Tartan of the month - December: What do you see?

[figheadair]

Attractive sett. Excellent colours. Very Wilsons looking. Wonderful balance. It looks like five colours to me, but there could be a Yellow as well as a pale Green. Herringbone edge up top which appears to end in the Light Blue rather then the Dark Blue therefore breaking the sett right at the edge. Early to mid 19th century then? Have I got that right?

Yellow yes but pale green?
Herringbone - really?
Early to mid-C19th. Why do you think that is the case?

Are those staples I see in the top right?

No

It looks like there's some kind of stitching around the outside edge of the piece which I can't imagine a use for. The buckling of the fabric in the bottom corners is almost certainly caused by this.

Agreed

It also looks like it might be a lighter weave and not that large a piece. May we have the dimensions?

From what I recall it's about 6x8"

There are also some interesting little 'jigs' in the vertical weave. Not quite a full herringbone turn around, but perhaps just for one thread and then back to the established twill weave. I'm not sure if this is intentional or a function of the loom or something else.

Ah. So what might it be?

[xman]

Yellow yes but pale green?

This is my cognitive deficiency with the overlap which I believe I mentioned in an earlier thread. Yellow it is.

Herringbone - really?

AH, NO. It is the 'jigging' issue again although there are a few treads which run back the other way and then return. I should have looked closer.

Early to mid-C19th. Why do you think that is the case?

Mostly my mistaken herringbone interpretation.

Ah. So what might it be?

I've not a clue.

[Dale-of-Cedars]

From the matching angles of the cuts on the sides, and the creasing across the middle, it looks like it was folded and stitched together, but not as a pocket or pouch as it looks stitched on all 4 sides. But it isn't stitched along the fold, and as the fold isn't a tight crease it may have been folded around some other fabric before being stitched down.

We seem to be looking at the inside surface; from the holes/tears the top, darker part of the sett, with the tidy edge, looks like it got most abused, probably on the other side of the cloth.

A double-thickness patch for the top edge of a worn or torn kilt apron, or a repair on a piece of upholstery?

[Cygnus]

From the matching angles of the cuts on the sides, and the creasing across the middle, it looks like it was folded and stitched together, but not as a pocket or pouch as it looks stitched on all 4 sides. But it isn't stitched along the fold, and as the fold isn't a tight crease it may have been folded around some other fabric before being stitched down.

We seem to be looking at the inside surface; from the holes/tears the top, darker part of the sett, with the tidy edge, looks like it got most abused, probably on the other side of the cloth.

A double-thickness patch for the top edge of a worn or torn kilt apron, or a repair on a piece of upholstery?

It actually looks to me like it had been folded into quarters since the crease on the left appears concave while the one on the right looks convex.

Though that may have just been the way it was stored, not a result of its original function.

[MacAngus]

Is it clan Chattan

[figheadair]

A double-thickness patch for the top edge of a worn or torn kilt apron, or a repair on a piece of upholstery?

It's often the case with old pieces that they were re-used so their original and later functions may be entirly different. It this case the later use of the material could have been for any number of things from clothing to unholstery. With such a small sample it will probably remain one of those great unknowns.

Is it clan Chattan

No it isn't.

[xman]

The selvedge at the top appears to be barlycorn, but is probably just more 'jigging' and it also breaks the tartan sett with what looks to be white threads.

Could the 'jigging' be some kind of thread counting marker?

[figheadair]

The selvedge at the top appears to be barlycorn, but is probably just more 'jigging' and it also breaks the tartan sett with what looks to be white threads.

Could the 'jigging' be some kind of thread counting marker?

It's actually standard twill weave but the alternating single and double bue and white threads makes it appear a little like plain weave.

[xman]

There appears to be at least one, likely two intentional holes in the fabric at the top by the yellow lines. Could we have a closer look at that?

[figheadair]

There appears to be at least one, likely two intentional holes in the fabric at the top by the yellow lines. Could we have a closer look at that?

Looks like general wear and tear to me.