Well you have to hand it to revdocdrew. I just got a copy of Heuse-Limoine, "Manufacture of Damascus Gun-Barrels" circa 1894. He states on page 4;
The Barrels thus manufactured with good charcoal iron proved to be already a great progress with respect to solidity, but offered of the Damascus appearance which was visible by certain traces of the spiral produced by the appearance of the fibres or the varnish of the metal....
....almost like the designs on our hanging papers in our rooms, with the only difference, that in these the variety is produced by the colours on the surface, whilst the figures on the Damascus are produced by the substance or material like the designs or patterns in our linnen-weavers.
So, we have a major Damascus barrel maker of the period who sees the patterns of his barrels in wall paper and linen. Which leads full circle. The Victoria and Albert museum has examples of Walloon Turkish rugs...
Pete
