Coan Fabrics

COAN FABRICS

Pliny mentions the fact that the women of Cos were in the habit of undoing the silk cloths imported into the Island, and reweaving the silk threads into other fabrics. These fabrics, or the Coan robes, as they were frequently designated, possessed a texture as transparent as that of the Dacca muslins. This method was done because the rulers of Assam and ancient China prohibited the export of silk thread, but permitted woven fabrics to be sent out of the country.