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history of weaving

weaving I – erin moore

+the origins of fabric

one of the oldest arts & crafts

early civilization needs for clothing & shelter

+early weaving & shelter

essential for shelter temporary assembled quickly & securely plaiting, twining, knotting, weaving walls, doors, rugs, hammocks

+early woven clothing

clothing display of power to frighten the enemy social approval

+inspiration for fabric construction

birds nests

spider webs

beavers dams

animal pouches

+primitive materials

hemp

raffia

leaf fibers

hair

wool

fur

sinew

“waste not, want not”

+textiles from early egypt

plain woven fabrics dated as early as 5000BC

fabrics and garments indicated status and caste

societal legal codes restricted uses of certain fabrics

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mummy cloths

system of tablet/card weaving: warp-weighted

Skilled dyers & embroiderers

high level of expertise until decline of Egypt second mil.BC

+mesopotamia

located between Tigris & Euphrates

Sumerians & Babylonians

weaving industry developed by the third millenium

robes of Sumerian kings and priests

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Babylonians replaced Sumerians about 1800 BC

great emphasis on weaving & embroidery

Babylonians embraced wovens with variety of material and yarns

+the hebrews

ancient fragments of wool and linen from 3000BC in Palestine

wool was the most common fiber

white wool & course wools or wool with mixtures of colors

pure linen reserved for high priest only

+ plain weaves, multicolor materials, & art-weavers

capable of producing very complex yarns

metallic yarns and dyeing techniques

+textiles of Persia

textile arts valued highly

tapestry weaving particularly important

exquisite silk tapestries

rich color and pattern

+Greece

very accomplished weavers

warp-weighted loom

wool & linen most popular

later wool primarily for men & byssus for women

equally skilled in fabric as mastery in other fields

+weaving in Rome

Romans considered weaving to be beneath them

imported fabrics from Greece

imported slaves for purpose of spinning, weaving, making garments for their households

various weaving centers with variety in types of fabrics

+early weaving in the far eastpre-buddhist china

silk deemed as most precious

emperess Hsi Ling shi & discovery of silk

no need for spinning

+ specialized in extremely fine textiles and mastery of ikat

also highly figurative weaves

+textiles in the early christian worldthe Copts

peasant class of the Copts adopted Christianity

Coptic art distinguished for its splendid textiles

abstract, highly stylized forms

later Christian elements and “story” content emerges

+ especially skilled at tapestry, mosaic style

best known is woven medallion motif

Coptic weavers pressed into service of Arabs

+textiles of the early Christian worldthe Byzantine Empire Roman capital moved to Byzantium,

renamed Constantinople

major center for silk textile manufacturing

monks concealed silkworm eggs from China to Constantinople

lavish figure weaves

+evolution of the loom

began entirely by hand

first improvement method of holding warp yarns taut

most basic form provides framework to hold warp rigid while weft is interlaced

warp weighted loom with horizontal beam Greeks, Romans, Scandinavians, Indians of North & South

America

+ the backstrap loom tension could be controlled by shift of weight mostly wove with fingers more advanced use heddles and seperators to create

sheds Indians of Peru during pre-Inca periods still used by native peoples of Southeast Asia and the

Americas

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horizontal ground looms provides a fixed support at both ends of the warp frees weaver physically from the loom pit loom in India tripod loom in Africa

+ horizontal frame loom known in ancient Egypt & China in principle it is identical to the common floor loom used today used in Europe, by 13th century & Renaissance weavers

the draw loom invented in China master weaver & assistant intricacy of pattern

the jacquard loom first pattern loom on a mechanized system Joseph Marie Jacquard for French government in 1804 same principle as a piano or modern computer astonishingly fast and completely automatic

+ modern hand looms counterbalance loom

harnesses operate in tandem: one harness is lowered and connecting is raised

all warp yarns depart from horizontal jack loom

each harness works independently 4 harnesses or more

countermarch loom rising-shed loom as counterbalance harnesses work independently as jack however makes much larger shed

upright loom different variations of structure excellent for tapestry popular in Navajo weavings

table loom all weaving operations performed with the hands

+20th century handweaving by the end of 19th interest in handcrafts vanished

revival in 20th century and also currently

began with William Morris, the Bauhaus, Anni Albers, Art Deco

+revival of handweaving in the United States craftsman style flourished around the turn of 20th

century in England and also America

American interest in hand weaving began in later part of 1920’s

weaving pioneers: Mary Atwater, Anni Albers move to US, Lili Blumenau, Dorothy Liebes

+ growth of craft organizations throughout the US

Industrial Revolution and Craft Revival in the South learned to be almost entirely self-sufficient folk handcrafts passes from generation to generation

+contemporary weaving

ranges from completely hand woven without assistance of tools to almost entirely digitally woven

greater availability and variety of materials due to technological advances

+ Olga de Amaral

+ angharad mclaren

+ El Anatsui : Ghanian sculptor with woven structure

+ laurie addis

+ suzanne tick

+ gabriel dawe laurie herrick

+ other contemporary non-loom “woven” structures

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