CONTENTS
Card weaving, also called tablet weaving, is a type of weaving done to create long, thin strips. These strips have been used for girdles, filets, and decorative trim among other things. Tablet weaving is a technique of combining warp, and weft, characterized by the use of flat tablets, or cards, for the production of the shed. Cards have been made of many different materials, but most of the surviving examples are of wood or bone. There were several example of tablets found in Roman age England in both square and triangular shapes1. Some of the earliest period examples of card weaving were found in among the 60 Viking Age tombs located in Birka, Sweden2. There are earlier surviving examples, the earliest being dated around sixth century A.D.3
One of the more common period techniques is brocading. Brocade weaving involves using a supplemental weft thread that is usually a different color than the background warp threads. This extra weft thread is used after the regular weft thread has been passed through the shed of the ground weave; see Fig. 1. Lifting certain warp threads according to the design you're weaving creates a new shed; Fig. 2 illustrates the ground weave shed and the brocade shed. For brocaded bands, silk was the material of choice for use in the warp threads4. As silk worms weren't grown in Britain until post-period 5 silk threads would have been spun and dyed in Byzantium and Arabic silk centers of the eastern Mediterranean or later in period from Italy6.
There are examples of brocaded tablet weaving using metallic threads found in graves as early as the Viking Age 7. There are also many surviving examples of religious items for various saints woven with brocaded tablet weaving. This is probably due to the items being treated very carefully over the ages. Spun threads were the most used type of metallic thread for medieval tablet weavers8. These threads were made by the manufacturer taking a thin strip of silver or gold and winding it around a core thread of silk or linen 9.
This project is a recreation of a band on the mantle of Roger II, King of Sicily during the twelfth century. The original band was woven in the royal workshops in Palermo in 1133-1134 as noted by the Kufic inscription right above the tablet woven band10. The original band was made of red, white, and blue silk with silver brocade on 55 cards warped alternating S and Z. The brocade thread for the original piece was made of spun gilt sliver around a core of white silk11.
While this particular band was located on the border of the mantle of King Roger II, there is evidence that tablet woven bands were used for trim around wrists. Archbishop Pierre de Charny's alb had tablet woven, brocaded trim around the cuffs of the sleeves12.
Unfortunately little evidence exists about what type of looms would have been used for tablet weaving in the 12th century. There was an example of what looks possibly like a loom found in an Oseberg ship burial from the ninth century13. Unfortunately, it's so damaged it's hard to tell anything other than a set of tablets was placed on the ship with the warp and weft in place. There is a pictorial example of a vertical loom from the Master of the Collins Hours dated 144014. Mostly the loom consisted of two upright poles or columns between which the warp was strung. This allowed the weaver to look down on the side of the piece they were working on. There are also many other paintings of the Virgin Mary tablet weaving, but they date from the 1400s and 1500s.
Project Information
This project was woven as wrist trim for Lady Alienor de Narbonne who won the bands at an auction at Winter Revel. It consists of four bands of individual tablet weaving, one for each sleeve, two of which are finished and have been given to Lady Alienor and then the two bands being displayed here today. For each band I started and finished the band so each one is its own separate piece. I did this so I won't have to worry about a band un-weaving itself during use like mundane trim will do. I started this project because I had just finished weaving some wrist trim for her Majesty and had some left over warp. I saw the pattern for this project in Mistress Ingveld's book and was interested in the pattern. I chose to make use of the left over warp by weaving wrist trim in this pattern. I used gold thread for the brocade for the first set as it was what I had available at the time I started them. I then used silver for the next set as it had arrived in time for when I started the bands.
I chose this pattern for several reasons. First of which is the design calls for less than 101 cards. The last project I wove was 101 cards so I needed a pattern that called for an equal or lesser amount of cards. Secondly I am greatly interested in twelfth century tablet weaving. The patterns I have done so far from that time period have been intricate without being too complex to weave. Third I hadn't done any patterns from the Italian/Sicilian area yet and this gave me the opportunity. Appendix 2 is a copy of the pattern as I drew it into PC stitch.
For the brocade weft I used Kreinik Japan gold thread in size 7. I used this thread because it was made in the same style (see endnote #8) as period metal threads, but it's more readily available at a lower price. This thread also is thick enough for me to use just one thread per pick instead of multiple threads, which makes it look closer to period metallic brocade. This particular thread was made from a metallic lamellae wrapped around a fiber core. I have seen threads made of real gold around a rayon core for durability, but it's way too expensive for me to use. For this weaving I used 60/2 S spun (Fig 4) blue silk thread imported from England. I chose these colors because they look good together (see Appendix 4-Extra Notes, �Color Value�).
Now here comes one of the interesting questions, even though this silk was dyed by the manufacturer before I purchased it, how would this blue silk have been dyed if I really had been making this in period? As mentioned above, silk would have been imported to England, so would it have been dyed in the country that cultivated the worms, or the country that had the shipping port it was sent to, or the country that received it? If it had been dyed in Venice, Italy, which was a very large silk manufacturing base, it's entirely possible it would have been dyed using indigo. Venice seems to be one of the first cities in medieval Europe to use indigo, there is a record from 1194 A.D15. concerning the importation of indigo from India. But because of the opposition from English woad farmers and distributors, laws prohibiting indigo's use were enacted and enforced16. In this case, the silk would have been dyed in England using woad during period. I used silk because I enjoy the texture and the fineness of the thread without sacrificing durability. The pattern called for 57 cards to be used for this project resulting in 228 individual silk threads from side to side. I have learned if you want a lot of detail, in a relatively small area, you need to use a large number of tablets but a very thin thread. As Fig. 5 demonstrates, when the area of a two dimensional item stays the same, more detail can be shown when the area is broken down into smaller pieces. A larger quantity of smaller threads in effect breaks down the area of the weaving into smaller pieces.
When a piece of tablet weaving is brocaded, there is always the question of what technique is used for the ground weave? For this project I had all the cards set up in alternating S and Z warping (Fig. 6) so that when all the cards are turned in the same direction forward or backward the ground weave resembles a knit fabric. This is the technique the period piece was woven in17. I turned the cards forward for one entire band; then when I started the next band, I turned the cards backward to take the twist out of the warp threads that always develops.
With any brocaded piece, there is always the question of what do you do with the brocading weft when you reach the selvedge? For this project I used a technique that was used on the chasuble of St. Gotthard18 of the brocading weft diving down to the back of the band near the end of the row, usually one to two cards from the very end. After the next row is woven, the brocade weft is brought back up into the ground weave shed and up into the brocade shed.
I started this project quite some time ago. Brocading normally takes quite some time to complete due to the intricateness of the pattern and because the weaver is dealing with an extra weft thread that isn't involved in double face or 3/1 broken twill. Rates of one inch per hour for brocade weaving are quite the norm. I also had to set this project to the side for two Crown Tourneys so I could paint shields.
I wove this on an inkle loom for my project, for three reasons. One, as of yet I haven't had a chance to build a middle-to-late period loom for my work. Two, I have found documentation vertical warp weighted looms, but nothing showing they were used in period. There is documentation for a back strap loom, but that is very stressful on the lower back. And third, an inkle loom is very portable and can be taken to where ever one is going unlike a vertical loom.
The cards I used are made from card stock. Card stock, for the modern weaver, is less stressful on the warp threads as the constant turning of the cards can cause wear on the threads. Card stock is weak enough that any friction caused by the turning will destroy the card, not the warp thread. Not to mention they are very easy and inexpensive to buy in bulk from Earth Guild. I am looking into having a set of leather cards made as leather is a period material19, but is soft enough not to damage the warp threads.
Things I'll do differently next time
�Ribbon weaving maybe? Dyeing my own silk with indigo perhaps? Stop volunteering for other projects when I�m already doing one? Nah-not going to happen.