European Textile Forum 2019: Shared Warps, Shared Wefts.

The Forum 2019 took place at the Open Air Laboratory in Lauresham, Lorsch. 

The Laboratory is researching Carolingian life through various approaches, using an ideal-type Carolingian manor with reconstructed houses, gardens, and fields for the basis of their research and as their logistical infrastructure. The concept of a Carolingian manor also includes pastures and a number of working animals as well as barns, stables, a weaving house and a space for dyeing. The Lauresham Laboratory graciously hosted us with use of their museum buildings (including the looms and other textile equipment) as well as the Visitor's Information Centre for our conference.

Our focus topic this year was "Shared Warps, Shared Wefts", with the intention to explore weaving as it merges together with related and unrelated techniques. Shared warps or shared wefts can happen when a combination of weave patterns is taking place; a shared warp is the basis for decorative techniques such as colourful tapestry inserts in linen ground weaves, or decoration worked in flying needle technique. Combinations of weaving techniques such as bandweaving or tablet-weaving to make starting or ending borders for use on a loom, or side borders, would also fall under this focus topic, as would braiding techniques for finishing off fabrics, as well as other combinations of techniques using one shared thread system for part of their construction.

Papers, Presentations and Workshops:

Bodil Knudsen Dago: Starting or finishing sprang and Warp Weighted Loom. What do we find in Norway?

Paper about the sami "grene" made in Sør-Varanger, and the archeological find in Tegle in Southern Norway with a woven and a spranged piece of cloth started with a tabletwoven ribbon, with a practical part on how to combine sprang and tabletweaving.

Tracy Niepold: Two tapestry weaves from the “Singer`s Grave” in Trossingen (grave 58)

Research concerning early medieval textiles in Germany normally has to deal with small pieces of textiles that are preserved in burials due to the contact to corroding metals. Grave 58 from the early medieval cemetery of Trossingen (Germany) is therefore an auspicious occasion to shed new light on several research topics. The water staunching ability of clay layers dominating this geographic region led to the preservation of the grave goods made of organic materials that were buried for the dead for use in the beyond. This also includes a wide range of large-scale preserved textiles. The wooden grave chamber – dendrochronologically dated to 580 AD – contained the decorated coffin of a 35 to 40 year old man as well as several furniture pieces, a fully intact lyre and weapons. The deceased was surrounded by several textile layers that include, among others, two tapestry weaves and a compound weave (Taqueté). Those textiles are rarely known from early medieval burials in Germany and the results of material and dyestuff analyses now lead to questions about their origin and function within the grave.

Janet Levy: Groundstone evidence from the Beersheba Valley, Israel for a late 5th millennium upright mat loom.

The southern Levant features a long established matting tradition: soumak (weft wrapping) and weft twined matting from the 10th millennium BCE and coiled matting from the 8th millennium BCE. The Chalcolithic period, 5th millennium BCE attests to the introduction of plain plait, twill and sewn through techniques and also the use of the horizontal ground mat loom. 
The Chalcolithic site of Tel Sheva, Mitham C, in the Nahal Beersheba valley, features ellipsoid pebbles with opposed notches, often identified as fish net weights. We argue that the pebbles were used in the manufacture of reed matting on an upright loom in the warp twining technique. Pairs of balanced pendant pebbles suspended on either side of the loom were tossed from side to side engaging each new weft reed in succession as placed at the head of the loom. The technique is known ethnographically from Japan to Egypt. Setting up the loom is simpler than the horizontal ground loom and the product stronger. The product is also more durable than twill matting but lacks the attractive patterning.

Celia Elliott-Minty: Lao Han Belts

The remote mountain area of Guizhou in southwest China is ethnically very diverse, and interesting textile traditions survive among the groups. Perhaps the best known are the multicoloured costumes of the Maio people that are skilfully decorated with braid embroidery. Another ethnic group that live there are the "Lao Han" (the ancient "Han" Chinese) who are unique from the rest of the majority "Han" population of China as a whole. Traditional costume has survived in the isolated "Lao Han" villages, especially amongst the women. Part of the costume includes a very long handwoven belt that encompasses two different weaving techniques on the same warp and is finished with a complex knotted fringe at both ends. 
Each belt begins and ends with a tube that is woven in a tabby weave, whereas the middle section is a textured area that is achieved by using hexagonal weaving tablets in a novel way. I will present a summary of my attempts to understand the techniques used and to produce accurate samples. Participants will then be offered the opportunity to try out the tablet weaving method for themselves.

Katrin Kania: Exploring Tapestry Inserts

Tapestry inserts, worked in colourful wool, can be found in many shapes in early byzantine textiles. This paper looks at some of their variations before exploring how the inserts may be worked on a loom.

Beatrix Nutz/Katrin Kania: A Tablet-woven Band from Blindis - Looped Pile Band

The excavation of the miner´s house at the copper mining site “Im Blindis” (East Tyrol, Austria), in operation from 1531 (first written source) until 1715, at an altitude of 2300 m a.s.l., unearthed numerous textile fragments. Among those were tablet woven bands, including a broad tablet woven band with pile on one side.

Most published tablet-woven bands are made from precious materials, often with complex patterning or brocading. The technique lends itself also to making simple and very sturdy bands that can still be decorative as well. The Blindis finds are among the rare examples of these more mundane tablet-woven items, which were probably much more common than the number of archaeological finds suggests. 

While they do not boast precious materials or complex patterns, the bands from Blindis are also not just straightforward plain tablet-weaving. The paper takes a closer look at the broad band, and in the practical part, we will try to find out how the pile was made.

Ruth MacGregor: Lifting Loops

No matter what period of historical textiles you study, you are likely to find fabrics that feature a looped pile. In blankets and cloaks, a looped pile can provide warmth. In garments and bands, the pile offers zones of decoration.

Whether it is a deep pile or a short one, a looped pile is created during the weaving process, by lifting loops above the ground fabric then locking the loops in place with subsequent picks. This brief presentation ranges from the finds in Antinoë (ca 750 AD) to the looms of modern-day weavers in Québec, exploring several kinds of looped pile and ways of creating it.

A hands-on session afterward lets us all experience weaving samples embellished with looped-weft pile.

Bente Skogsaas: Oseberg Tablet Weave - Techniques in 11 bands

52 tablet woven bands from the Oseberg ship burial in Vestfold – Norway have been identified, dated AD 834 (Vedeler, 2014). Many of the bands constitute a frame in what once was the interior décor at Oseberg: the Oseberg Tapestry. The weave techniques of the bands can be divided into five categories, Oseberg 34D is unique in that it was woven with several techniques (Nockert, 2006). The band was possibly a part of the tomb's interior décor (Vedeler 2014). It has received a lot of attention, but no reconstruction has been made based on microscope studies or close examination of the band.

Based on document and microscope studies of 34D, and of a further nine bands from the Oseberg find, analysis and tests were performed with practice weave samples in three phases. The study of yarn scraps from 34D revealed three-ply yarn in three hues: two wool threads and one thread probably in silk. The find brought new insight into material production in the Early Viking Age.

In finds from the study of the nine bands, diverse techniques and patterns can be inferred, which allows a unique glimpse into local weave tradition. The bands have geometrical motifs, a Scandinavian tradition going back to the Early Iron Age, but also plant motifs, which is a rare occurrence in a historic tablet weave perspective. Special features in the find are closely connected to the choice of materials and techniques. That can be seen as an expression of the artistic design of both the weaving community and of individual weavers. Several bands are unique masterpieces, but 34D is the most varied, both in terms of motif and of weave techniques.

The presentation will be followed by a workshop on weaving Oseberg 34D.

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