Gold and silver have been used since ancient times as decoration in the clothing and textiles of kings, leaders, nobility and people of status. Many of these elegant textiles can be found in museums around the world. Historically, the metallic thread was constructed by wrapping a metal strip around a fiber core (cotton or silk), often in such a way as to reveal the color of the fiber core to enhance visual quality of the decoration.Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Ancient textiles and clothing woven from wholly or partly gold threads is sometimes referred to as cloth of gold. They have been woven on Byzantine looms from the 7th to the 9th century, and after that in Sicily, Cyprus, Lucca, and Venice. Weaving also flourished in the 12th century during the legacy of Genghis Khan when art and trade flourished under Mongol rule in China and some Middle Eastern areas.Kim, Caroline "Humanities" The Treasures of Genghis Khan: Sept - Oct 2002 Vol. 23 #5 The Dobeckmum Company produced the first modern metallic fiber in 1946.
