Kelsch is a traditional fabric from the East of France, woven in the games of
Tile, based on blue, red, white.
"Bettelkelsch" means in Alsatian "Kelsch des beggars" simply because linen, printed in reserve on the board instead of being woven from dyed yarn, cost much less
The raw linen, woven at home, bleached in the fields, was brought to print
The canvas workshops printed in "reserve blue" existed mainly in the north of Alsace in Pfaffenhoffen, Petersbach, Oerminger, Soultz sous Forets from the middle of the 18th century They disappeared in the 20th century From the 18th century, the patterns become smaller, florets, point grains which earned it the name of seedlings
This canvas uses the technique of “reserve” printing; the pattern was originally reserved in white by repeated printing of a square wooden board, carved in relief, coated with a greasy substance. The canvas thus printed was then completely soaked in a blue pit (of lignite) It then absorbs the dye except for the printed areas which remain "reserved" i.e. white The color was then fixed
Today, this canvas is printed in Alsace by roller These motifs, among many others, come from a dyeworks in Pfaffenhoffen Similar samples are in the collections of the Alsacien Museum in Strasbourg
