
infantry and cavalry. Since there is a
growing interest in Mexican uniforms of this era, I thought I would publish an
excerpt from those regulations here. These are screen shots from the original
online publication.[1]
According to Joseph Hefter’s
classic, El Soldado Mexicano,“To speed up and simplify manufacture [of uniforms and equipment], the items were divided into groups of 30 and 60 month duration."[2]
As you can see, Querétaro cloth was
widely used in the manufacture of enlisted infantry and cavalry uniforms, for
everything from coats to shabraques.
Our one description of Querétero
cloth likens it to kersey (“narrow
Yorkshires”). I’ve already given some information about kersey in that earlier
post. But Kochan and Phillips Historical
Textiles, which manufactures the highest quality reenactor fabrics, has this to
say,
Generally, Kersey was a relatively cheap twill cloth made in imitation of the more expensive Broadcloth. The use of a twill weave enabled the finishers to raise a nap on the cloth more easily than Broadcloth, although the cloth had less substance and the finish was consequently slightly less hard wearing.[3]
Generally, Kersey was a relatively cheap twill cloth made in imitation of the more expensive Broadcloth. The use of a twill weave enabled the finishers to raise a nap on the cloth more easily than Broadcloth, although the cloth had less substance and the finish was consequently slightly less hard wearing.[3]
Though there was a “double milled”
kersey that was used for greatcoats and other garments, so far there is no
evidence that Querétero cloth received this treatment. Compared with most European armies of this era, which used broadcloth, Spanish colonial and early Mexican era uniforms appear to have been made
of somewhat inferior fabric.
Notice also the widespread use in the 1832 regulations of
the word grana, which was the subject
of an earlier post on this blog. This scarlet dye made from cochineal insects had long been used for uniforms in Mexico.
Illustrations:
A. Plate 1 from Joseph Hefter,
El Soldado Mexicano, 1837-1847. Except
for the officers’ uniforms, which would have been of finer and most likely
imported fabric, the wool cloth here would have been paño de Querétaro, which
was similar to kersey.
Notes
[1]
Recopilacion de
leyes, decretos, bandos, reglamentos, circulares y providencias: de los supremos poderes y otras autoridades
de la Republica Mexicana, Mexico, 1836.
See pp. 10-12.
This is available online through Google Books. http://books.google.com/books?id=mwZAAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22paño+de+Querétaro%22&source=gbs_navlinks_s
[2] El Soldado
Mexicano, 1837-1847. Organizacion, Vestuario, Equipo. Mexico City, Nieto, Brown and Hefter, 1958, pp. 4, 52
[3] The full text of this description of military kersey
is available as a download on the Kochan and Phillip Historic Textiles website,
under “Current Products.” http://www.historicaltextiles.com
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