Шовк як невід’ємна частина української культури й деякі аспекти поширення його виробництва в Україні XVIІ–XVIІІ ст.

The article deals with silk as an integral part of the material and artistic culture of the Ukrainian people, and various aspects of the silk industry in Ukraine in the 17th-18th centuries. At present there is no scientific papers that have comprehensively examined this topic. Only recently have some works and individual articles devoted to the specific aspects of the use of silk in Ukrainian culture started to be published. The tradition of using silk fabric goes back to Kievan Rus. Although silk was actively used in Ukraine, the first attempts to produce silk threads occured only in the 17th century. Both in the Russian and the Austro-Hungarian empires the spread of silk production was initiated by the state. This was because the import of this fabric was very expensive. Experience has shown that it was not the state but private production that was more successful. Private factories not only produced raw materials but also made progress in making fabrics and tailoring specific products.