Showing posts with label museum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label museum. Show all posts
September 14, 2013
Portrait of Anna Codde
I happened to pick up a book of a hundred paintings held by the Rijksmuseum and saw a portrait of Anna Codde by Maerten van Heemskerck. It was done in 1529 and shows a woman spinning a fine light-coloured thread from a distaff on a double-drive wheel which she turns by hand. She is not looking at her hands as she works, and she wears fine clothing.
September 12, 2013
Open Sesame
Some time ago now, I looked at Dagmar Drinkler's pdf "Die Rekonstruktion eng anliegender Bekleidung aus Antike und Renaissance,' online at www.teppichfreunde-norddeutschland.de/de/img/treffen/Drinkler-Sprangtechnik-09072011-72dpi.pdf.
This summer I went looking for more primary evidence that would bear out her findings on form-fitting sprang pants and sleeves in the ancient world and medieval Europe. It was like knowing that someone before me had said "open sesame" and seen a treasure trove, as it were, full of exciting information. All I needed was to find the right place and the right keywords to search with. I found some form-fitting pants shown in tapestries from around the 1500s. I did a broad search of Attic pottery on the British museum website and saw hundreds of images of pots, mostly showing fillets that might have been made with the språng technique.
I saved my place and didn't get back to it for a while. Then one day I picked up the search again and came across a reference to an Oriental, a rather dated way of saying someone from Asia. The figure, on British museum number 1912,0709.1, wears pants and sleeves that correspond with Drinkler's research.
From there I searched with the that keyword and found more examples, then I searched for Persians and Amazons and found many more. A couple were wearing form-fitting garments on their upper bodies that looked integral to the sleeves, for example numbers 1867,0508.941 and 1837,0609.59. The patterns are a lot of fun to look at. I've pinned as many as I could on Pinterest, here http://pinterest.com/thesojourningspinner/språng-leggings-and-garters/.
This summer I went looking for more primary evidence that would bear out her findings on form-fitting sprang pants and sleeves in the ancient world and medieval Europe. It was like knowing that someone before me had said "open sesame" and seen a treasure trove, as it were, full of exciting information. All I needed was to find the right place and the right keywords to search with. I found some form-fitting pants shown in tapestries from around the 1500s. I did a broad search of Attic pottery on the British museum website and saw hundreds of images of pots, mostly showing fillets that might have been made with the språng technique.
I saved my place and didn't get back to it for a while. Then one day I picked up the search again and came across a reference to an Oriental, a rather dated way of saying someone from Asia. The figure, on British museum number 1912,0709.1, wears pants and sleeves that correspond with Drinkler's research.
From there I searched with the that keyword and found more examples, then I searched for Persians and Amazons and found many more. A couple were wearing form-fitting garments on their upper bodies that looked integral to the sleeves, for example numbers 1867,0508.941 and 1837,0609.59. The patterns are a lot of fun to look at. I've pinned as many as I could on Pinterest, here http://pinterest.com/thesojourningspinner/språng-leggings-and-garters/.
June 06, 2013
Carol James' Replica Braddock Sash
I had the pleasure of meeting Carol James, språng artist, teacher, and author of Sprang Unsprung. She gave a public talk and displayed many of her finished objects.
If you read the paper she presented to the Textile Society of America in September, 2012, "Re-creating Military Sashes: Reviving the Sprang Technique," http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1697&context=tsaconf, you will get some of the same content as the presentation I attended. There is some information in the paper about how the yarn was traditionally spun, on spindles and not plied.
I got to see her replica of the Braddock sash.* The full-scale replica is enormous and done in very fine silk. Laid out, it took up the top of an entire banquet-style folding table.
I liked sitting at an angle opposite the window and seeing the way the light struck the surface of the sash because I could really see the difference between the cloth on one side of the meeting line compared to the other. Even though the yarn was all dyed evenly in madder and over-dyed with cochineal, the difference in cloth structure caused one part to look darker than the other. The sash was worked in one piece in a circular warp, so all of the interlinking on one side of the meeting line, that is, one half of the sash, had small twists of threads all over its surface twisted in the Z (clockwise) direction and the other was twisted in mirror image. That's why the light struck them differently.
There were patterns of holes, including some in the shapes of identical men standing in a row and some in the shapes of small triangles.
You can read about the original sash here on the Mount Vernon site. The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association now has Carol James' replica sash in their collection as well.
There was a fair amount of collaboration that went into the project. She had friends (and I think I remember family as well) assist her with warping and they must have borne her a lot of good will, as she said it took five hours to complete that step. She advocates seeking grant funding for fibre arts work. It was interesting to hear her speak of the Association's position on copyright, the limited license they gave her, and the conditions under which she got access to the sash and by extension the information about thread size, pattern design and placement, dimensions, dye shade, and so on. We were asked not to take photographs of the sash because the Association has copyright. To hold something like that in a collection is certainly valuable, and so is access.
*The original sash had the distinction of being owned by George Washington, the first president of the United States. I gather that one of the reasons people regarded Washington highly was his military leadership as commander of the Continental Army during the American revolution. Before that, he was a member of the British forces in the French and Indian War, where General Braddock gave him the military sash and the command that went with it.
If you read the paper she presented to the Textile Society of America in September, 2012, "Re-creating Military Sashes: Reviving the Sprang Technique," http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1697&context=tsaconf, you will get some of the same content as the presentation I attended. There is some information in the paper about how the yarn was traditionally spun, on spindles and not plied.
I got to see her replica of the Braddock sash.* The full-scale replica is enormous and done in very fine silk. Laid out, it took up the top of an entire banquet-style folding table.
I liked sitting at an angle opposite the window and seeing the way the light struck the surface of the sash because I could really see the difference between the cloth on one side of the meeting line compared to the other. Even though the yarn was all dyed evenly in madder and over-dyed with cochineal, the difference in cloth structure caused one part to look darker than the other. The sash was worked in one piece in a circular warp, so all of the interlinking on one side of the meeting line, that is, one half of the sash, had small twists of threads all over its surface twisted in the Z (clockwise) direction and the other was twisted in mirror image. That's why the light struck them differently.
There were patterns of holes, including some in the shapes of identical men standing in a row and some in the shapes of small triangles.
You can read about the original sash here on the Mount Vernon site. The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association now has Carol James' replica sash in their collection as well.
There was a fair amount of collaboration that went into the project. She had friends (and I think I remember family as well) assist her with warping and they must have borne her a lot of good will, as she said it took five hours to complete that step. She advocates seeking grant funding for fibre arts work. It was interesting to hear her speak of the Association's position on copyright, the limited license they gave her, and the conditions under which she got access to the sash and by extension the information about thread size, pattern design and placement, dimensions, dye shade, and so on. We were asked not to take photographs of the sash because the Association has copyright. To hold something like that in a collection is certainly valuable, and so is access.
*The original sash had the distinction of being owned by George Washington, the first president of the United States. I gather that one of the reasons people regarded Washington highly was his military leadership as commander of the Continental Army during the American revolution. Before that, he was a member of the British forces in the French and Indian War, where General Braddock gave him the military sash and the command that went with it.
May 21, 2013
Old Spindle Whorls at Metropolitan Museum of Art
I looked at images of spindle whorls in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's online collections as a sideline a few weeks ago when I was researching språng items on the website.
I think some of the whorls are beautiful. They're different from modern spindles, less wood, more pottery, glass, stone, and bone, smaller sizes, more centre-weighted shapes, and incised surface designs.
I think some of the whorls are beautiful. They're different from modern spindles, less wood, more pottery, glass, stone, and bone, smaller sizes, more centre-weighted shapes, and incised surface designs.
May 20, 2013
Språng Chart and Sample Inspired by a Coptic Turban
I charted a språng motif of holes taken from a Coptic turban and I made a small sample piece.
I found that I didn't refer to the chart while making the piece. I looked at the warp for cues for what to do next based on the positions of the holes in previous rows and the positions of the threads. It reminded me of lace knitting. It demands more attention than a pattern like Skrydstrup.
I've considered the idea of making a scarf or waistcoat with this motif. The product would be good. The process would probably remain tiresome to me even after enough practice. I'm a product crafter, so I'll have to mull these questions over: how badly do I want such a thing, is the tediousness worth it, and is there is a more tolerable way to approach the process.
I've considered the idea of making a scarf or waistcoat with this motif. The product would be good. The process would probably remain tiresome to me even after enough practice. I'm a product crafter, so I'll have to mull these questions over: how badly do I want such a thing, is the tediousness worth it, and is there is a more tolerable way to approach the process.
May 18, 2013
Språng Chart Inspired by the Lengberg Design
I took my chart based on a photo of the original Lengberg bra with sprang, and I drew a new chart inspired by it. I don't know if I'll ever use it to make anything, but it was a good exercise.
I've been reading Moseley, Johnson, and Koenig's Crafts Design and you can see I've taken their point about the value of balance between positive and negative space.
May 07, 2013
Stockings Shown in a Tapestry Could be Språng Construction
There is a tapestry, The Last Supper in the Robert Leman collection, shown in Christa C. Mayer Thurman's The Robert Leman Collection Vol 14 European Textiles (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001), pages 16-21, www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/The_Robert_Lehman_Collection_Vol_14_European_Textiles
According to the publication, the tapestry probably dates to the late 15th or early 16th century.
According to the publication, the tapestry probably dates to the late 15th or early 16th century.
I am mostly interested in the image "No. 4, detail" on page 20, and this sentence on page 18, "The only patterning in the scene is in the tablecloth, the two textile hangings to either side of the marble columns, and the stockings and cap of the host figure in the left foreground."
The stockings are tubular, running from just below the knee to just above the ankle. They may be fringed at the edges, and are patterned in colour with a grid of diamond shapes in orange on a burgundy background.
They remind me of stockings in the line drawing of the Assyrian hunter on pages 56 and 57 of M.G. Houston and F.S. Hornblower's Ancient Egyptian, Assyrian And Persian Costume and Decorations (London: A&C Black, 1920). There the stocking was longer, it extended above the knee and under the tunic. It was secured around the leg under the knee, possibly with a garter, and disappeared into a boot. The stocking had a grid of diamond shapes.
Their shape resembles the written Tegle and York stocking descriptions in Peter Collingwood's The Techniques of Sprang, though the pattern is different. Tegle is about 1st century B.C.E. or C.E.; York is around 9th century.
I wonder whether the stockings in the tapestry were based on contemporary costume; that is, European and something commonly worn at the time the tapestry was woven. An alternative explanation is that the stockings are not, and rather the artist included the stockings because they signify a costume of the Near East and antiquity.
I wonder whether the stockings in the tapestry were based on contemporary costume; that is, European and something commonly worn at the time the tapestry was woven. An alternative explanation is that the stockings are not, and rather the artist included the stockings because they signify a costume of the Near East and antiquity.
May 06, 2013
Språng Images on Brooklyn Museum Website
Some images of språng on the Brooklyn Museum website.
Brooklyn museum Accession 34.1592, collection 64.114.20 two sprang strings with tassels on skirt. Camelid. Peru, 0-100 C.E.
The following are not labeled språng. Some I'm more sure of than others.
Brooklyn museum Accession 34.1592, collection 64.114.20 two sprang strings with tassels on skirt. Camelid. Peru, 0-100 C.E.
Brooklyn Museum Accession 37.1769E, fragment of cap, Coptic, linen, patterns of holes, 7x24 inches, woven meeting line?
The following are not labeled språng. Some I'm more sure of than others.
Brooklyn acc 15.454 “netted weave” fragment, Coptic, wool
Brooklyn acc 37.1763E “knitted” wool, meeting line, pattern of holes like clovers only with multiple twists
Brooklyn, acc 37.1770E “knitted” linen fragment of cap, meeting line, possibly sprang, strange pattern,
Brooklyn acc 37.1767E “knitted” yellow wool cap 10x20 inches, Coptic, patterns of holes in chevrons and diamonds, peculiar line at top (meeting line or sewing line?), cinched end, probably turban construction as opposed to bag-style cap construction
Brooklyn acc 37.1761E “knitted” maroon and yellow wool, 7x11, Coptic, pattern of twining diamonds on background, drawstring
Brooklyn acc 37.1762E “knitted” blue and yellow wool cap, Coptic, 10x16, pattern in double cloth?, cord at meeting line
Brooklyn acc 85.165.1 textile, Coptic, wool (maroon, green, yellow?), 8x13, complex pattern of holes and either twining or double cloth colourwork, side borders, spectacular control of positive and negative space
Brooklyn acc 85.165.2 textile, Coptic, wool, either twined or double cloth pattern of colour, 5x15
Brooklyn acc 64.114.243
April 10, 2013
Image of Språng Cap on the Louvre's website
There is an image of a red wool Coptic språng cap, item E 29484 on the Louvre's website, www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/sprang-cap, along with information about språng. The writer believes that the Copts were influenced by the ancient Greeks' språng head coverings.
I was on the Louvre's website trying, without success, to look up a piece of Greek pottery in their collection that shows a woman holding a trapezoidal språng frame.
I was on the Louvre's website trying, without success, to look up a piece of Greek pottery in their collection that shows a woman holding a trapezoidal språng frame.
April 09, 2013
Pyxis
There is a beautiful image of a pyxis, a piece of ancient Greek pottery, on the British Museum website. I believe its name translates as compass box. [Correction: its name is the same as a constellation whose name translates as compass box but a pyxis is a container with a lid.] Its design shows a språng loom with a partially-completed piece of språng. It is museum number 1907,0519.1. The description notes that it's a "sprang frame, used for making hairnets."
You can get a sense of the loom's size by comparing it to the women shown. The frame's ratio of width to height, excluding the bit at the top, is 1:1.5, very close to phi, the golden ratio.
You can get a sense of the loom's size by comparing it to the women shown. The frame's ratio of width to height, excluding the bit at the top, is 1:1.5, very close to phi, the golden ratio.
April 05, 2013
Språng Images on the Kelsey Museum Website
There are many online entries for very old pieces of språng on the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology's website, and many of the images show the collections to be in fragments.
Here is a språng bag that is mostly intact, record number 0000.01.3532
quod.lib.umich.edu/k/kelsey2ic/x-0000.01.3532/13532P1
It is in three colours. The pattern is described as having been "made using sprang and twining," or what Collingwood would call intertwined språng on a background of interlinking.
Be sure to increase the image size using the drop-down menu. You'll want to use a computer monitor, not a mobile screen. Also be sure to click the description tab in the left menu. This museum offers the most comprehensive analysis I've seen for the structure of a språng piece and the yarn types in it.
Here is a språng bag that is mostly intact, record number 0000.01.3532
quod.lib.umich.edu/k/kelsey2ic/x-0000.01.3532/13532P1
It is in three colours. The pattern is described as having been "made using sprang and twining," or what Collingwood would call intertwined språng on a background of interlinking.
Be sure to increase the image size using the drop-down menu. You'll want to use a computer monitor, not a mobile screen. Also be sure to click the description tab in the left menu. This museum offers the most comprehensive analysis I've seen for the structure of a språng piece and the yarn types in it.
April 04, 2013
Språng Images on the Smithsonian Website
19th century Swedish sampler in off-white silk with patterns of holes, accession number 1981-28-199
collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18616515/
collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18616515/
20th century Tunisian headress, wool, tie-dyed, accession number 2007-8-2; also, an explanation of språng in general.
I think it's worth repeating, this piece is tie-dyed. It looks different from any picture of språng I've seen so far.
another Tunisian headress, accession number 2007-2-2
5th century Coptic bag or bonnet with patterns of both holes and stripes, accession number 1971-50-482
Mexican fragment of knotless netting, accession number 374960
March 15, 2013
Språng belt on National Gallery of Australia website
If you liked the red språng sash on the ROM website I pointed out the other day, have a look at Accession No: NGA 2009.187 on the National Gallery of Australia website. Similar in colour, pattern, and fibre type apart from the addition of metallic yarn. Different in geographical origin (Pakistan) and time period (nineteenth century).
It is described as a belt or drawstring and it is narrow, 9 centimetres by 206 cm (about 3.5 inches by 81 inches). By comparison the ROM's sash is 28 cm by 302 cm (about 11 inches by 119 inches).
It is described as a belt or drawstring and it is narrow, 9 centimetres by 206 cm (about 3.5 inches by 81 inches). By comparison the ROM's sash is 28 cm by 302 cm (about 11 inches by 119 inches).
March 12, 2013
Språng Sash on the ROM Website
I found an image of the following on the Royal Ontario Museum site, http://images.rom.on.ca:
Man's sash
American ?
Silk "spang" [sic] plaited and tasseled
Centimetres: 302 (length), 28 (width)
circa 1775
Area of Origin: United States of America?
Gift of the Sigmund Samuel Endowment Fund
962.185.2
ROM2004_1024_1
It looks similar to the Braddock sash owned by George Washington.
ETA: There are openwork holes on a background of interlinking. The length of the sash is divided into sections width-wise by lines, something I've seen on other språng sashes. This arrangement is also in ancient Greek woven textiles; see Barber, Prehistoric Textiles. While the pictures don't show everything, I do not see any figures of people or plants. There are zig-zags, diamonds within diamonds, and triangles. In each section with diamonds, the diamonds are lined up in a row side-by-side with one another across the width. I cannot tell whether there are other types of språng patterning, though there is some draw in at the ends which may come from multiple thread interlinking.
March 05, 2013
Bag at the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian
This bag at the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian could be språng construction but I am not sure. It is made of plant fibre. The exhibit is in low light and I did not use the flash, so what you see is a photograph with the colour adjusted.
March 02, 2013
Images of Coptic Turbans at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Coptic turban, accession number 90.5.33, www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/100012770 with a slightly more complicated sprang pattern than the next turban
Coptic turban, accession number 30.3.56, www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/100005768, a good view of the meeting line in image 3
Coptic turban, accession number 30.3.56, www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/100005768, a good view of the meeting line in image 3
February 20, 2013
Borum Eshøj språng hairnet at National Museum, Denmark
Found the Borum Eshøj språng hairnet image at the National Museum, Denmark's website: http://natmus.dk/historisk-viden/temaer/livet-i-oldtiden/hvordan-gik-de-klaedt/bronzealderens-dragter/kvindens-dragt-i-bronzealderen/
Part of the caption, translated by Google Translate, reads, "The woman from Borum Eshøj at Aarhus had a beautiful hairnet and a hat, which was merged into sprang technique, with the grave."
This same item is shown in Peter Collingwood's The Techniques of Sprang and described in the book as having ridges and multiple twists.
Part of the caption, translated by Google Translate, reads, "The woman from Borum Eshøj at Aarhus had a beautiful hairnet and a hat, which was merged into sprang technique, with the grave."
This same item is shown in Peter Collingwood's The Techniques of Sprang and described in the book as having ridges and multiple twists.
February 19, 2013
Språng Bredmose Cap in Glob's The Bog People
I got ahold of P.V. Glob's The Bog People: Iron-Age Man Preserved, trans. Rupert Bruce-Mitford (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1969) to look at an illustration of a språng cap found at Bred fen, Storarden (Arden forest), Denmark.
While I am a little squeamish about grave finds and wish we could let everything rest, the cap is certainly pretty. Glob describes it as "a skillfully-made little bonnet or cap of wool yarn, held by two fastening-strings. This is made by means of a special technique known as 'sprung' (sprang) and is a charming net-like head-covering." (p. 82)
I like the translator's choice to give the name as it is pronounced in the original language.
The shape of the cap is similar to the bog hood I made, though there is no tablet-woven strap at the front and the yarn looks thinner. The pattern of interlinking looks much like Skrydstrup, with five or six repeats, though it is hard to see. I am not sure if there is a line of interlacing where rows of S twists reverse to rows of Z twists.
The National Museum, Denmark gave me this page when I searched for Bredmose (Bred fen): http://natmus.dk/historisk-viden/temaer/livet-i-oldtiden/hvordan-gik-de-klaedt/teknologi-og-produktion/sprang/. In the right margin is a thumbnail image of the Bredmose cap, which you can enlarge to see in more detail. The museum shows a different view than Glob's book, which is good. I can see there is some seaming below the gathered section at the back. The image is in colour, though presumably what you see is not the original colour of the wool but a tint picked up from bog water.
The large image on the page is not the cap found at Bredmose, it is a hairnet found at Haraldskær. It is in fragmentary condition. The pattern looks to be mainly holes used all across the warp, given by Collingwood in The Techniques of Sprang starting on page 132.
I ran the text of that museum webpage through Google Translate. Part of it states, "Sprang [is] prepared in a frame where the clamped warp threads are twisted with each other in various patterns. Trend pattern is held in place by a single line, and without the use of a continuous element [weft]...Textiles in sprang technique associated primarily with headdresses for women."
While I am a little squeamish about grave finds and wish we could let everything rest, the cap is certainly pretty. Glob describes it as "a skillfully-made little bonnet or cap of wool yarn, held by two fastening-strings. This is made by means of a special technique known as 'sprung' (sprang) and is a charming net-like head-covering." (p. 82)
I like the translator's choice to give the name as it is pronounced in the original language.
The shape of the cap is similar to the bog hood I made, though there is no tablet-woven strap at the front and the yarn looks thinner. The pattern of interlinking looks much like Skrydstrup, with five or six repeats, though it is hard to see. I am not sure if there is a line of interlacing where rows of S twists reverse to rows of Z twists.
The National Museum, Denmark gave me this page when I searched for Bredmose (Bred fen): http://natmus.dk/historisk-viden/temaer/livet-i-oldtiden/hvordan-gik-de-klaedt/teknologi-og-produktion/sprang/. In the right margin is a thumbnail image of the Bredmose cap, which you can enlarge to see in more detail. The museum shows a different view than Glob's book, which is good. I can see there is some seaming below the gathered section at the back. The image is in colour, though presumably what you see is not the original colour of the wool but a tint picked up from bog water.
The large image on the page is not the cap found at Bredmose, it is a hairnet found at Haraldskær. It is in fragmentary condition. The pattern looks to be mainly holes used all across the warp, given by Collingwood in The Techniques of Sprang starting on page 132.
I ran the text of that museum webpage through Google Translate. Part of it states, "Sprang [is] prepared in a frame where the clamped warp threads are twisted with each other in various patterns. Trend pattern is held in place by a single line, and without the use of a continuous element [weft]...Textiles in sprang technique associated primarily with headdresses for women."
February 18, 2013
Chief's Cape Image on Textile Museum (U.S.) Website
This chief's tunic or cape from nineteenth century Africa looks like it might possibly be constructed as språng, http://www.textilemuseum.org/totm/October2011.html
The shape is rather graceful. The tunic stands out a little from the body, I assume because the raffia fibre is somewhat stiff.
The shape is rather graceful. The tunic stands out a little from the body, I assume because the raffia fibre is somewhat stiff.
January 09, 2013
UK paintings database and weaving
Amand Point's "Arab Weaver" shows tablet weaving on a frame very much like Peter Collingwood shows in The Techniques of Tablet Weaving. The warp has green borders and a white middle. The weaver works from left to right, beating the weft with his right hand. The beater is not shown but a raddle is. The warp stick is shown and enough of the frame is shown to get a good idea of its design and size. A family sits around the weaver, probably winding bobbins from swifts.
www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/arab-weaver-23343
British (English) school, "The Weaving of the Throckmorton Coat, for a Wager in 1811" shows the scene that is the basis for modern sheep to shawl competitions
www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/the-weaving-of-the-throckmorton-coat-for-a-wager-in-1811
Jehan Baleschoux's "The Unannounced Return by Night of L. Tarquinnius Collatinus and his Companions to Find His Wife Lucretia Weaving" Baleschoux painted it in 1570, making the piece one of the oldest I looked at in the database. Funny to see an ancient Roman story done up in sixteenth century clothing. Not long after, Shakespeare wrote about the same story in Lucrece. The bard has Lucretia spinning yarn not weaving, but it's much the same idea: Collatinus proves that his wife is a chaste and productive housewife while left alone at home for long stretches of time. There should be a comma in the painting's title between L. Tarquinnius and Collatinus because they are two different men. Or more accurately Tarquinnius's name should be omitted: Collatinus is Lucretia's husband.
Note that the artist Hardy includes a spinning wheel in his relatively modern painting about absence and faithfulness in "A Prayer for Those at Sea." Also, see Shakespeare's Coriolanus, Act 1 scene 3, where Virgilia stitches and refuses to cross the threshold until her husband comes back from the wars.
www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/the-unannounced-return-by-night-of-l-tarquinius-collatinu172364
Francis Sydney Muschamp's "Penelope" shows another scene of a faithful wife, from Greek mythology. Penelope sits at a tapestry loom at night, undoing her work she can outwit her suitors who are pressuring her to give Odysseus up for dead and remarry.
www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/penelope
John William Waterhouse's "Penelope and her suitors" shows her weaving on a horizontal loom (which is historically inaccurate)
www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/penelope-and-her-suitors-108091
Bernardino Pinturiccio's "Penelope with the Suitors" is also old, 1509, and unfortunately shows a horizontal loom. On the upside, there is a cat in the picture, a plus for me.
www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/penelope-with-the-suitors-114821
I've skipped some of the paintings of Penelope, including one where she prays to Athena, who was thought to be an excellent weaver and patroness of weavers.
Edward Irvine Halliday's "Athena and Arachne" shows the mythic contest and tapestries woven on horizontal looms (a method inaccurate for ancient Greece)
www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/athena-and-arachne-98619
If you search for weave and weaver on the database you will find additional paintings of horizontal looms, which I have left out of my list. I went looking for one more set of figures from mythology associated with yarn.
Jack Leigh Wardleworth's "The Thread of Life" shows the Fates. Lachesis is handling greenery and not measuring the thread as I would expect. Clotho holds a distaff with flax in the crook of her left elbow and her hands are in the spinning position, though the spindle is obscured behind Atropos and her shears. Clotho is undraped from the waist up, if that sort of thing bothers you; this represents nurture.
www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/the-thread-of-life
Godfrey Sykes' "The Three Fates"
www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/the-three-fates-71268
(after) Phillip Gayle, "The Three Fates" (Has undraped figures.)
www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/the-three-fates-125893
Sebastiano Mazzoni's "The Three Fates" shows a peculiarly-dressed distaff whose fibre defies gravity. Funny looking spindle, too.
www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/the-three-fates-33160
www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/arab-weaver-23343
British (English) school, "The Weaving of the Throckmorton Coat, for a Wager in 1811" shows the scene that is the basis for modern sheep to shawl competitions
www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/the-weaving-of-the-throckmorton-coat-for-a-wager-in-1811
Jehan Baleschoux's "The Unannounced Return by Night of L. Tarquinnius Collatinus and his Companions to Find His Wife Lucretia Weaving" Baleschoux painted it in 1570, making the piece one of the oldest I looked at in the database. Funny to see an ancient Roman story done up in sixteenth century clothing. Not long after, Shakespeare wrote about the same story in Lucrece. The bard has Lucretia spinning yarn not weaving, but it's much the same idea: Collatinus proves that his wife is a chaste and productive housewife while left alone at home for long stretches of time. There should be a comma in the painting's title between L. Tarquinnius and Collatinus because they are two different men. Or more accurately Tarquinnius's name should be omitted: Collatinus is Lucretia's husband.
Note that the artist Hardy includes a spinning wheel in his relatively modern painting about absence and faithfulness in "A Prayer for Those at Sea." Also, see Shakespeare's Coriolanus, Act 1 scene 3, where Virgilia stitches and refuses to cross the threshold until her husband comes back from the wars.
www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/the-unannounced-return-by-night-of-l-tarquinius-collatinu172364
Francis Sydney Muschamp's "Penelope" shows another scene of a faithful wife, from Greek mythology. Penelope sits at a tapestry loom at night, undoing her work she can outwit her suitors who are pressuring her to give Odysseus up for dead and remarry.
www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/penelope
John William Waterhouse's "Penelope and her suitors" shows her weaving on a horizontal loom (which is historically inaccurate)
www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/penelope-and-her-suitors-108091
Bernardino Pinturiccio's "Penelope with the Suitors" is also old, 1509, and unfortunately shows a horizontal loom. On the upside, there is a cat in the picture, a plus for me.
www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/penelope-with-the-suitors-114821
I've skipped some of the paintings of Penelope, including one where she prays to Athena, who was thought to be an excellent weaver and patroness of weavers.
Edward Irvine Halliday's "Athena and Arachne" shows the mythic contest and tapestries woven on horizontal looms (a method inaccurate for ancient Greece)
www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/athena-and-arachne-98619
If you search for weave and weaver on the database you will find additional paintings of horizontal looms, which I have left out of my list. I went looking for one more set of figures from mythology associated with yarn.
Jack Leigh Wardleworth's "The Thread of Life" shows the Fates. Lachesis is handling greenery and not measuring the thread as I would expect. Clotho holds a distaff with flax in the crook of her left elbow and her hands are in the spinning position, though the spindle is obscured behind Atropos and her shears. Clotho is undraped from the waist up, if that sort of thing bothers you; this represents nurture.
www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/the-thread-of-life
Godfrey Sykes' "The Three Fates"
www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/the-three-fates-71268
(after) Phillip Gayle, "The Three Fates" (Has undraped figures.)
www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/the-three-fates-125893
Sebastiano Mazzoni's "The Three Fates" shows a peculiarly-dressed distaff whose fibre defies gravity. Funny looking spindle, too.
www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/the-three-fates-33160
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