Mercery

A mercery (mercer's shop) in Brussels

Mercery (from French mercerie, the notions trade) initially referred to silk, linen, and fustian textiles imported to England in the 12th century.[1]

The term mercery later extended to goods made of these and the sellers of those goods.

Mercer

The term mercer for cloth merchants (from French mercier, "notions dealer") is now largely obsolete. Mercers were formerly merchants or traders who dealt in cloth, typically fine cloth that was not produced locally. Inventories of mercers in small towns, however, suggest that many were shopkeepers who dealt in various dry commodities other than cloth.[2] Related occupations include haberdasher, draper and cloth merchant, while clothier historically referred to someone who manufactured cloth, often under the domestic system.

By the 21st century the word mercer was primarily used in connection with the Worshipful Company of Mercers, one of the twelve great Livery Companies of the City of London.

Prominent mercers

See also

References

  1. ↑ The Mercery of London, Anne F. Sutton, pg. 2
  2. ↑ Europe's Rich Fabric: The Consumption, Commercialisation, and Production of Luxury Textiles in Italy, the Low Countries and Neighbouring Territories (Fourteenth-Sixteenth Centuries.) pp. 24–25.
  • The dictionary definition of mercery at Wiktionary
  • The dictionary definition of mercer at Wiktionary


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