clothing, fashion, dress, and costume in venice 911
industry as a whole developed further. trade policies resisted too much
protectionism in favor of local manufacturers and were careful not to ban
foreign fabrics for retail and dress. By permitting sale of all foreign cloths,
the Venetian senate reinvigorated the internal market. Foreign commerce
sustained the wool industry because it provided, among other things, cus-
toms income that was supported by the wool guild, and it increased pro-
duction by boosting the local export of local cloths through trading.67
noble merchants outside the guild sold and bartered woolens or formed
partnerships with wool manufacturers, supplying them with raw materi-
als, since nobles were not obliged to enter the guild until 1515.68 often the
entrepreneur merchant belonged to the city elite, owned a lot of capital,
and ran his own workshop from the bottom floor of his house, thereby
concentrating the production process in his own hands. the remaining
raw materials that had not been sold to the manufacturers were processed
in his own residences or workshops. imported semi-finished products
were supplied to teaslers, dyers, stretchers, and shearers who controlled
the finishing process.69 the wool manufacturer also imported his own raw
materials and took charge of the spinning, weaving, dyeing, or finishing
processes; sometimes he would give the unfinished product to a shearer
for fulling, dyeing, or stretching before resale back to the manufacturers.
this manufacturing system created an all Venetian or Veneto sector of the
market by producing local cloth and finishing foreign cloth.
on an international level, textile manufacturing was out of the purview
of the artisan. in Venice the merchant had the opportunity to profit from
a double putting out system which meant that they could import wool
and other fabrics without any intermediary, and they could then “put it
out” to merchant employers who, finally, “put it out” to the craftsmen, a
practice that dated back to 1528. the Venetian market also provided lodg-
ing for merchants coming from the mainland and specific shops to sell the
goods. since legislation affected solely nobles, the non-noble merchant
who received raw materials from lower-ranking artisans could process the
materials in his own residence or workshop or oversee the finishing pro-
cesses before it was sold back to the manufacturers.70
67 mozzatto, “the Production of Woolens,” pp. 97, 99.
68 mozzatto, “the Production of Woolens,” p. 91.
69 mozzatto, “the Production of Woolens,” p. 93.
70 mozzatto, “the Production of Woolens,” pp. 91, 93.