Museum Studies Commons^™

Middle Horizon Textiles From Chimu Capac, Supe Valley, Peru, Amy Oakland

PreColumbian Textile Conference VIII / Jornadas de Textiles PreColombinos VIII (2019)

This article presents an overview of the textiles Max Uhle collected between November 4 and December 3, 1904 in the Middle Horizon cemetery at Chimu Capac in the Supe Valley, Peru. The total collection of objects numbers over 830 with 278 textiles including woven fragments, complete garments, woven and painted pouches, and over 155 painted textiles. The article discusses a sample of Chimu Capac textiles included in Uhle’s Supe field Notebook 67, in his hand-written Supe report, and textiles listed in the Supe Berkeley catalog. The Chimu Capac textiles compare with collections of Middle Horizon funerary objects made in coastal …

La Cestería De Los Cazadores-Recolectores, Procedente De La Cueva De La Candelaria, Torreón, Coahuila, México, Gloria Martha Sánchez Valenzuela, Alejandra Quintanar Isaías, Ana Jaramillo Pérez

PreColumbian Textile Conference VIII / Jornadas de Textiles PreColombinos VIII (2019)

En 1953 se realiza la primera exploración arqueológica al Norte de la República Mexicana por parte del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), que conformó un grupo interdisciplinario para explorar la Cueva de la Candelaria, ubicada en el Valle de las Delicias en el estado de Coahuila. Esta cueva es una de las más importantes de México, dónde se logró recuperar -gracias a su característica de cueva seca- un vasto patrimonio arqueológico de origen orgánico que nos permite conocer mejor a los grupos de cazadores-recolectores que habitaron la región. Dentro de la gran diversidad de objetos se encontraron un …

Precolumbian Textile Conference Viii / Jornadas De Textiles Precolombinos Viii, Lena Bjerregaard, Ann H. Peters

PreColumbian Textile Conference VIII / Jornadas de Textiles PreColombinos VIII (2019)

Contents: Preface — Lena Bjerregaard & Ann Hudson Peters

Archaeological textiles – Textiles arqueológicos – Textiles archéologiques: • 1, Recontextualizando el patrimonio arqueológico: los textiles paracas descubiertos por Engel en Cabezas Largas — Jessica Lévy Contreras • 2, Two-headed serpents and rayed heads: Precedents and reinterpretations in Paracas Necropolis imagery — Ann H. Peters • 3, Representaciones textiles en los iconos de la litoescultura Tiwanaku: significado y distribución — Carolina Agüero & Arturo Martínez • 4, Middle Horizon textiles from Chimu Capac, Supe Valley, Peru — Amy Oakland • 5, Una prenda triangular con plumas en la colección del …

Textil Y Territorio: Sobre Los Tejidos Intrincados De Poroma, Norte De Chuquisaca, Bolivia, Verónica Auza Aramayo

PreColumbian Textile Conference VIII / Jornadas de Textiles PreColombinos VIII (2019)

La presente propuesta pretende comprender cómo el sistema territorial andino está manifiesto en el lenguaje visual de los tejidos; específicamente en el estudio de los tejidos de Poroma, Norte de Chuquisaca, Bolivia. Cultura andina caracterizada por una larga historia que evoca diversos movimientos y procesos multiétnicos, que estableció, en un valle de características tórridas, una auto denominación cultural que la designa como «llameros», vale decir, gente que desde las altas punas antiguamente y hasta la década de 1980 se desplazaba con sus caravanas de llamas, marcando un mercado de bienes a lo largo de la cordillera. Esta forma de nombrarse …

Signos Comunes En Los Textiles Andinos Y Los Mesoamericanos, Victòria Solanilla

PreColumbian Textile Conference VIII / Jornadas de Textiles PreColombinos VIII (2019)

Entre los recientes estudios sobre textiles Andinos, comienza a ser frecuente encontrar quienes se dedican a describir además de las técnicas, sus iconografías. Como eran sociedades ágrafas, nos hace pensar que con aquellas imágenes nos quisieron dejar su historia y pensamiento. En el caso de Mesoamérica, se podría decir lo mismo de las técnicas e imágenes, pero en este caso, las sociedades que los tejieron sí tenían manera de comunicarse a través de sus lenguajes escritos. No se han conservado tantos tejidos a causa del clima por las condiciones no favorables para la conservación de materiales orgánicos, pero tenemos muchos …

A Highland Textile Tradition From The Far South Of Peru During The Period Of Inka Domination, Penelope Dransart

PreColumbian Textile Conference VIII / Jornadas de Textiles PreColombinos VIII (2019)

A group of garments and textile fragments is identified in this article as belonging to a particular textile tradition, with characteristics indicating an affiliation to communities in the highlands of the South-Central Andes. Different categories of gender-specific garments are presented. The characteristics include an all-camelid construction, warp-patterned stripes in blocks of alternating colours, the use of a discontinuous warp and transposed-warp weave. Pattern motifs include eight-pointed stars, double-headed serpents and figures based on rhombuses. Distinctive geometric designs are analysed, including ‘butterfly’ motifs and narrow stripes, consisting of paired light- and dark-coloured right-angled triangles joined to make stacks of larger isosceles …

Rockhounding, Seafaring, And Other Material Tales For The End Of The World, Noemie Fortin

The Goose

In the face of accelerated environmental degradation and climate instability, the future of the Earth and of all life on earth is difficult to visualize. Therefore, the different mediums through which we consider environmental issues are just as important as the actions we take to address them. Focusing on three projects combining art, science, and activism, this article suggests a compilation of material tales. They tell stories of plastic rocks and aluminum nuggets where the protagonists are partly finely crafted objects, partly waste materials, and sometimes both at once. Artists Kelly Jazvac, Yesenia Thibeault-Picazo, and the collective Studio Swine collaborate …

By Land And By Sea: Displaced Samplers Reveal Women On The Move, Lynne Anderson

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Until the middle of the nineteenth century most American girls embroidered as least one needlework sampler as part of their education. A first sampler demonstrated the girl had learned to sew a few different stitches, copy the alphabet, and “write” her own name in thread. If instruction continued past these basics, subsequent embroideries might reveal more advanced needlework techniques and the girl’s expanding literacy. Each sampler was considered a significant accomplishment—by the girl herself, her teacher, her family, and even potential suitors. Embroidered samplers were treasured objects, framed and displayed in the home or tucked away safely for posterity. When …

Artistic Philanthropy And Women’S Emancipation In Early Twentieth-Century Italy, In The Life And The Work Of Romeyne Robert And Carolina Amari, Maria Luciana Buseghin

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Romeyne Robert, married as Ranieri di Sorbello, started an embroidery school in 1904 in Umbria, at the family’s country estate of Pischiello. Her goal was to teach young peasant women to emancipate themselves by learning the craft of embroidery. She was inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement in America and by contemporary programs developed in settlement houses along the East Coast. Their aim was to help the emancipation of immigrant women from Italy by fostering the recovery of artisan skills. At the Sorbello Embroidery School, Romeyne rediscovered the Renaissance technique originally called the punto Umbro, later renamed punto Sorbello. …

Many Makers: Collaborative Renewal Of Chahta Nan Tvnna (Choctaw Textiles), Jennifer Byram

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Using an Indigenous research model of relationality to community and to land, this paper presents the production of a 1700’s style skirt in bison and dogbane fiber by a group of Choctaw textiles artisans. By translating existing archaeological and textual resources into newly produced garments, these practices communicate the research to the Choctaw community in an accessible and inspiring format. Textiles discussed in this paper are made with twining and oblique interlacing techniques using dogbane, bison, and nettle yarns decorated with natural dyes, pigments, or shells. Members of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma revitalized a traditional art that had been …

Camelid Fleece And The Hidden Histories Of Colors In The Andes, Penelope Dransart

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

This article explores the significance of natural fleece colors that are often hidden by dyeing processes. The earliest domesticated alpacas and llamas probably resembled vicuñas and guanacos, their wild counterparts. By 3000 years ago, differences were beginning to emerge in the coats of alpacas and llamas. Dyers, spinners, and weavers learned to exploit these variations to complement and extend the range of possibilities offered through the use of dyed yarns. The evidence from the Siguas and Nasca cultural traditions considered here is both direct and indirect, taking into account textile remains and the depiction of camelids on ceramics. It indicates …

Aso Òkè Weaving Techniques And Perception In Iseyin, Oyo State, Nigeria, Idowu Jamiu Diyaolu, Halima Ronke Omotosho

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

There is need for more women to be involved in weaving activities in southwestern Nigeria. The study examined the techniques employed in local weaving in Iseyin and associated factors, as well as the perceptions of consumers on the woven fabrics. The study was carried out in Iseyin, a city in Oyo State, Nigeria, reputed for weaving aso-oke. Cluster sampling was used to select twenty weavers while simple random sampling was used to select eighty consumers. Interviews and questionnaires were used to collect data then analyzed and interpreted using descriptive statistics and correlation. The result showed that most of the weavers …

Making Siapo In Leone Today, Regina A. Meredith Fitiao Mfa

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Siapo is the Samoan word for painted bark cloth. It’s an art form that has been a part of many Pacific island nations for centuries. At one time it flourished in American Samoa, namely the village of Leone, where a group of women worked consistently with it. One of those women is my great aunt, the late Mary J. Pritchard, who taught me the rudiments of making siapo back in the early 1970s, while later it was her daughters who inspired me to become the siapo maker I am today.

“Making Siapo in Leone Today” is an elucidation of my …

Behind The Scenes: Hidden Stories Of Craftswomen Of Punjab, India, Anu H. Gupta

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Creating phulkari, an embroidered craft of Punjab, for the market involves a value-chain of people for converting a solid fabric to an ornamented piece with embroidery. A pillar of this value-chain is domestic craftswomen. Being part of an informal sector, these women are susceptible to being exploited at home as well as by designers, vendors, and several others involved in the value-chain of production and marketing of craft. Many of them are pushed to the background not only by their family members but also by the people or vendors who give them work. Their individual contribution is acknowledged only when …

Ethnoarchaeology Of The Textile Chaîne Operatoire. Searching For Evidence Of Prehispanic Textile Production In Domestic Sites, Bárbara Cases

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

It is proposed that detailed knowledge of the textile production sequence currently carried out by Aymara weavers of the Altiplano of Tarapac  (northern Chile) constitutes an important reference to link material and immaterial aspects and generate indicators with which to address pre-Hispanic textile production in domestic sites, the locations where fabrics would have been produced and used. This research is conceptually framed by the anthropology of technology, which considers material production as a social act. The recording of textile production processes (cha ne op ratoire) was carried out using an ethno-archaeological approach to build a bridge between the present—with known …

Casting A Wide Net: The Value Of Collaboration And Outreach With Source Communities In The Analysis Of Historic Native American Fishing Nets, Annabelle Fichtner Camp, The Lenape Tribe Of Delaware

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

The Lenape Tribe of Delaware is one of two recognized tribes within the state of Delaware. Having only gained state recognition in 2016, the group is actively working to regain the lifeways of their ancestors that have been lost in the aftermath of colonization and systemic oppression. This paper discusses collaborative research between the author, a student in Art Conservation, and the Lenape Tribe of Delaware into the once-crucial practice of net-tying. It addresses the impetus for the project and its role in object-based decolonization and Indigenous knowledge reclamation. The research was inspired by the last known Lenape netmaker, Clem …

Modernist Influences In Churchill Weavers Textiles: 1922-1949, Sarah Stopenhagen Broomfield

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

“Modernist Influences in Churchill Weavers Textiles: 1922-1949” is an interdisciplinary study of the Berea, Kentucky, handweaving production center, Churchill Weavers, which operated from 1922 to 2007. It documents craft production from Kentucky’s Appalachian foothills that exhibited a fusion of traditional and modern craft practices while incorporating a modernist design style. The study highlights traditional hand weaving production with a modern look from the interwar period, coming from a location not typically thought of as a center for innovation, national, or international movements. The study examines textiles designed by Eleanor Churchill in the beginning decades of the company and woven on …

The Yuraq Haku, Or Plain Mantle: A Long Tradition Of North-Central Perú, María Elena Del Solar, Crestina Jara

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

The haku is a shawl indispensable for depicting the lives of women and men in several districts of the department of Hunuco, in north central Peru. It is used daily in rural tasks and domestic life, and it shines during public festivals as a clear representation of local identity. The skill of the spinners in achieving an exceptionally fine yarn makes the serene beauty of these handsome cloths of a single, even color stand out. Almost transparent, the four-selvage cloth is woven on a backstrap loom of native cotton or of sheep’s wool diverse in hue. The mark of the …

The Souls Of The Dead: Images Woven In Women’S Clothing Of The Jalq’A Cultural Area (South-Central Bolivia), Veronica Cereceda

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Both their style of dress and, particularly, the textile designs that distinguish them already at a first look have made three ethnic groups stand out in south-central Bolivia: “Llameros,” “Yamparas,” and “Jalq’as” inhabit neighboring lands in the departments of Potos and Chuquisaca. Ethno-historians and archaeologists define the pre-conquest and early colonial past of these contemporary identities as only two groups: populations belonging to the great ayllus of the high plains, Norpotosinos (Llameros) and Yamparas, with their two political centers: janan (upper) in Jatun Yampara and urin (lower) in Quila Quila.

Today the panorama is more complex: the two Yamparas centers …

A Walk Through Contemporary South Asian Textile “Daatsans”, Rohma Khan

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Dasatangoi is a Persian word for the centuries old, rich tradition of oral storytelling as practiced in the subcontinent. The epics that have passed on from one generation to another tell magical stories of adventure, war, religious anecdotes with immense details such as Arabian Nights, Dastaan-e-Ameer Hamza, and Mahabharata. Inspired by this subcontinental tradition, the presentation focuses on how these rich epics were translated into visual narratives in various indigenous textiles such as in Persian shikar-gahs and the subcontinent’s Chamba rumaals. In addition, it shows how these guided and made skeletal references for contemporary textile artists in Pakistan. Therefore, the …

Cassimere: Hiding In Plain Sight, Peggy Hart

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

In the nineteenth century, cassimere was one of the most produced woolen fabrics in American mills. Cassimere appears in nineteenth century texts, as in George Cole’s Complete Dictionary of Dry Goods, first published in 1890. Cole describes cassimere as “the general term applied to that class of allwool cloths used for men’s clothing, woven either plain or twilled, coarse or fine of “woolen” yarn.” Cassimere is much in evidence in census reports of wool manufacture from 1837 to the early 1900s. It appears early in the twentieth century in the Thomas Register of American Manufacturers Buyers guide of 1905-06 under …

Stories Of Welcome Blanket Makers: Towards A Philosophy Of Craft, Alesia Maltz

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Welcome Blanket was created as a craftivism response to Trump’s call for a border wall. “Imagine if the massive distance of this wall was re-conceptualized and re-contextualized not to divide, but to include. Instead of a wall, a concrete line, to keep people out, what if lines of yarn became 3,500,640 yards of blankets to welcome people in?” The 3,200-blanket goal was quickly achieved and shown in the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago. Then, with enclosed notes from the makers welcoming newly arrived immigrants, the blankets were distributed to refugees and immigrants in several resettlement communities …

The Lost Narrative Of Natalia Shabelsky’S Collection Of Russian Textiles, Lauren Lovings-Gomez

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

A culturally significant, vibrant group of textiles gathered in the nineteenth century by Natalia Leonidovna Shabelsky, praised by critics and celebrated worldwide, was nearly lost to history. Born in Taganrog, Russia, in 1841, Shabelsky moved after her marriage to a rural estate in the Lebedinsky region where she developed an interest in the indigenous textile practice of ethnic Russia. She collected and preserved examples of embroidery and lace, as towel ends and costume accessories, all filled with traditional motifs such as the Tree of Life, the Sirin, and the Mother Goddess in her various guises. At the end of the …

The Maker’S Mark?: An Examination Of An Embroidered Rebozo And Its Potential Signature, Eleanor A. Laughlin

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Mexican rebozos (scarves/shawls) range in material, design, and function from those worn by indigenous women made of maguey or cotton and used to carry children or heavy loads, to those made of silk that feature fancy dyes or embroidery, which serve as accessories for special events. Among the historic embroidered examples is a subtype called the “landscape” rebozo, which featured scenes of quintessentially Mexican locations or events stitched into the fabric of the scarf. Most rebozos, in the past as in the present, were made by anonymous artisans. However, one example bears a sign that may be a signature and …

Ways Of Life And Works Of Weaving And Dyeing In Okinawa: Toward A Possible Solution Of Carry On Concern, Yuka Matsumoto

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Okinawa, Japan’s southernmost insular prefecture, has a rich variety of weaving and dyeing traditions, but it is in the midst of issues including an aging local population and depopulating rural communities. Thus, one of the most vexing concerns is how to carry on the weaving and dyeing traditions. This study aims to find ways to ameliorate the condition in Okinawa by analyzing how the lives of Okinawa people relate to the traditional weaving and dyeing in the modern era and by understanding the current significance of them to people’s lives.

This study uses nineteen cases from all over Okinawa, and …

Henna Ritual Clothing In Anatolia From Past To Present: An Evaluation On Bindalli, Ozlen Ozgen, Feryal Soylemezoglu, Zeynep Erdoğan, Sevinc Arcak

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

The rites of matrimony, which are formed with various rituals and activities, have been accepted as one of the main components of Anatolian traditions from the Ottoman period to the present time. The marriage is celebrated with ceremonies that include a series of entertainment activities. The henna rituals are conducted prior to marriage. In these rituals, first, various folk songs are sung to make brides, who will be away from their parents, cry. Then, fun music is played to entertain the bride, who wears dress in traditional henna clothes called bindalli on henna night. The material, colors, motif, and ornaments …

The Hidden Story Of The Quilted Cover In The Benaki Museum Collection, Sumiyo Okumura

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

There is a big, green linen quilt cover, a so-called Mamluk quilt, in the collection of the Benaki Museum (Athens). It looks like a Mamluk cover in terms of colors and designs such as endless knots and flower motifs, but the emblem showing a double-headed eagle in the center of the cover is not the same as other Mamluk blazons. It raises the question of where and when this quilt cover was made. A similar type of linen textile, the so-called trapunto fiorentino, can be seen in a private collection in Florence. It shows similar motifs on the green-colored ground. …

From Birth To Death. The Silk-Flower Industry In Mexico., Adriana Sanromán Peyron

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

For centuries silk flowers have been used by different societies as personal and spatial adornments. Flowers, both natural and man-made, have diverse meanings in daily life and rites of passage, accompanying individuals from birth to death. During the nineteenth century, the use of silk flowers gained in popularity and, thanks to the industrialization of textile weaving and the discovery of chemical dyes, silk flowers became available not only to elites but to the growing bourgeoisie, and later, even low-income classes. During this boom, Judith Deschamps and Etiesenne Pucheu met and were married, both of them florists. After the 1851 great …

Creating The Sensible: Weaving The Colonial Aesthetic At A Colonial Obraje, Maria Smith

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

When the Spanish arrived in the Andes, they encountered a rich textile production industry. The colonists quickly recognized the economic opportunity that skilled Andean weavers provided to colonists and in 1545 the first colonial obraje (textile mill) was established in Peru (Silva Santisteban 1964: 18). Roughly twenty-five years later Antonio de Oré established the Obraje de San Marcos de Chincheros outside the colonial city of Huamanga. There Indigenous and mestizo weavers produced textiles that were transported to Cusco to enter the global textile market. At the Obraje, forced Spanish techniques and technologies mixed with the Indigenous techniques and technologies that …

Ties That Bind The Daily Lives Of Carpet Traders: An Ethnographic Exploration Of The Everyday Lives Of Carpet Traders Through Their Kinship Ties, Moral Economies, And Acts Of Everyday Diplomacy In Iran, The Netherlands, Belgium, And Germany, Felix Van Den Belt

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

On August 6, 2019, international sanctions on Iran were reintroduced. Through my personal quest to understand the carpet trade, written as an ethnographic exploration, this thesis follows the everyday life trajectories of carpet traders in the context of Iran, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. These life trajectories are made comprehensible based on the themes: Kinship Ties, Moral Economy, and Everyday Diplomacy. In doing this, it contributes to the understanding of global trade networks from the perspective of globalization from below. Few ethnographies are written on the social lives of contemporary carpet traders, but there are many assumptions and opinions on …