Were there markings on tablets in the past, or is this a recent phenomenon?

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One thing to keep in mind is that most of the patterns you will find in modern books on tablet weaving are what are called threaded in patterns - where each hole in each card is assigned a specific color of string and the whole pack is turned forwards or backwards together. I know of no medieval examples of this method of tablet weaving. It is mauch more common to find tablet weaving as a background for brocade, simple stripe patterns, and two-color double face patterns. When one is warping for these sorts of patterns there is not nearly so much need to label each hole as all of the tablets get the same threads (look for instructions on continious warping).

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Just a quick note: the URL for the weavers hand has an extra comma at the end. Remove the comma and the link is golden.

Thanks for posting them Gina, I have taken a look and the sites are really nice!

Thank you for the Tablet Weaving link. After looking at Nancy Spies work in particular, I am beginning to wonder if some of the magnificent "strap" horse barding from the 16th century might not be tablet woven instead of cut brocade as I had previously thought.

Thank you for setting me on a new research tangent. I am not certain if there are any extant examples of strap style barding, though I had "heard" tablet woven straps were sometimes used in horse harness or tack but I have yet to find proof of that as well.

Thanks again,
Brenna

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And sorry for the typo on the link!

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I would look under the ordinances for the associated livery companies in the country/city that you are trying to associate with the tablet weaving of tack. It may not have been allowed.

I am reading the History of the Worshipful Company of Saddlers of London and so far I have not come up with any associations to any cloth related livery companies or mentions in the accounts. Doesn't mean that there wasn't any, just that I haven't found anything yet.

Barding, bards, caparisons are all terms associated with the decorative harness and "covers" used on horses in a variety of periods. There is often a bit of discussion concerning "correct" terminology of the specific parts and their use but generally speaking, you can apply the above.

Since I have very limited knowledge of tablet weaving but some decent knowledge of loomed brocades and damasks, I am very much inclined to agree with you about the strength issue. Stress points in a caparison are pretty specific however, so overcoming that while still making a pretty picture would not be impossible. The particular "strap" barding example I am thinking of is actually 16th century. I will have to hunt up a copy of the picture on line, I have it in a book at home.

quote:

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I am reading the History of the Worshipful Company of Saddlers of London and so far I have not come up with any associations to any cloth related livery companies or mentions in the accounts. Doesn't mean that there wasn't any, just that I haven't found anything yet.

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I'm not particularly surprised in that respect. What barding patterns and instructions I have seen extant were recorded in tailor's books. Juan de Alcega's book in particular contains patterns and instructions for a complete tournament style barding made of silk. It might be that the saddlers and livery companies had little to do with the production of barding since it seems to fall more in the textile end of things. Also, since it tended to be personalized in many cases and made specifically for one individual, perhaps ordnances are not the right place to begin. Inventories might be a solid starting point.

Thanks for the thoughts,
Brenna

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quote:

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Barding, bards, caparisons are all terms associated with the decorative harness and "covers" used on horses in a variety of periods. There is often a bit of discussion concerning "correct" terminology of the specific parts and their use but generally speaking, you can apply the above.

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Thanks! Is this an old term do you know?

Gina

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Caparison is the decorative covering worn by horses during tournaments (with or without heraldic markings) or as a means of displaying ones arms on the field of combat. Again a MF word caparaçon fr. OSp caparazón.

Though these items are a bit out of scope it is interesting to see it in later time periods.

Petrasch, Ernst, Reinhard Sänger, Eva Zimmerman, and Hans Georg Majer. Die Karlsruher Türkenbeute. Munich: Hirmer Verlag, 1991. An account with photos on pp. 135-138 of several seventeenth-century Turkish brocaded tabletwoven bands made into saddle girths for horses.

The other, couldn't find a date reference as far as when this tradition started, but it is still interesting non-the-less.

Sjöberg-Pietarinen, Solveig. Åboreins and rope-making. Åbo, Finland: n.p., n.d. A brief report on the folk art use of tabletwoven bands as horse reins made as wedding gifts in Finland.

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