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Materials Used:
Thick gauge embroidery silk, x 10 skeins
Inkle Loom
Tablet Weaving Cards
I wove this band as a part of an art exchange with my Laurel, Sir Joselin D’Outremer for Tempore Atlantia at Fall Crown. I knew that the ultimate use of the band was as a livery collar for a medallion, but was encouraged to create my own pattern for the design. I also wanted the pattern to be monochromatic, or consisting of only one color. I began researching collars of state, livery collars, and looking specifically for woven or fabric examples in period. Livery collars began appearing towards the end of the 14th century, and reached their height in 16th century.
Silk is a period material, which was used for ceremonial objects such as stoles, manipules, and collars as well as finer examples of common objects like belts and trim for clothing. I chose a thicker gauge silk because I knew I would want more than an inch width to the completed band, and silk is typically a very fine fiber that stands up well to the tension of weaving. Prior to warping the pattern onto the loom, I had to wind each skein of silk onto a bobbin, to make warping much easier. This I did using what is called a “bobbin winder,” pictured to the right. I took the loose bundled skein of embroidery skin and put it around the blue skein holder, which opens up like an umbrella to hold the fiber organized and in place so the bobbin can be wound.
The Pattern:
This pattern was created by myself using free-use GTT tablet weaving software. I wanted to recreate the striking monochromatic silk belt that is featured in Jan Van Eyck’s portrait of his wife, Margareta Van Eyck (1439). This portrait features a wide silk belt with repeating chevrons. The pattern features only one color, in this case white, but uses the structure of the weave to create a 3D chevron effect.
I knew that I wanted the chevron pattern, but had not previously designed my own pattern from scratch, instead adapting those created by others. I threaded the cards with one half of the band threaded Z and one half threaded S, with one opposite thread in the center where the two halves meet. The threading of the cards creates the slant of threads, which you can see in the pattern diagram; on the left hand side the threads slant to the right, and reverse on the right hand side.
By moving the card forwards, you continue that slant, and when you turn it in the reverse, the slant changes correspondingly. Effectively, I worked out that I should reverse turn cards to change the slant of the threads, and therefore produce the desired pattern. The first seven passes I wanted to create the width of the chevrons, so I had all cards going forwards. I then began reversing two cards per pass, one on each side, until only the two centermost cards remained. I then turned all the cards backwards to produce the width of the reversed chevron, and repeated this process for the pattern.
Not pictured in my pattern diagram, but present in the woven band are four additional cards, two extra on each side, threaded S/Z. These are border cards, which are turned constantly forward, which builds up twist and helps to form crisp, stronger edges for the woven band. In order to achieve a more hidden weft on the sides (or selvage), I employ a technique where I pick up the back bottom thread of the border cards, and pass my shuttle with only one thread on the bottom, before advancing. This helps to push down the weft thread and makes it less visible when looking at the band from above, and is discussed in Collingswood's The Techniques of Tablet Weaving.
Warping and Weaving:
I wove this band using tablet weaving on an inkle loom, and because the pattern is not twist-neutral (the pattern builds up twist as you progress) I utilized fishing swivels to disperse the built-up tension. In warping my weave, I tied the ends of the warp to a large gage fishing swivel. The swivel helps to dissipate the tension that builds up as you turn the cards forwards and backwards; a full demonstration of the method is available on my website. In order to have each card's tension independently adjustable, I tie the opposite warp ends in a taut-line hitch knot. If I feel a card is not taut enough, I can adjust the taut-line hitch knot and individually tighten or loosen each card. I initially came across this method from YouTube, by the user Know Knots, and have implemented it in my own weaving as well as taught classes to spread the knowledge.
In the medieval period these swivels would not have been available, instead many weavers used weights that could spin tied to the end of their warp in order to disperse built-up tension, in a technique called a warp-weighted weave. This technique is discussed further and depicted in the Now and Then section. Additionally, weavers can “flip” the cards, depicted to the right, which will disperse built up tension, but does produce a slight irregularity in the woven piece at the pass where the cards are flipped.
Monochromatic Weaving:
Monochromatic weaving can be seen in extant examples starting in the 9th century with a notable piece being the Ailbecunda belt, displayed at Ausburg Cathedral in Germany. This gorgeous belt woven of red silk uses only one color, with a message woven using the structure of the weave to create the design. It was gifted by the unknown but named Ailbecunda, whose name is woven into the work, and hailed from East Francia. This piece used standard four-hole cards, with each card alternating between S and Z threading, “the weaver made the inscription by twisting individual tablets so as to make the inscription threads run in the opposite direction to the background threads.” This pattern would build up twist while weaving, and Collingwood notes that at various points in the woven band, it appears the weaver flipped the tablets to reverse their threading, and disperse twist. This piece demonstrates the early use of monochromatic weaving for a ceremonial band.
Another extant example of monochromatic weaving can be found in the belt of Phillip of Swabia, dated approximately to 1200, which features a monochromatic checkerboard pattern. This checkerboard effect is achieved by having “alternating blocks of S and Z twisted cards. In the belt the tablets are changed from tuning in one direction or the other, and at points the belt is brocaded.” The belt has blocks of six cards, which are alternated S and Z threaded and produce blocks of raised threads imitating a checkerboard. Both pieces are made of silk, and could be considered ceremonial articles, acting as social signifiers to others through their display. I wanted to employ the same monochromatic techniques in silk for my woven band, to become a livery collar for a pendant.
Tomb effigy of Thomas de Berkeley, 1417, featuring a woven livery collar with personal heraldic devices (detail below)
The Livery Collar in Period:
From its inception, the design of the livery collar was intended to signify possession and ownership, that of the lord over the servant. This is most obvious when one considers the earliest form of the SS collar, a strap of leather, velvet or silk onto which were affixed several letters ‘S’, the ends terminating in a buckle or clasp and pendant.
The livery collar in the later medieval period was a prominent and prestigious item, which was used to signify rank as well as formal relationships between individuals. The collar was but one article that was awarded, other livery items could include a robe, hat, or badge. Earlier examples of a livery collar may consist of woven or leather bands with a hung pendant, as described in the passage above, but later examples became increasingly ornate including golden chains and metalwork. The collar of Esses, a significant find displayed in the Museum of London, consists of 41 “S” shaped links, associated with the Lancastian branch of the English royalty, demonstrates the ornamentation of later period livery collars. (The York branch had a similarly ornate metalwork collar with rose motifs).
Livery, in the form of articles of clothing, hats, badges, belts, or collars, all are physical manifestations of formal relationships between people or institutions. The most common form of livery collars would be those granted to nobles serving the royal family.
When it was introduced in the late fourteenth century the collar was given by leaders of baronial as well as royal affinities, but as a result of legislation in the early fifteenth century it increasingly became the preserve of the royal family. It was frequently referred to as the ‘king’s livery’, and was awarded to household servants and perhaps to officers in the localities such as sheriffs, and to those who had demonstrated their loyalty on the battlefield. In addition it was conferred on foreign dignitaries and royalty.
Livery collars could also indicate offices, such as mayoral collars, and orders or organizations. The Order of the Golden Fleece, founded in Burgundy in 1430, decorated its members with an ornate collar of metal, and a pendant featuring a sheep. Other chivalric orders, such as the Order of St. Michael, founded in 1469 by King Louis XI of France, followed suit, implementing a goldwork collar that features scallop shells and a pendant depicting St. Michael the archangel. This trend expanded and continued into the 1500s. Livery collars may also feature personal heraldic devices, and communicate meaning of fealty, service, and commemoration.
Now and Then: Differences from Period
I utilized several methods that would not have been available in the medieval period for this piece. One of the foremost would be weaving using an inkle loom, which was first patented in 1933. However, the concept of an inkle loom, or a portable loom which has an adjustable dowel for tension, is likely much older. In period this piece of tablet weaving could have been produced using a backstrap loom, an Oseberg loom, a box loom, or a warp-weighted frame loom, discussed earlier. An example of a warp-weighted loom in use is found to the right, where the weights that provide tension for the weave are free-spinning.An excellent filmed example of this style of weaving in action can be found on YouTube from the Norsk Folkemuseum in Oslo, Norway. This technique requires the weaver and their warp to be more or less stationary, without the ease of transport of the inkle loom.
A backstrap loom is effectively tying one end of the warp to a fixed point, such as a chair or table leg, and the other end of the warp to a stick, which is connected to a strap that goes around the back of the weaver, allowing the weaver to use their body to control the tension and stretch the warp. A figure (above) helps to demonstrate what a backstrap loom under tension looks like.
A later-period loom, called the box loom, would be the closest approximation to the inkle loom, where the warp is wound onto bars on each side of the “box” and the loom itself holds the tension, depicted above.
An Oseberg loom is another relatively primitive loom, in which the weaver has the warp tied to two fixed points and weaves between them, depicted in the illumination above.
I chose the inkle loom for portability and the ability to start and stop my weaving progress a little easier with everyday life, but all looms fundamentally are tools to hold the fibers under consistent tension for the weaver.
My fishing swivels are also an anachronism, discussed more in depth in the weaving section. In period, the built up twist of the cards would have been dispersed either using freely-swinging warp weights on a warp-weighted loom, or manually by the weaver. The swivels are a way to reduce headache from untwisting tension, and be more effective with my time when weaving, with the additional bonus of being more portable than using a warp-weighted method.
Finally, I utilized a free-use software program called Guntram’s Tablet Weaving Thingie (GTT) in order to plot my weaving pattern. This software was helpful because the preview generator allowed me to play around with settings such as threading of cards and see how the changes would affect the woven piece. I found it a useful modern tool to help weavers create unique patterns, as well as share those patterns in a more standardized notation.
For general weaving documentation, see here.
Bibliography:
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Collingwood, Peter. The Techniques of Tablet Weaving. Brattleboro, VT: Echo Point Books & Media, 2015.
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