KTN 741, sleeveless wool tunic. Katoen Natie, Antwerp, photo H. Maertens

Transcription

1 fig. KTN 74, sleeveless wool tunic. Katoen Natie, Antwerp, photo H. Maertens

2 Chris Verhecken-Lammens Flying thread bocading A technical approach Introduction An enormous number of Egyptian textiles from the first millennium AD are part of museum collections all over the world. The majority are fragments from garments or furnishing textiles. During the Roman period, a change of method in decorating textiles has been noticed. Linen fabrics of the Roman period are plain or embellished by mainly plain purple ornament. A large part of this ornament has a design of tiny linen threads, flying threads, creating a delicate pattern. Wool tunics with interlace design elements on a purple ground date from the 4th to the 9th century AD. 2 Tunic KTN 74 with delicate design all in wool [ 4 C: AD (95.4%)] good example of how the weavers were capable of producing an overall pattern by merely adding supplementary threads on the purple background (fig. ). In a monumental work on Purpurwirkereien, Hodak has catalogued more than 2300 pieces according to their pattern. 3 Her initial question was whether a textile can be considered in principle as a unique object, from the point of view of its composition and especially its ornamentation. My interest is mainly how ornament with a purple b ackground and a design based on fine lines is woven into the background of the base fabric. For this study a selection has been made of textiles from the Katoen Natie collection and the Errera collection of the Museum of Art and History Brussels (KMKG), on which the typical features are demonstrated. 4 2 Features For the technical details of textiles with flying thread brocading, 5 33 pieces have been grouped according to the material of the warp and not according to their design. Of these 33 pieces, 99 have a linen warp and 24 pieces have wool warp threads. 3 The textiles Most of the fabrics with flying thread brocading studied are ornamental elements from linen or wool tunics or furnishing textiles. They are inserted during the weaving of the background of the base fabric, or separately woven to be applied later. Fabrics with linen warp have a warpfaced tabby structure, textiles with wool warp have a weft-faced tabby structure. The background of the ornamental inserts has a weftfaced tabby structure. The difference in structure between the ground weave of the base fabric and the ornament in linen fabrics makes the change between them more complicated than in wool fabrics. Also, the form of the ornament is important. Straight bands for sleeve decoration, clavi and borders of sheets are easy to insert, but squares and circular forms need more preparation. Linen weavers have a different method of inserting the circular ornaments into the base fabric from wool weavers. In linen fabrics the change between ground weave and ornament area is sharp (fig.2). The high number of warp threads (2 34 per cm) of the warp-faced tabby weave needs to be modified by grouping or dropping some warp threads. 6 The warp is reduced to 6 0 ribs per cm to be able to cover the warp ends with the wool weft completely. The warp will be arranged in the first shed over the complete line of the square or rectangular form of the ornament. This new position of the warps will be kept till the tapestry area is woven. Threads not taking part in the structure are left behind and will float on the back side over the complete height of the ornament. 7 After rearrangement of the threads sometimes a couple of linen ground wefts are woven before starting with the purple or blue wool. Most of the linen fabrics with inserted tapestry weave and a geometrical pattern made by flying threads have a grouping of 2 and 3 warp threads, by crossing of 2 threads and dropped. 8 Grouping of 2/4 (fig. 2) is also used, sometimes together with 2/3 (4 pieces). The /5 and /4 groupings are mainly found in the early Roman textiles. 9 The 2/2 grouping is more used in tapestry ornaments with only a small part in flying thread technique. The 2/2 and 3/3 grouping is without dropped threads on the back side. There are different methods of completing the background of the base fabric next to the tapestry area. Sometimes ground weft does not continue, thus leaving bare warps: this is often found next to the decorative bands on tunic sleeves. On three pieces with pattern in flying thread brocading there are plied linen warp fig. 2 KTN 647, ornament of a linen fabric, change from warp-faced tabby ground weave to weft-faced weave 2/4 by crossed and dropped threads. Katoen Natie, Antwerp, photo H. Maertens DE MOOR/VANDEN BERGHE/VAN STRYDONCK et al. 200, and VAN RAEMDONCK/VERHECKEN-LAM- MENS/DE JONGHE 20, DE MOOR/VAN STRYDONCK/VERHECKEN-LAMMENS 2004, Dating these types of textile based on the character of the pattern: TRILLING 982, Appendix I, HODAK 20, vol., 2, 3. 4 I thank A. De Moor, C. Dekyndt and A. Kwaspen from Katoen Natie and M. Van Raemdonck (KMKG) for their support. 5 THOMPSON 97, 2: flying shuttle. CARROLL 986, in her catalogue entries gives a good description of the technique. She calls the supplementary wefts: weft floats. ERIKSON 997, 86: flying shuttle/thread brocading with a good drawing of the technique (figs. 3, 4 and 7). Weft stitching is used by KAJITANI 2006, More details on grouping threads in linen fabrics: DE JONGHE/TAVERNIER 983, Also some early wool fabrics have dropped threads on the back side: GRANGER-TAYLOR 993, Of the 99 linen pieces, 49 have a typical geometrical design and 38 of these have a grouping of 2/3. 9 PRITCHARD/VERHECKEN-LAMMENS 200, TEXTILE TECHNIQUE AND RADIOCARBON DATING

3 fig. 3 KTN 438-0, medallion on linen warp. Lazy lines accentuated by white outlines. Katoen Natie, Antwerp, photo H. Maertens (adapted) 0 KTN 5 and KTN 887-0, also ACO.Tx 2472 (fig. 8) Separately woven ornaments with wool warp applied on a linen fabric are also found on linen furnishing textiles with pile (type 3): VERHECKEN-LAMMENS 2009, BURNHAM 985, EMERY 980, threads. 0 The warp density is as in wool fabrics, and there is no need to group warp threads. These pieces are applied on a linen ground. Textiles with wool warp have a density of 6 to 3 warp threads per cm, S spun. The ground structure is weft-faced tabby with S spun wool wefts. Weft-faced tabby is the structure for both base fabric and ornaments, and the change between them needs no special treatment. The only difference is the colour of the weft and a higher weft density in the ornaments. In wool fabrics the ground weave is interrupted to insert roundels, not directly around the motif as in linen fabrics, but a few centimetres before the position of the ornament. These few centimetres are woven together with the ornament. This is visible by diagonal lines along the decoration. There is a third group of textiles with flying thread brocading. They are woven on a wool warp, but have all the features of ornamental inserts woven on linen warp, except in this case the warp threads do not need to be grouped. Some of these fabrics are sewn onto a linen base fabric. It seems they have been woven separately on a narrow wool warp to be applied on a plain linen fabric. The reason could be to avoid the difficulty of manipulating the linen warp threads and floats on the back of the cloth. In the Katoen Natie collection there are two similar pieces KTN a and KTN b: only the details in the centre are different. Ornaments cut from complete wool fabrics can be distinguished from those separately woven ornaments by the outer border woven with linen weft threads instead of wool. 4 The ornamental elements The background of the ornaments with a geometrical design is monochrome purple, but they can be dark blue, or brownish in different shades. When analysing the textiles, the question arose whether the background of these ornaments is a tapestry weave or a weft-faced tabby weave. Tapestry is a structure with one warp and a weft composed of threads of different colours which do not pass from selvedge to selvedge but are carried back and forth, interweaving only with the part of warp that is required for a particular pattern area. The binding is usually weft-faced tabby. 2 Another definition is given by Emery 3 Tapestry: a word used in different ways. It refers to a specific technique only when used for pictorial patterning. Usually it refers to mosaic-like patterning with discontinuous wefts in a weft-faced weave. There are two fundamental principles: hiding the warp with closely packed wefts to secure solid colour and weaving independent wefts back and forth each in its own pattern area. Of these two principles only one is fulfilled: hiding the warp with closely packed wefts. On the background of the ornaments we could say the background is tapestry weave in one colour, just purple, of which the wefts go back and forth over a short distance, not always related to the pattern of the flying threads. This returning of the weft creates a series of tiny points forming a diagonal line: FLYING THREAD BOCADING A TECHNICAL APPROACH TEXTILE TECHNIQUE AND RADIOCARBON DATING 42

4 fig. 4 KTN 654-6, medallion on linen warp. Lazy lines only to facilitate the construction of the groundweave. Katoen Natie, Antwerp, photo H. Maertens (adapted) lazy lines. 4 These lazy lines sometimes play an important part in the weaving process and are very visible when accentuated by white outlines (fig. 3: KTN 438-0). In other fabrics these lazy lines are hardly visible and follow more or less the contours of the pattern (KTN ). There are ornaments with lazy lines without any connection to the pattern (fig. 4: KTN 654-6). In wool fabrics these returning points are more randomly distributed. 5 A most important point is that they help to divide the weaving into manageable parts and make it easier to build the pattern. The pattern itself is created, not by the main weft, but by supplementary wefts flying threads that have to be treated separately. 5 Pattern How the basic form of the ornament is created, and how these forms are filled with a pattern by flying thread brocading or tapestry weave, are the main subjects of the study by Hodak. 6 My interest is how the weavers could produce these complicated designs directly on the warp. The flying threads are woven at the same time as the purple background of the ornament. The weaver works at the front of the fabric and wraps thin threads around warp threads in the fell of the fabric. The number of flying threads necessary to start the pattern is determined by the pattern. The flying threads can be on a small stick, or simply hanging on the front of the fabric. There are lots of variations on how these threads are introduced into the background, but no thread can go down again. If a thread is at the end of the pattern line, it will be used in another line simply by interlacing this thread in the ground shed. If not needed any more, the thread can be cut or left on the back side to be picked up again when necessary. In some linen fabrics several flying threads float at the back side to be used again in the next pattern; these threads lie between the warp floats and the ground weave (fig.5: ACO. Tx. 2467). They must have had a model in order to have an idea of what type of decoration was to be woven. In tapestry weaving the use of a cartoon is known even today, and the weaver has the possibility of adding some details in the design. But, for the geometrical design of the ornaments with flying threads, everything has to be calculated. To date, no cartoon has been found that is typical of flying thread brocading. 7 Geometrical designs can be created on squared paper as for canvas embroidery. Each design is built up from one pattern unit which can be multiplied in different ways. 8 These 4 HEDLUND/WILKINS 990, Glossary. 5 ACO.Tx 2472: fig HODAK 20, vol.. 7 STAUFFER 2008, HODAK 20, vol.. 43 TEXTILE TECHNIQUE AND RADIOCARBON DATING FLYING THREAD BOCADING A TECHNICAL APPROACH

5 fig. 5 ACO.Tx 2467: backside with warp floats and flying threads floats. Photo C. Verhecken-Lammens fig. 6 fig. 7 Design on square paper: 23 warp threads and 23 weft floats Pattern of KTN Weft floats in S-, Z-, and I-direction following the line of the pattern 9 KTN : warp: linen S: 8/cm: ribs: 6/cm (2/3); weft: wool S: 38 50/cm. Flying threads: linen S. 20 KTN : warp: linen S: 24/cm ribs: 9/cm (2/3); weft: wool S: 52/cm. Flying threads: linen S. 2 KTN 438-0: warp: linen S: 2/cm ribs: 6/cm (2/3); weft:wool S: 44/cm. Flying threads: linen S. pattern units can be placed on a framework of bands, squares, diamonds or, for the borders, made up from curved lines. Before the ornamental elements can be inserted, especially those surrounded by the base fabric, the number of warp threads necessary for the complete ornament has to be known. Analysing some patterns demonstrates that each pattern unit has an equal number of vertical lines, representing the warp threads and the limit of the pattern unit. Those lines are not always related to the lazy lines (fig. 4: KTN 654-6). The pattern has been brocaded repeatedly on the same warp threads. The number of warp threads is fixed for that particular ornament, but a similar pattern in another fabric can have a different number of warp threads. To calculate the width of the ornament, it is necessary to count the number of warp threads of the complete ornament, pattern and border. For bands, there is more freedom than for squares, and certainly more than for circular or free forms. To make a draft of the pattern, we have to know the density of the warp an d weft of the background of the ornament. On squared paper, each square represents one warp thread and a number of weft picks (fig. 6). The number of picks here is the length of the flying thread or weft float and follows the line of the pattern in S-, Z-, or I- direction (fig. 7). In this way it is easy to draw the pattern on squared paper. Based on examples it can be demonstrated that each fabric has its own construction for inserting the ornaments, sometimes with lazy lines in combination with the number of warp threads of the pattern unit (fig.3: KTN 438-0): but even for the same pattern, the construction of the ornament can be different (fig. 8: KTN , KTN and fig. 3: KTN ). In other fabrics lazy lines FLYING THREAD BOCADING A TECHNICAL APPROACH TEXTILE TECHNIQUE AND RADIOCARBON DATING 44

6 fig. 8a KTN : pattern unit over 7 warp threads. Construction of background fig. 8b KTN : pattern unit over 6 warp threads. Construction of background fig. 9 ACO.Tx 2472: part of clavi have been used only to weave the ornament background in sections 22 (fig. 9). Some pieces start with a plain purple border, already woven in sections, with lazy lines. Others have a border with a pattern in tapestry weave surrounding the central design. Sometimes ornament mainly woven with flying threads has a simple border along the outer edge. In other borders, eccentric or slanted wefts create the wavy lines of the design. 6 Textiles analysed 6. Linen fabrics From Roman times on, tunics woven to shape were decorated with ornamental inserts with a pattern built up by flying thread brocading 6 on a purple ground. These inserts are sleeve bands, clavi, and medallions at shoulder and knee level. The inserts in large sheets are medallions and squares, one on each corner and in the centre. Of the 5 linen tunics, ACO.Tx 2472, dated by 4 C, is the oldest piece (fig.9), one of the Roman linen tunics from the Errera collection, and stands out for several reasons: the clavi and medallions are woven together in one piece 23 on linen S2Z warp which is applied to a linen tunic. 24 The clavi at the end show three divided pendant terminals, ending in leaf-shaped finials. Each part of the clavi has a different pattern. Here too, lazy lines split up the work and each pattern has its own method of inserting the flying threads. The central part of the clavi has a geometrical pattern built up between lazy lines of the back ground. To start the motifs, short linen threads are brought in at the fell of the weave. The pattern is counted and is 24 warp threads wide and 44 rows of floats high. The middle band of the three ends has a different motif: it is woven with lazy lines in the ground weave, horizontal outlines in ground weave and curved and vertical lines in flying threads. The two outermost bands have eccentric wefts with 22 Clavi of ACO.Tx The pattern is formed by flying threads, counting the warp threads and the floats of the pattern. The vertical white lines follow warp threads, to demonstrate that the pattern is repeated on the same warp threads. Warp: linen S2Z: 7 8/cm. Weft: wool S: 50 54/cm. Flying threads: linen S. 23 ACO.Tx 2472: applied to tunic: 4 C: AD (95.4%). 24 ACO.Tx 2472: linen tunic: 4 C: AD (95.4%). 45 TEXTILE TECHNIQUE AND RADIOCARBON DATING FLYING THREAD BOCADING A TECHNICAL APPROACH

7 fig. 0 ACO.Tx 2467 sleeve decoration. Photo C. Verhecken-Lammens 25 ACO.Tx 2467: 4 C: AD (95.4%, mean date of the two sleeves). Warp: linen S: 24/cm; ribs: (2/4). Weft: wool S: 50/cm. Flying threads: linen S. 26 DE MOOR/VANDEN BERGHE/VAN STRYDONCK et al. 200, 42, fig. 0. A similar pattern occurs in: KAJITANI 2006, 02, fig. 4: tunic: the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Acc. Nr and Manchester: PRITCHARD 2006, Also a linen tunic with interlace design on a purple background has Z-spun purple threads dyed with mollusc purple: VERHECKEN-LAMMENS 200, DE MOOR/VAN STRYDONCK/VERHECKEN-LAMMENS 2004, thr. a wavy line in the middle, which is outlined in ground weave by a linen thread following the shape of the margin. All this is the result of the way in which these bands are built up. The pattern consists of equal repeated pattern units, counted by the warp threads and repeated in the bands. ACO.Tx 2467 (fig. 0) 25 are two sleeves of a dalmatic. 26 Warp threads are grouped by 2/4 threads, by alternately 2 crossed and 2 dropped threads. The ground wefts are straight and return at the diagonal line creating small holes (lazy lines). In this way the background of the band is divided into sections in the form of a parallelogram. In this band the pattern unit with flying threads is very simple and is only over 8 warp threads and with 5 rows of floats. Each section of the ground weave has 5 pattern units and starts by wrapping 0 fine linen threads around warp threads in a fixed order in the first line. The weaver works at the front of the fabric, leaving the fine threads hanging and continues to weave the background of the section. After a fixed number of sheds the flying threads are wrapped again around a warp thread in the direction of the line of the pattern and form weft floats over the background. The number of sheds between two binding points of the weft floats depends on the density of the ground weft, the number of warp threads and the angle of inclination of the pattern line. This simple pattern has 5 rows of floats: row, 3 to 5 are over 0 sheds, skipping one warp thread to follow the line of the design. In the second row the floats are over 6 sheds and wrapped around the neighbouring warp thread. If one of these features is out of proportion, deformation of the pattern occurs. The complete width of the fabric is filled by this pattern, section after section, and on the back side the rest of the flying threads float from one section to the other. In the high-quality linen fabric KTN (fig. ) of which only the square ornament has survived, the ratio of warp to weft is 5 ribs to 0 weft picks per cm. Not only is the proportion of warp to weft exceptional, but also the material of the weft. The very thin threads of dark blue-brown Z-spun wool are dyed with a mixture of root-cochineal (Porphyrophora species) and mollusc purple! 27 The flying threads are linen 2S for the design, and silk flying threads form a net over the background. Most of these silk threads are worn away and survive only in small areas. 6.2 Wool fabrics Wool Fabrics with flying threads are known from Roman times. 28 A large sleeveless wool FLYING THREAD BOCADING A TECHNICAL APPROACH TEXTILE TECHNIQUE AND RADIOCARBON DATING 46

8 fig. 2 KTN 566. Wool tunic. Katoen Natie, Antwerp, photo H. Maertens 47 TEXTILE TECHNIQUE AND RADIOCARBON DATING FLYING THREAD BOCADING A TECHNICAL APPROACH

9 fig. 3 fig. 4 KTN : pattern of clavi. Photo C. Verhecken-Lammens ACO.Tx 83. Pattern repeat: horizontal over 9 warp threads. Photo C. Verhecken-Lammens FLYING THREAD BOCADING A TECHNICAL APPROACH TEXTILE TECHNIQUE AND RADIOCARBON DATING 48

10 fig. KTN Flying threads: linen S and silk threads. Photo C. Verhecken-Lammens tunic (fig., KTN 74) has a complicated interlace pattern in clavi and medallions. The flying threads are white wool S- spun, very thin. Lots of threads are lost, but still the high quality of the work can be recognized. A second piece, also a wool tunic with ornamental inserts, with geometric flying threads design and with leaf-shaped finials, has been radiocarbondated to around the 7th to the first half of the 0th century (KTN 566). 29 The KTN collection has two fragments of the same purple wool child s tunic: KTN 40 and KTN 559 (fig. 3). The clavi have purple wool, strongly Z spun, for the background and the flying threads. The design is woven in yellow S spun wool. This is a fine quality fabric, the yellow colour of which could be an imitation of a gold design on a purple ground. 7 Conclusion Linen and wool textiles with purple ornamental elements and a pattern in flying thread brocading, have a monochrome tapestry background woven in sections creating lazy lines. Geometric designs are inserted during the construction of the ornament s background using fine linen or wool threads. Before starting to insert the decoration, the number of warp threads needed has to be known, because in each ornament the pattern has a fixed number of warp threads and weft floats per pattern unit. To know this, a model can be made on squared paper with the number of warp threads and rows of floats for the pattern (fig. 6). This unit can be repeated in different ways: horizontal, or in diamond formation (fig 4). 30 The weaver does not have the freedom he would have with tapestry weave: this might be the reason that flying thread brocading was overtaken by that structure. 29 KTN 566: 4 C: AD (95.4%) [AD (8.3%), (4.%)]: Warp: wool S: 8/cm. Weft: wool S: 48/cm. Flying threads: linen S. 30 Horizontal repeat: ACO.Tx 83: Warp: wool S: 3/cm. Weft: wool S: 68 70/cm. Flying threads: linen S. 49 TEXTILE TECHNIQUE AND RADIOCARBON DATING FLYING THREAD BOCADING A TECHNICAL APPROACH