Digital Commons Network^™

Tapestry Technology 1400-2004, Tina Kane

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

For the past 15 years my practice as a textile conservator and artist has stimulated an ongoing dialog between myself as a textile maker and the weavers of ancient textiles. A human hair caught in the web of a cloth, a weaver’s choice of interlacement patterns and the deliberate manipulation of woven motifs all mark the presence of “the weaver.” Who were these people, why do their creations make us marvel and how can our experience as contemporary weavers add to the scholarship of ancient textiles?

Because of the structural simplicity of tapestry weave, analyzing an intricate design from a …

The Distribution Of Cultural Identity A Canadian Case Study, Jennifer E. Salahub

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

A banner like this, hung in the central passage of a training institute … cannot fail to impress itself on the character of some, giving their tastes a bent in those directions which you would desire to push them into.

Albert Henry George, 4th Earl Grey (b.1851-d.1917). Letter, National Archives of Canada, Dated 13 March 1906.

This illustrated presentation introduces a series of early twentieth-century embroidered and appliquéd banners that were the inspiration of Lord Grey, Governor General of Canada between 1904–11. The medium – needlework – was specifically chosen because of its historic connotations. By literally fabricating material memories …

The Tale Of The Two-Tailed Mermaid A Case Study In The Origins Of The Cretan Embroidery Style, Sumru Belger Krody

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

It is fascinating to trace the style and motifs of embroidered textiles from the Greek islands back to the political powers that held the islands in their control for centuries. Among these islands Crete has a special place in the study of Greek island embroidery. Because of its geographic location among trade routes and its political and artistic history, Crete presents an entirely different embroidery style from that of the other Greek islands. Through focusing on one motif, the two-tailed mermaid, this paper will try to construct a history of influences seen in Cretan embroidery.

The first section of the …

Author Biographies

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Author Biographies A-W

Ping-Ann Addo

Filiz Adıgüzel

Jeni Allenby

Philis Alvic...

Wendy Weiss

Lauren Whitley

Michelle Willard

Abstracts Of Papers

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

We Pieced Together Cloth, We Pieced Together Culture: Reflections on Tongan Women’s Textile-making in Oakland

Symbolic Defiance: Questions of Nationalism and Tradition in Middle Eastern Textiles

Churchill Weavers: 80 Years of American Handweaving

West Anatolian Carpet Designs: The Effect of Carpet Trade Between Ottoman Empire and Great Britain

California and the Fiber Art Revolution

Shifting Sands—Costume in Rajasthan

Pattern Power: Textiles and the Transmission of Knowledge

The Ubiquitous T-Shirt and Fashionable “Islamic Dress”: Cultural Authentication in Turkey

Textile Society Of America Newsletter 16:1 — Winter 2004, Textile Society Of America

Textile Society of America: Newsletters

Oakland Hosts 2004 TSA Symposium
President's Letter
Nominations sought for TSA Officers & Board
Textile Study at the University of Rhode Island
Conference Reviews: Japonnea; New Technologies and Materials; Sri Yantra Bandahni Development Project; Navajo Weaving in the 19th Century; SUTRA; Tales in the Textile: Conservation of Flags and Other Symbolic Textiles; Caring for Flags
Textile Network: WARP Promotes Development through Textiles
Collection News: British Museum, Indianapolis Museum of Art; Lost Exhibition: Palestine Costume Archive
Batik info sought
Exhibitions & Lectures
Book reviews

From Rags To Riches To Revolution: A Social History Of 19th Irish Lace, Shiralee Hudson

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Cultural theorist Daniel Miller writes, “The deeply integrated place of the artefact in constituting culture and human relations has made discussion of it one of the most difficult of all areas to include in abstract academic discourse” (“Artefacts in Their Contexts,” Material Culture and Mass Consumption, Oxford 1987, p. 130). This is, however, the very task this discussion of nineteenth century Irish lace undertakes. This paper outlines the establishment of the lace industry in Ireland in such centers as Carrickmacross, Limerick and Youghal. It also examines both its makers and users, revealing how artefact can indeed provide a powerful …

A Ping-Pong Example Of Cultural Authentication And Kalabari Cut-Thread Cloth, Joanne B. Eicher

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

The concept of cultural authentication was first introduced to analyze the check and plaid textile called Indian madras used by the Kalabari people of the Niger Delta of Nigeria to produce a design by subtraction on the cloth which they subsequently call pelete bite (Erekosima, 1979; Erekosima and Eicher, 1981). Although the Kalabari are part of a much larger group of Niger Delta peoples, this cut-thread cloth is original and peculiar to them. They depend on the supply of madras from India to produce pelete bite to wear as men’s and women’s wrappers, to cover the face of a masquerader, …

Textile Exchange And Cultural And Gendered Cross-Dressing At Palmyra, Syria (100 Bc—Ad 272), Cynthia Finlayson

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

For millennia, textiles have been utilized by human civilizations to define gendered identities as well as ethnic and political affiliations. Textiles have also been utilized as lucrative objects of trade. As such, their utilization in societies foreign to their origin of manufacture presents an interesting study in the power of trade textiles to transform the very essence of both gendered and cultural manifestations of identity through the absorption of foreign clothing styles and textile motifs.

Perhaps no society utilized the influence of trade textiles with more eclectic creativeness than the ancient citizens of the Palmyrene trade oasis of Tadmor, Syria. …

History Of Research On African Factory-Printed Cloth And Current Approaches In The Field, Michelle Willard

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

This paper examines the significance of factory-printed cloth in Africa and its potential to communicate various messages through its use as clothing. Factory-printed cloth also has unintended communicative value when it is displayed outside Africa in museum contexts. I will introduce the topic with a brief history of research carried out on African factory-printed cloth and its appearance in museum and gallery exhibitions. This has led to contemporary forms of art historical and anthropological research. Some of the latter, including my own, has involved field collecting of commemorative cloths in West Africa. My research resulted in a museum exhibition of …

Joanne Segal Brandford, Barbara B. Goldberg

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

This paper reviews the creative work of Joanne Segal Brandford. She received her BA in Decorative Art in 1955 and her MA in Design in 1967 from the University of California Berkeley with Ed Rossbach. Her work as artist, scholar, teacher, and curator was fueled by her interest and expertise in ethnic textiles, especially those of North, Central, and Andean America. Her widely exhibited innovative nets and sculptural forms were made by interlacing, knotting, and twining of primarily natural materials, sometimes dyed. Her mastery of handling materials in such a variety of ways was driven by the research and curatorial …

Lillian Elliott, Pat Hickman

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Whenever she taught, Lillian Elliott (1930-1994) arrived for class carrying bags bulging with historic world textiles–to illustrate a technique, a crazy, unexpected juxtaposition of color, a thread gone wild–all to suggest new possibilities. Abundance and generosity dominated; they fed her visual ideas and those of her students. Elliott valued most her teaching in the Department of Design at UC Berkeley, as a colleague of Ed Rossbach’s. Her curious mind led her in multiple directions simultaneously, as did his. Those of us lucky enough to study with both of them, entered the field as artists and teachers, changed. Their influence spread …

Picturing The Transformation Of A Nation’S Textile Traditions: Meiji Era Woodblock Prints, Donna F. Lavallee

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Woodblock prints, photographs and contemporary sketches will be used to illustrate the rapid change to Western dress in Japan and its impact on the importation and imitation of Western textiles. Between 1853 and 1868, American Commodore Perry forced the opening of Japan to foreign trade. The old fashioned Shogun was overthrown, and young, forward thinking Emperor Meiji took the throne. Under Emperor Meiji, the Japanese government introduced the wearing of Western style clothing for all public occasions, both social and official. These events brought Western textiles to Japanese dress: military uniforms were the first to use both woolen cloth and …

The Ubiquitous T-Shirt And Fashionable "Islamic Dress" Cultural Authentication In Turkey, Marlene R. Breu

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

From both rural and urban traditions, the dress of Turkey is rich in historical forms that have been transformed over the years. Transformation occurred as individuals and groups reacted to the external influences of trade, technology and political events. With the incorporation of the global market economy and a greater variety of inspirations and products available in rural and urban areas, individuals and groups combined elements of traditional dress with modern forms to create dress that is distinctively Turkish. These multi-layered cultural authentications are incorporated into use with meanings that function to maintain a social order and act as a …

The Transformation Of Tusser Silk, Brenda M. King

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

India and England enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship through the silk trade during the British Empire. Thomas Wardle transformed aspects of India’s wild silk production, increasing demand for India’s yarn and providing employment for many thousands; this work should be better known.

Wardle was the first to print and dye Indian tusser almost any shade. At the Paris Exposition, 1878 he revealed tussser’s improved potential, gaining great publicity and a gold medal for India’s yarn. Thereafter, India increased exports of tusser yarn and cloth to Europe where it was demanded for furnishing, fashion and embroidery reads.

Tapestry Translations In The Twentieth Century: The Entwined Roles Of Artists, Weavers, And Editeurs, Ann Lane Hedlund

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Historically, European tapestry making involved collaboration among artists, designers, draftsmen, cartoon makers, spinners, dyers, weavers, patrons, dealers, and other professionals. This specialized system of labor continued in modified form into the twentieth century in certain European weaving studios. This paper explores the negotiations involved and results achieved in the design, creation, and marketing of a group of twentieth century tapestries, in which painted imagery was translated into the handwoven textile medium.

A case study based on the Gloria F. Ross Archive of unpublished letters, contracts, sketches, invoices, photographs, and other materials is presented. Serving as editeur (analogous to a film …

International Textile Works: A Laboratory For Experimental Artists From Around The World To Create Cutting- Edge Design, Grounded In Textiles, Wendy Weiss

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Located at the University of Nebraska, our textile department launched the International Textile Works (ITW) in 2002. The department built on existing resources of a Mimaki Textile Jet Tx-1600S direct inkjet 65” fabric printer and an industrial steamer. The competitively awarded University’s Arts and Humanities Enhancement Fund provided start-up funds to invite an artist to design and print on this equipment. Internally we began applied research to test the best use of this technology for artists.

This initiative enables our design faculty, in collaboration with our scientific faculty, to create a fertile environment for developing innovative applications of digital technology. …

Carson Colcha Embroideries: From Ersatz To Orthodox, Suzanne P. Macaulay

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

In the 5th century BCE, Heraclitus wrote, “Everything in time begets its opposite.” The history of the Carson colchas of New Mexico appears to follow that axiom. Under a range of epithets from “fake” to “authentic,” these embroideries evolved during the 1930s as marketable (alternately enigmatic) replications or copies of 19th century Spanish colonial textiles to finally emerge as a distinctly recognized, legitimate genre of traditional Hispanic needlework in the late 20th century. These pieces were originally associated with the Carson community dominated by a clan of Mormon brothers married to Hispanic sisters, which created a complex intermingling of Anglo …

Restoring Navajo-Churro Sheep: Acculturation And Adaptation Of A Traditional Fiber Resource, Susan M. Strawn

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Factors that contribute to artisan sustainability are of critical importance to the world’s artisans who depend on hand-produced textiles for income and livelihood, and for whom textile production is closely intertwined with cultural identity. For Navajo (Diné) weavers, outside influences on their traditional fiber resource, Navajo- Churro sheep, have proven one critical factor in the quality, characteristics, and sustainability of Navajo handwoven textiles. The Diné acculturated a pastoral lifestyle and adapted wool for weaving from the desert sheep introduced into the American Southwest by Spanish explorers in the 1500s. Sheep proved critical to Diné weaving, cultural identity, and …

The Fate Of The Xam Nuea Healing Cloths, Patricia Cheesman

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

The healing cloths of Xam Nuea, Laos P. D. R. were once used in ceremonies conducted by shamans who traveled to the other realms in trance to seek cures. These textiles embodied powerful symbols of the animal and supernatural world, beliefs that held strong despite the invasions of the Chinese Ho, the Siamese, and even the establishment of French Indochina. However, during the American-Vietnam war weaving was made impossible in the northeast region and many people, including shamans, fled to Vientiane. Here new communities flourished, weaving elaborate textiles in the Xam Nuea style, which later became the newest fashion after …

460 Years Of Silk In Oaxaca, Mexico, Leslie Grace

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

The origin of cultivated silk in Mexico can be traced to Cortez’s first shipment from Spain of Bombyx mori eggs in 1523. For the following 60 years three urban centers, Mexico City, Puebla and Oaxaca City were exclusively awarded the right for Spanish weavers to create silk satins, velvets and taffetas to be worn by the recent invaders. The indigenous people did the field work required for production of the fiber but were forbidden to weave on the newly introduced floor looms.

Sometime over the ensuing centuries silk fiber was adopted and used in Oaxaca by indigenous groups. Recent field …

Sa’Dan Toraja Supplementary Weft Weaving An Ethnographic Interpretation Of Acculturation And Assimilation Of Loom Technology And Weaving Techniques, Maria Christou

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

The Sa'dan Toraja loom is a variant of the body-tension loom with a continuous warp. A comparison is made between the Sa'dan loom to other looms found on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia, based on ethnographic fieldwork I conducted there from June 1993 to June 1994. This research is done in order to situate the Sa'dan loom in a historical time frame. I suggest that loom type correlates with the materials and decorative techniques, and to a certain, but lesser, extent with design. This assemblage of material data offers insight into the cultural history of South Sulawesi.

My fieldwork supports …

Tradition And Transformation In Chicahuaxtla Trique Textiles, Cecilia Gunzburger

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

San Andres Chicahuaxtla is a Trique-speaking village in the mountains of the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. This paper explores changes in Chicahuaxtla Trique textiles and costume over the previous half century as women incorporated newly available commercial products into their indigenous weaving tradition.

Contact with the outside world and access to manufactured goods gradually accelerated, yet hand-woven clothing remains a strong component of women’s cultural identity. Although trade in textiles between Mesoamerican villages is certainly nothing new, the 20^th century brought new materials like factory-spun and – dyed cotton and acrylic yarn in a wide range of colors, …

The Bridge, Volume 1, 2004, Bridgewater State College

the bridge

Volume 1 Staff

Lauren Carter, Editor-in-Chief
Jennifer Stodder
Kaitlin MacLean
David Mitchell
John Butler
Christina Warsheski
Courtney Smith

Jerald Walker, Faculty Advisor
Linda Hall, Alumni Consultant
Rosann Kozlowski, Alumni Consultant

Symbolic Defiance: Questions Of Nationalism And Tradition In Middle Eastern Textiles, Jeni Allenby

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

While the historical importance and visual beauty of Middle Eastern textiles have long been acknowledged, their contemporary role as a vehicle for political and nationalist expression has rarely been studied.

How has nationalism been transfigured into historical and contemporary Middle Eastern textile traditions? What new forms of textiles have developed from nationalist/political origins and what other cultures influenced their design and media? To whom was their political message addressed (were these textiles produced for local or foreign markets or as a means of symbolic private protest?) and has their creation altered traditional gender and/or social roles? What specific changes and …

Dragon Covers – Mysterious Aberrations Of The Li, Lee J. Chinalai

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Over a million Li people, representing approximately fifteen percent of the total population, live predominantly in the mountainous areas of Hainan, China. The island is rich in silk, hemp, ramie and cotton. The Li, a tribal people, began spinning, weaving and dyeing in ancient times and developed over the centuries a reputation for the quality and beauty of their textiles. Although the clothing and textiles of the various Li sub-tribes span a range of style and design, all – with one exception – clearly emanate from Li religion, culture and tradition, sharing roots with other Daic-speaking groups.

Several years ago, …

We Pieced Together Cloth, We Pieced Together Culture: Reflections On Tongan Women’S Textile-Making In Oakland, Ping-Ann Addo

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Tapa, or barkcloth, is central to the cultural identity, social relations, politics, history, and contemporary religion of people from the South Pacific Kingdom of Tonga. Large and ornate textiles made from the beaten inner bark of the paper mulberry tree are designed and made only by women. During 2003–04, the Center for Art and Public Life at the California College of the Arts completed a collaborative project entitled Pieces of Cloth, Pieces of Culture: Tongan Tapa Cloth. Under the direction of Ping-Ann Addo, The Center’s 2003–04 Scholar-in-Residence, Tongan women tapa-cloth artists from Oakland produced a full-sized (15 ft. …

The Evolution Of Yuzen-Dyeing Techniques And Designs After The Meiji Restoration, Yuko Fukatsu-Fukuoka

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

This paper will explore how the introduction of chemical dyes to Japan influenced the technique and designs of yuzen dyeing. Yuzen-zome, a resist-dyeing technique in which freehand designs were created with multiple colors, developed during the mid-Edo period, at the end of the 17th or beginning of the 18th century. The technique allowed for the creation of large pictorial images, unburdened by the repetitive patterns that characterize most textile techniques. It revolutionized kosode decoration.

Traditional yuzen-zome was a true handcraft, extremely labor intensive and, as a result, very expensive. Only the wealthy could afford kosode patterned in this method. …

Interpreting Social Change And Changing Production Through Examinations Of Textiles Of Xam Nuea And Surin, Charles Carroll

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

This paper explores the transformation of the Lao Xam Nuea style sin muk through two different approaches to the examination of change in practice. In the process, the paper reveals ways in which changing handloom production in Southeast Asia are inextricably embedded within broader changing social practices. The first part of this paper presents an historical and structural analysis of revolutionary migration and technological transformation of the Lao Xam Nuea style sin muk. The analysis examines the adaptation of techniques in the adoption of the Xam Nuea style through the comparison of Vientiane and Xam Nuea sin muk. …

Changes In Nomadic Arab Weaving Due To Outside And Internal Influences, Joy May Hilden

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Centuries of tradition in the weaving of the Bedouin, using sheepswool and goat hair, has changed dramatically in the last fifty years. With the decline of nomadism, due directly and indirectly to the discovery of oil, techniques and products have fallen to disuse or have been transformed with new materials and put to new uses.

Bedouin weaving was formerly used for tents, rugs and animal gear by nomadic Arab tribes in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Palestine/Israel and Egypt. Lifestyles among and influences on the bedu vary by region, but the decline of nomadism is common to all. …