Loom

Joseph Jacquard, the son of a silk weaver, was born in Lyon in 1752. He inherited his father’s small weaving business but trade was bad and eventually went bankrupt. In 1790 he was given the task of restoring a loom made by Jacques de Vaucasan. Although fifty years old, it was one of the earliest examples of an automatic loom. Working on this loom led to him developing a strong interest in the mechanization of silk manufacture.