VELVET is a silken textile fabric having a short dense piled surface. It is the type of the numerous forms of piled fabric now made, the processes employed in the manufacture of which are noticed under Weaving (q.v.). In all probability the art of velvet-weaving originated in the far East; and it is not till about the beginning of the 14th century that we find any mention of the textile. Fustian, however, which differs from velvet only in material, is spoken of in English ecclesiastical inventories as early as the beginning of the 13th century. The peculiar properties of velvet, the splendid yet softened depth of dyecolour it exhibited, at once marked it out as a fit material for ecclesiastical vestments, royal and state robes, and sumptuous hangings; and the most magnificent textures of mediaeval times were Italian velvets. These were in many ways most effectively treated for ornamentation, such as by varying the colour of the pile, by producing pile of different lengths (pile upon pile, or double pile), and by brocading with plain silk, with uncut pile, or with a ground of gold tissue, &c. The earliest sources of Euro pean artistic velvets were Lucca, Genoa, Florence, and Venice, and to the present day Genoa continues to send out rich velvet textures. Somewhat later the art was taken up by Flemish weavers, and in the 16th century Bruges attained a reputation for velvets not inferior to that of the great Italian cities. The principal seats of the modern manufacture are Crefeld and Lyons; but, at the former centre especially, a large proportion of an inferior texture, having a silken pile on a cotton foundation and known as velveteen, is now made.