What Is Damask?

Damask shows its pattern through shine, not color. The motif sits as a lustrous figure against a matte ground in the very same shade, so you read the design by the way light catches the two finishes rather than by any change of dye. It goes back to the Middle East and East Asia and reached Europe through trade with Damascus, the Syrian city that gave damask its name, in the medieval period. People have made it for over a thousand years, and in 2026 it is still a leading category in both wallpaper and textiles.

Below we cover why it carries that name, how it differs from jacquard, whether it is linen or cotton, what it feels like, what it is used for, and how it is made.

What is damask fabric?

It is a patterned woven cloth where the design shows up through a contrast of weave structures, not a contrast of color. The motif uses one structure, usually a satin weave that gives a glossy face, and the ground uses another, usually a flat tabby weave. Those two surfaces reflect light differently, and that is what makes the figure visible.

It is also reversible. Because the pattern comes from the weave rather than from anything printed on top, it appears on both sides in reverse: a lustrous figure on a matte ground on the face, and a matte figure on a glossy ground on the back. A single yarn color runs throughout, traditionally white, cream, ivory, gold, or any one solid tone, so you are reading structure, not pigment. That is the central technical thing that sets it apart from most other patterned cloth.

It runs denser and heavier than most printed material too, since the figured weave packs more yarn into each square inch. That gives it real body, which is why it suits upholstery, drapery, table linen, and bedding, where weight and durability earn their keep.

Why is damask called damask?

The name comes from Damascus, the ancient city in present-day Syria. Damascus was a major textile and trade center right through the medieval period, roughly 700 to 1500 CE, and it shipped huge quantities of figured silk into European markets. Merchants there called the cloth "damasco" in Italian and "damask" in English, after the place it arrived from.

Production was never actually unique to the city. The basic technique was worked out in China around 300 BCE and spread through Persia and the wider Middle East over the following centuries, so by medieval times it was woven in Damascus, Aleppo, Constantinople, Cairo, and several Persian centers. The name stuck simply because the city of Damascus was the main export gateway to Europe: the Silk Road and the Mediterranean routes funneled figured silk through it on the way to European buyers, who came to link the cloth with the city itself. European weaving caught up late in the medieval period, with Genoa, Venice, and Lucca setting up their own operations in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and by the seventeenth century home-grown European cloth had largely replaced the imported kind in luxury markets.

What is the difference between damask and jacquard?

Jacquard is a weaving technology; this is a type of cloth. The two terms get muddled constantly, but they describe different things, and the figured fabric is just one of many woven on jacquard equipment.

Joseph Marie Jacquard built his loom in Lyon, France, in 1804. It uses punched cards to control which warp threads lift on each pass of the weft, so complex designs weave automatically. Before it arrived, a figured weave like this needed a skilled draw weaver shifting threads by hand, which made the work slow and costly. Afterward it got far quicker and cheaper, and most cloth woven since 1810 has come off a jacquard, with modern mills now running computerized jacquard looms driven by digital pattern files.

Strict usage keeps the older word for the specific structure, a lustrous figure on a matte ground, and uses "jacquard" for the broad family of complex woven patterns that also takes in brocade, lampas, and tapestry. In shops and decor catalogs, though, the two are thrown around interchangeably: a "jacquard tablecloth" and a "damask tablecloth" may well be the same item. Careful usage names the cloth structure with one word and the loom technology with the other.

Is damask linen or cotton?

It can be woven from any fiber. The historical version was almost always silk, because silk throws the most dramatic glossy-to-matte contrast between figure and ground, the shiny filament catching light differently in each weave. Linen is the second great tradition: northern European weavers in Flanders, the Low Countries, and Ireland turned out linen versions from medieval times onward, and that became the standard for fine table and bed linen in European households into the nineteenth century.

Cotton came in during the eighteenth century as the fiber got cheaper, and most affordable modern cloth is cotton or a cotton-polyester blend, with slightly softer contrast since cotton has less natural sheen. Wool turns up in upholstery, where its weight and grip suit heavy use, and synthetics like polyester and rayon fill the mass-market end, durable and inexpensive if a little flatter in the pattern. For wallpaper the substrate is non-woven or paper rather than cloth, with printed metallic and matte treatments imitating the woven look. Our What Is Non-Woven Wallpaper guide covers that standard substrate.

What does damask fabric feel like?

Substantial and quietly textured. You can feel the difference between figure and ground under your fingertips, since one sits very slightly raised against the other. The contrast is subtle but real, and it changes with the fiber. Silk feels smooth and slippery and cool, the pattern just catching your hand as it passes. Linen feels crisp and structured, a touch stiffer, with the heavier yarn making the figure a little more obvious to the touch, which is exactly why it suits table linen, bed linen, and drapery. Cotton is softer and rounder and the least pronounced underhand, the most comfortable choice for bedding, while wool feels warm and weighty and reads as the most raised of all, at home in cooler rooms.

What is damask fabric used for?

Table linen is the most traditional use of all. Cloths, napkins, and runners have dressed formal tables for centuries, helped by the reversible figure, the weight, and the easy washing, with white and cream linen still the leading choice for formal dining. Bed linen uses it for higher-end sheets, pillowcases, and duvet covers, where the subtle figure adds richness without shouting the way a colored print would; cotton dominates here, and silk is rare and pricey.

Upholstery puts it on chairs, sofas, ottomans, and pillows, leaning on wool, cotton, or polyester for durability and saving silk for formal furniture that sees light use. Drapery uses heavy silk or wool for dining rooms and formal sitting rooms, and lighter cotton for easier settings, the figure giving windows a depth that plain cloth cannot. Printed wallpaper carries the same look into any room at lower cost, and our Best Blue Wallpapers guide includes figured options in blue. Liturgical and ceremonial textiles round out the list, with vestments, altar cloths, and ritual linens woven in silk across European and Asian religious traditions.

How is damask fabric made?

Today it is woven on a jacquard loom whose punched cards, or digital files, decide which warp threads lift on each pass. The figure forms where threads ride on the face in a glossy satin weave; the ground forms where they sit on the back in a matte tabby weave. Before the jacquard, the same effect came off a draw loom, with a draw weaver perched above the frame pulling cords by hand to lift the right threads for every pick. That was painstaking work, perhaps a yard a day for a complex design and years of training to do at all, which is why the old cloth cost so much.

The structure always combines those two weaves. The figure usually takes a satin weave, warp passing over several wefts before tucking under one, for that lustrous face; the ground usually takes a tabby weave, warp over and under each weft in turn, for the flat finish. Weavers pick five-shaft or eight-shaft satin depending on how glossy and how hard-wearing the result needs to be, heavier setups for upholstery and lighter ones for table linen and bedding. Careful yarn preparation, with evenly spun and tensioned warp and weft, keeps the contrast crisp.

Damask questions

What is damask?

It is a woven cloth, or printed wallpaper, whose pattern shows through a contrast of weave structures rather than color. A lustrous satin figure sits on a matte tabby ground in the same shade, so light reveals the design. It is reversible and traditionally woven in a single color.

Why is damask called damask?

It is named for Damascus, the Syrian city that was a major medieval textile and trade center and the main gateway shipping figured silk into Europe. European merchants linked the cloth with the city, calling it "damasco" or "damask."

What is the difference between damask and jacquard?

Jacquard is the loom technology, invented in 1804; damask is one type of cloth woven on it. Strict usage keeps the older word for the lustrous-figure-on-matte-ground structure and uses jacquard for the wider family that also includes brocade and tapestry. In shops the terms are often interchangeable.

Is damask cotton or linen?

Either, and more. Historically it was silk for the sharpest sheen, then linen for fine table and bed linen, with cotton arriving in the eighteenth century and wool and synthetics used today. Cotton and blends are the most common modern fibers.

What does damask feel like?

Substantial and lightly textured, with the figure sitting just proud of the ground. Silk feels smooth and cool, linen crisp and structured, cotton soft, and wool warm and weighty. The contrast is subtle but you can feel it under your fingertips.

What is damask used for?

Formal table linen first, then bed linen, upholstery, drapery, wallpaper, and ceremonial textiles. Its weight, reversible figure, and quiet richness suit rooms and settings where solid cloth would look plain.

How is damask made?

It is woven on a jacquard loom that lifts warp threads by punched card or digital file, forming a glossy satin figure on a matte tabby ground. Before the jacquard, a draw weaver lifted the threads by hand, perhaps a yard a day, which made the old cloth expensive.

Where can I buy damask wallpaper?

You can browse the figured designs in our damask wallpaper collection, or see the wider range at William Morris Wallpaper.