The Jacquard loom is a mechanical loom

Loom

A loom is a device used to weave cloth. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads...

, invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard

Joseph Marie Jacquard

Joseph Marie Charles dit Jacquard played an important role in the development of the earliest programmable loom , which in turn played an important role in the development of other programmable machines, such as computers.- Early life :Jean Jacquard’s name was not really...

 in 1801, that simplifies the process of manufacturing textiles with complex patterns such as brocade, damask

Damask

Damask is a reversible figured fabric of silk, wool, linen, cotton, or synthetic fibers, with a pattern formed by weaving. Damasks are woven with one warp yarn and one weft yarn, usually with the pattern in warp-faced satin weave and the ground in weft-faced or sateen weave...

 and matelasse

Matelasse

A French word, matelassé means “quilted,” “padded,” or “cushioned,” and in regards to fabric, refers to hand-quilted textiles. It is meant to mimic the style of hand-stitched Marseilles type quilts made in Provence, France. Matelassé fabric can be either hand-stitched to create the decorative...

. The loom is controlled by punched card

Punched card

A punched card, punch card, IBM card, or Hollerith card is a piece of stiff paper that contains digital information represented by the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions...

s with punched holes, each row of which corresponds to one row of the design. Multiple rows of holes are punched on each card and the many cards that compose the design of the textile are strung together in order.