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Table 19.1 Wool 2/1 twills of late Anglo-Saxon date. Data from Hedges 1982, Pritchard 1982, Crowfoot 1979, Crowfoot 1990 and Walton Rogers unpublished (see endnotes 44-7). The re-appearance of an old Roman loom in medieval England One of the latest examples of 2/1 diamond twill comes from the lower leg of a man, possibly an abbot, who was buried at Tavistock Abbey, Devon, in the fourteenth century — although his vestments appear to be fifty to a hundred years older than the burial.®*' This example has a preserved starting border in which the warp threads are grouped six at a time (Fig. 19.7). This is reminiscent of the starting band of the warp-weighted loom, although for that loom the warp threads are

Table 19 1 Wool 2/1 twills of late Anglo-Saxon date. Data from Hedges 1982, Pritchard 1982, Crowfoot 1979, Crowfoot 1990 and Walton Rogers unpublished (see endnotes 44-7). The re-appearance of an old Roman loom in medieval England One of the latest examples of 2/1 diamond twill comes from the lower leg of a man, possibly an abbot, who was buried at Tavistock Abbey, Devon, in the fourteenth century — although his vestments appear to be fifty to a hundred years older than the burial.®*' This example has a preserved starting border in which the warp threads are grouped six at a time (Fig. 19.7). This is reminiscent of the starting band of the warp-weighted loom, although for that loom the warp threads are

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Fig. 19.1 The two-beam vertical loom. The weaver is beating downwards with a. toothed weft-beater; a single-ended pin-beater sits loosely in the warp, waiting to be used; three tapestry flutes are being used to weave the different colours. Drawing by Simon Chew, York Archaeo- logical Trust.
Fig. 19.1 The two-beam vertical loom. The weaver is beating downwards with a. toothed weft-beater; a single-ended pin-beater sits loosely in the warp, waiting to be used; three tapestry flutes are being used to weave the different colours. Drawing by Simon Chew, York Archaeo- logical Trust.
Fig. 19.2 Bone and antler pin-beaters from 16- 22 Coppergate, York. The two at the top are the double-ended form used with the warp-weighted loom (the lower of the two is an unfinished example); those in the middle are the short single- ended form held against the palm of the hand and used with the two-beam vertical loom; those at the bottom are the long single-ended form, held like a pencil, as in the Baugy sculptures. Photo by Simon I. Hill of Scirebroc, on behalf of York Archaeological Trust.
Fig. 19.2 Bone and antler pin-beaters from 16- 22 Coppergate, York. The two at the top are the double-ended form used with the warp-weighted loom (the lower of the two is an unfinished example); those in the middle are the short single- ended form held against the palm of the hand and used with the two-beam vertical loom; those at the bottom are the long single-ended form, held like a pencil, as in the Baugy sculptures. Photo by Simon I. Hill of Scirebroc, on behalf of York Archaeological Trust.
Fig. 19.3 Wall-painting in the hypogeum of the Aurelii, Rome. Photo: Fototeca Unione, American Academy in Rome.
Fig. 19.3 Wall-painting in the hypogeum of the Aurelii, Rome. Photo: Fototeca Unione, American Academy in Rome.
Fig. 19.4 Roman funerary sculptures from Baugy, Central France. Centre: the weaver Genetiva holding a spool of yarn and pin-beater. 1. Drawing of the loom on Genetiva’s left (not visible in photograph, due to angle of shot); 2. Drawing of the hands of the weaver ?Lupula; 3. Drawing of the hands of Genetiva. Photo: M.-E. Fonvielle; drawings: A. Ferdiére. Most textiles from Roman Britain are the same tabbies and 2/2 plain, chevro1 and diamond twills which were already established in the British Iron Age anc which were almost certainly products of the warp-weighted loom. Alongside thes are a small number of wool textile-types which are new to Britain in the Romai period. These are a tabby weave with weft-faced bands, an extended tabby know1 as ‘half-basket weave’, and 2/1 twill. The textiles with weft-faced bands are typica of the eastern provinces and by the second century AD were woven on the two beam loom,’ half-basket weave is also a Mediterranean weave, although it becam: a ‘typical Gallo-Roman product’;"? and 2/1 twills are believed to have been wover on the two-beam loom." In short, it seems likely that all three of these less commot weaves were woven on the two-beam loom, although whether any of them wai ever made in Britain is open to question. - a © —; mm ihe FF
Fig. 19.4 Roman funerary sculptures from Baugy, Central France. Centre: the weaver Genetiva holding a spool of yarn and pin-beater. 1. Drawing of the loom on Genetiva’s left (not visible in photograph, due to angle of shot); 2. Drawing of the hands of the weaver ?Lupula; 3. Drawing of the hands of Genetiva. Photo: M.-E. Fonvielle; drawings: A. Ferdiére. Most textiles from Roman Britain are the same tabbies and 2/2 plain, chevro1 and diamond twills which were already established in the British Iron Age anc which were almost certainly products of the warp-weighted loom. Alongside thes are a small number of wool textile-types which are new to Britain in the Romai period. These are a tabby weave with weft-faced bands, an extended tabby know1 as ‘half-basket weave’, and 2/1 twill. The textiles with weft-faced bands are typica of the eastern provinces and by the second century AD were woven on the two beam loom,’ half-basket weave is also a Mediterranean weave, although it becam: a ‘typical Gallo-Roman product’;"? and 2/1 twills are believed to have been wover on the two-beam loom." In short, it seems likely that all three of these less commot weaves were woven on the two-beam loom, although whether any of them wai ever made in Britain is open to question. - a © —; mm ihe FF
Fig. 19.5 a: Illustration from the Utrecht Psalter, made in the Abbey of Hautvillier near Rheims, AD 820-835. Library of the University of Utrecht, ms. 32, f. 84. b: The same scene as in Fig. 19.5a., in a mid twelfth century English manuscript, the Eadwine (or Canterbury) Psal- ter. Trinity College Library, Cambridge, ms R. 17.1, f. 263. Fig. 19.6 Re-drawn copy of an illustration from De Rerum Naturis by Hrabanus Maurus, AD c. 1022-1025 (after a tenth-century original). Redrawn from Library of Monte Casino, ms. 132, f. 364, by T. Srahan.
Fig. 19.5 a: Illustration from the Utrecht Psalter, made in the Abbey of Hautvillier near Rheims, AD 820-835. Library of the University of Utrecht, ms. 32, f. 84. b: The same scene as in Fig. 19.5a., in a mid twelfth century English manuscript, the Eadwine (or Canterbury) Psal- ter. Trinity College Library, Cambridge, ms R. 17.1, f. 263. Fig. 19.6 Re-drawn copy of an illustration from De Rerum Naturis by Hrabanus Maurus, AD c. 1022-1025 (after a tenth-century original). Redrawn from Library of Monte Casino, ms. 132, f. 364, by T. Srahan.
The re-appearance of an old Roman loom in medieval England
The re-appearance of an old Roman loom in medieval England
weft 12/Z per cm). 7a: weave diagram (black
weft 12/Z per cm). 7a: weave diagram (black
Roman funerary sculpture from Central France. Courtesy of Alain Ferdieére.
Roman funerary sculpture from Central France. Courtesy of Alain Ferdieére.
Related topics:
Anglo-Saxon StudiesHistory of TextilesEarly Medieval ArchaeologyEarly Medieval HistoryViking Age ArchaeologyAnglo-Saxon archaeologyHistory of Textile Technology
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