The Reason for Weaving

Women have been spinning and weaving for many, many millennia. Weaving for clothing, for sails,for bedding, for sacks to carry things...the reasons for weaving are multitude. The cloth that is made does not need to be beautiful to fulfill its purpose. But I think that artistry is a basic human need. Whether one thinks of the plaid skirt worn by the Huldremose bog woman, or the elaborate brocaded silks worn by Elizabethans; Navajo rugs, or the intricate patterns created by Peruvian backstrap weavers, it is clear that weavers have always planned to make their work beautiful.

While wandering through the Metropolitan Museum last month, I came upon an exhibit of utilitarian articles made by nomadic tribes from the area around Iran, Turkey, and Azerbaijan. Every piece had a very ordinary purpose - to carry their belongings from place to place. But the pieces were anything but ordinary. The weaving technique for each piece was chosen to suit the need of the object it would carry. Most of the pieces were executed in the sumak technique. This means that an extra weft thread was wrapped around the warp threads - over two threads, then back around one, or over four, back around two. This adds strength, makes a very dense fabric (needed when you are carrying things like salt or flour), and creates a beautiful pattern. Sometimes pile was added, to make the fabric even denser. Here are some of my favorite pieces:

 I'll start with the spindle bag (western Iran, Bakhtiari tribe, ca. 1935), because of course the women need a way to carry their spindles so they can make the thread they need to weave. The fabric is sumak weave, with pile added at the bottom where it would have the most wear. 

Here is a bag to carry salt (ca. 1920):

 again, with pile incorporated at the bottom.

A double flour bag (last quarter 19th century):

 This is quite large. I like the stylized animals. 

Even larger, this container was used to carry bedding (Azerbaijan, ca. 1825-75): 

And finally, a saddle bag (Shahsevan tribe, ca. 1875). The pattern seems so similar

 to a quilt pattern. 

I enjoy tapestry weaving. I think I will try my hand at sumak weaving this year. Perhaps I'll make my own spindle bag.

Goldwork Embroidery

I promise I will get to the post about the utilitarian weaving that we saw at the Met. But, I've been thinking about embroidery lately, and I want to show you a beautiful medieval embroidery from the Cloisters.

 Netherlandish, mid-15th century

Originally part of a vestment or altar cloth, it is done in the or nue technique. Unlike most goldwork that I have seen, where the background is couched gold thread and the figures are silk, this piece is almost entirely gold. Only the faces and hair are silk embroidery. The rest of the picture, except for a few details, is formed by altering the spacing of the silk couching threads. The closer together they are, the more the color shows up, but always the gold shines through.

Isn't it exquisite?