Tartan Question

[weeknee]

Why is it that a tartan going by the same name looks so much different coming from different mills?

[bdkilted]

I think that most of the time what you are seeing is the difference in the photo of the tartan. Sometimes there is a difference in the dye batch where a color appears differenly. I do know that sometimes what a mill identifies as a clan tartan is not correct. I guess you just need to know what the tartan is suppose to look like and pick the closest one.

[English Bloke]

As I understand it, Tartan is made up of a thread count ie. numbers of threads of different colours woven together to make the pattern (sett). The numbers of threads in the make-up have to be the same whoever weaves it, in order to be "that" tartan but there are no conditions on the shades of the colours so red can be scarlet red, or orangey red, or dark red, or whatever. Different mills use different thread and there you have it, by jingo!

I wouldn't take my word for it though. I don't really know anything.

[Paul Henry]

all named tartans have a formula which describes the number of threads and which colour they are as well, this is a fixed description, and is rarely altered ( but sometimes it does happen).
The colour is generally something like blue or red or green, not usually more specific than that, so that is where a degree of variation can come in to play.
Each mill will have their colour balances in the wool, and some mills will have slightly different base colours, there is nothing wrong with this , in many way I rather like it, as you can often get the variations to please a client.
This isn't the same as Ancient/weathered/reproduction colourways, they are distinct different colourways.

[Riverkilt]

Just part of the adventure. Not sure which mill wove Craig's Arizona tartan, Dalgliesh wove mine...but they seem "different."


Craig's


Mine

Maybe its the dye, or the light, not sure. They just seem different - and I've seen Craig's in person. Whatever the case I like them both - particularly mine - and that's what's important.

So, for me, the variations are an adventure.

[cdarwin]

As John and Paul have both stated, the tartan is defined by the thread count but each mill may have a variation of the specific shades of the colours to be used. Ron has shown an excellent example and I will offer another.





These are both the same tartan from two very different mills. The construction of both kilts is also very different, but that aside, you can see how the blue, green and brown in the first image are much darker than the second. To me, this makes a very nice way to have multiple kilts in a single tartan but still have some variation. Hope this helps.

Cheers,
-J

[Paul Henry]

As an example:

Two samples of the same tartan from two different Mills, although the reds are very similar, the blues are VERY different. But both of these tartans have exactly the same name, and the threadcount would be the same.This is just one of the idiosyncratic things about tartans which make it so fascinating, and sometimes frustrating!

[fluter]

More examples---no explanations, I just enjoy the variety.

Marton Mills polyviscose Wallace, versus House of Edgar muted Wallace:

Wallace PV versus Wallace muted by arcturus1997, on Flickr


MacGregor tartan, top row: Celtic Croft poly-wool blend, Sportkilt poly-something, Marton PV (custom weave from USA Kilts). Below, Marton Jura (16-oz wool) in MacGregor of Cardney---same sett, different colors, not unlike the HoE muted colors above. There's a great story about how this first came about on clangregor.org

Jura MacGregor of Cardney by arcturus1997, on Flickr

[Morris at Heathfield]

Apart from the more-or-less subtle differences in dyes used by the different mills, the thread counts can vary rather widely. This is less true of tartans that were designed in the days of tartan registers, but for tartans that have been around since the 19th century the difference in the proportions of the stripes can be striking.

I thought the Hay tartan was the ugliest tartan I had seen when I saw a photograph of it in Scottish Clans & Tartans. That was probably Strathmore's version of the tartan. Later on I saw a photograph of the Hay tartan in a Scottish Lion catalog and decided it was actually quite handsome. There the tartan was probably woven by either Ingles & Buchan or Lochcarron.

The modern introduction of tartan registers with standardized thread counts should have an effect on tartan thread counts similar to the effect the introduction of English dictionaries had on spelling—at least, in the days before the Internet.

[weeknee]

Thanx for the info,clears up a few things. But, how are you supposed to know which tartan is which with so many variations? counting threads seems a bit rude and nerotic.