Piece of the month - What do you see

**figheadair** · 5th December 10, 12:09 AM

Inspired by comments and support on various threads I thought it might be fun to post images of some old pieces over the coming months with the aim at getting people to think about historic pieces and encourage them to see rather than just look. I thought it might be interesting to let people add comments and generally discuss the piece of the month and then at the end of the month I'll post the technical information.

Good idea?
Here's your starter for 10.

**Chas** · 5th December 10, 06:04 AM

Do we get to ask questions with a yes/no type answer? Or does it all have to be all our observations?

Either way, my first observation is that the piece was hand woven.

Secondly the threadcount seems to have gone awry in the first picture.

Regards

Chas

**figheadair** · 5th December 10, 06:59 AM

Originally Posted by Chas

Do we get to ask questions with a yes/no type answer? Or does it all have to be all our observations?

Either way, my first observation is that the piece was hand woven.

Secondly the threadcount seems to have gone awry in the first picture.

Regards

Chas

Hummmm!

Let's leave the Y/N questions for now as see if others will quote your comments and add their own and so on. That way we should build a comprehensive picture. If things go seriously off I'll get things back on track.

One thing I will offer is that the warp was roughly 22" wide.

**artificer** · 5th December 10, 07:57 AM

having read your other papers on early tartans, I'm forced to wonder if the sett is nearly the full 44" across, with the half sett taking up the full warp.

Although I need to qualify my guess by saying that I'm not a fabric guy, so I am, to a certain degree, flying blind.

**figheadair** · 5th December 10, 08:19 AM

Originally Posted by artificer

having read your other papers on early tartans, I'm forced to wonder if the sett is nearly the full 44" across, with the half sett taking up the full warp.

Although I need to qualify my guess by saying that I'm not a fabric guy, so I am, to a certain degree, flying blind.

I've added a couple more pictures to post #1 that should help clarify things.

**Tobus** · 5th December 10, 09:05 AM

Hmm, not sure what kind of comments you're looking for, but this is what I see.

They transitioned from a regular symmetrical tartan to some kind of weird stripey pattern at the edge. Mistake on the loom, or done on purpose? It's obviously two pieces joined in the middle.

It's hard to tell from the photos, but the fabric looks pretty thin and light. Doesn't even look like wool to me. It looks like a linen tablecloth or something.

It's hard to get a handle on the color, as the different pictures were taken in different lighting. In some, there seems to be a greenish stripe in the tartan, but in others, it seems more brown. Overall, though, I do like the color scheme. It reminds me of the Auld Scotland tartan.

**Dixiecat** · 5th December 10, 11:41 AM

I'll bite.

I agree with previous comments that the fabric content is a linen/wool blend or a very light-weight wool.

It's possible that it's been laundered in its lifetime as evident from the shrinking or 'seersucker' effect in some of the fabric areas. Also, the colouring seems somewhat faded.

Because of the colours themselves, I'm thinking that the age of this piece is somewhere in the late 19th? I'm not sure if it's much older as even though the colours are faded, they're not degraded.

And, finally, I'm thinking that this piece is an arisaid due to the edge striping on the selvedge shown in the last pic.

Am I close on anything?

**figheadair** · 5th December 10, 12:23 PM

Originally Posted by Dixiecat

I'll bite.

I agree with previous comments that the fabric content is a linen/wool blend or a very light-weight wool.

It's possible that it's been laundered in its lifetime as evident from the shrinking or 'seersucker' effect in some of the fabric areas. Also, the colouring seems somewhat faded.

Because of the colours themselves, I'm thinking that the age of this piece is somewhere in the late 19th? I'm not sure if it's much older as even though the colours are faded, they're not degraded.

And, finally, I'm thinking that this piece is an arisaid due to the edge striping on the selvedge shown in the last pic.

Am I close on anything?

1 (sort of) out of 4

**chewse** · 5th December 10, 02:51 PM

Figheadair - I love your topic. After others have asked their questions, made their comments, can you please help us new guys to understand what to look for in a tartan pattern, material, etc.; be our teacher.