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An antimacassar is a small cloth placed over the backs or arms of chairs to protect them from macassar oil worn in Edwardian and Victorian gentlemans hair.
The fashion for oiled hair became so widespread that housewives began to cover the arms and backs of their chairs with washable cloths to preserve the fabric coverings from being spoilt. Around 1850, these started to be known as antimacassars.
They came to have elaborate patterns, often in matching sets for the various items of parlour furniture; they were either made at home using a variety of techniques such as crochet or tatting, or bought from shops.
By the beginning of the twentieth century, they had become so associated in peoplesÂ’ minds with the Victorian period that the word briefly became a figurative term for it.
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