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The Æthelmearc Gazette

~ Covering the Kingdom of Æthelmearc of the SCA

The Æthelmearc Gazette

Tag Archives: Weaving

Basic Beginner Brocading

15 Thursday Mar 2018

Posted by aethgazette in Arts & Sciences, Fiber Arts

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Brocade, tablet weaving, Weaving

by THL Hrόlfr á Fjárfelli of the Dominion of Myrkfaelinn

Tablet weaving is a very popular technique for weaving narrow bands for belts or trim. It is a weaving technique that requires very little investment beyond the actual thread for the product itself, making it affordable for many of us.

Yet, despite its deceptive simplicity, there is an enormous richness in variation, techniques, and concepts to create an infinite variety of beautiful patterns and designs. I can highly recommend getting a copy of Peter Collingwood’s The Techniques of Tablet Weaving.[1] This book is still available in reprint and is an excellent reference book on tablet weaving, both for a beginner and an experienced weaver. Brocading is just one of many tablet weaving techniques that are discussed. Most of the information in this handout is derived from this book and I will stick to his notation as closely as I can.

Brief history

It is hard to say when or where tablet weaving was invented. As Peter Collingwood so aptly says: “a distinction has to be drawn between the earliest known fabrics that could have been tablet woven and those which in all probability were so woven.”[2]

Figure 1: Warp from the Tegle find (Stavanger Museum).[3]

Figure 1a: A diagram showing the starting border and the probable warping method.

In his book, he presents a chronological list of the most important historical finds from the earliest ones in bog burials in modern day Germany dating back as far as the 6th century BC and up to the year 1000 AD, after which too much material survives to make a brief summary feasible.

Given my interest in warp-weighted looms, I find it particularly exciting that the earliest pieces of fabric that are positively identified as tablet woven are from the starter borders of textiles that were woven on a warp-weighted loom. In this context, Figure 1 shows the most unique example that I know of: the Tegle find, a complete warp found in Norway and dated to 445 to 545 AD. See Figure 1a diagram, right, for the starting border and probably warping method.

Another famous example is shown in Figure 2, a linen brocaded band with its warp still threaded to a set of 52 tablets, found in the Oseberg ship burial in Norway and dated to the 9th century AD.

Hrolf_4

Figure 2: Set of wooden tablets with attached warp from the Oseberg ship burial.[4]

The last example I must include in a class on brocading is the enormous wealth of artifacts found in the archaeological sites of the Viking settlement Birka on the island of Björkö in the Lake of Mälar in present-day Sweden. For almost two centuries, from about 800 to 975 C.E., Birka served as an important trading center between Viking-age Scandinavia and Western Europe and the with the Orient through the trade routes in Russia. Agnes Geijer published an extensive survey of the textile fragments from the Birka graves [5]. This publication contains a complete chapter on the Birka bands (see figures 3 and 3a for examples of some of these bands).

Figure 3: Examples of several Birka bands.[6]

 Figure 3a: Several Birka patterns.[7]

Tablet weaving equipment

Tablet weaving is a technique to combine warp and weft by using tablets to create a shed. The tablets can be made from a variety of materials and in different shapes. Historically, commonly used materials include wood, bone, ivory, and leather. Their shape was most often square with rounded corners and a hole in each corner. Their size varied but was typically on the order of 5 cm or 2 inches. A cheap modern alternative is tablets made from playing cards cut to a square with rounded corners and a hole in each corner.

The warp consists of the combined threads through the complete set of tablets, one thread through each hole, so four threads per square tablet (if all holes are used). The number of tablets varies; for brocading, it is often an odd number to allow for designs that are symmetric with respect to the center tablet. To maintain tension on the warp we need a means to secure both ends of the warp at a given distance apart. The simplest way of doing so is by tying one end to your belt and the other end to a fixed object, like a tree or a door knob. When the length of the warp decreases during the weaving, you simply move towards the fixed end. The finished band can be rolled on a peg that is tied to your belt. One advantage is that it requires only the bare minimum of equipment: just a set of tablets and a beater will do. Another advantage is that the weaver has complete control over the warp tension by moving slightly forward or backward. The main disadvantage of this method is the difficulty to weave complex designs or wide bands with many tablets.

Figure 4: My warp-weighted tablet weaving loom.

A more common method has the warp fixed at the endpoints of a wooden board, either clamped in some way or wound around a rod or peg that can be locked in place by a clamp or a ratchet. The weaver sits at one end or on the side, and every now and then the finished warp is collected at the end towards the weaver by loosening both ends, pulling the warp towards you, and retightening it again afterwards. This periodically adjusting of the warp allows for a good body posture with the tablets always within comfortable reach.

Figure 4a: Another view of my warp-weighted tablet weaving loom.

A variation on this concept, the one that I will teach in this class, is by having the warp tension maintained by gravity. The near end of the warp is wound around a horizontal rod, which is locked in place between each readjustment of the warp (in my case by a ratchet at one end of the rod). The far end is hanging freely over a second horizontal rod mounted at the end of a wooden board, suspended by a single weight for each cord (the set of threads through all the holes of a single tablet).

This warp-weighted tablet weaving method has several advantages. The warp tension is very nearly constant during weaving and the weaver has a lot of control on the amount of tension by using different weights. Surplus warp can be braided before tying each cord to its weight, thus giving a lot of flexibility in the total warp length. Buildup twist (the origin of which is discussed below) can be removed easily without untying the weights or removing the warp from the loom. This facilitates weaving designs or using techniques that are not twist neutral without the need to change the turning direction of the tablets periodically (which often leads to a discontinuity in the pattern or a visible change in the surface texture). One big downside that I have found so far is that traveling with a warped loom is not an easy task.

Warping the loom

Figure 5: Warping the loom with one loop through two holes at the time.

Peter Collingwood (2015) discussed several ways of warping the loom. I picked the one that I think is the easiest to learn. The idea is illustrated for tablets with four holes. Clamp the loom in place on a table on one side along the long direction and clamp two boards with pegs at the other end.

Start by going through one of the holes of the first tablet, loop around the horizontal rod near the weaver and go in the opposite direction through the second hole. Keep pulling the thread and wind around as many pegs as needed to get the required warp length. End by tying it to the last peg. Follow the same track around the pegs with the other end and cut and tie it around the last peg as well. Repeat for holes three and four and so on for the remaining tablets.

warping3-5

After completing the warping, surplus warp can be braided such that (after tying on the weights) the ends of the cords hang freely just above the ground. Complete the warping by rotating the loom such that the warp ends hang freely, and then tie on the weights, one at the end of each cord.

warping9-11

After weaving for some time and collecting the woven band on the rod nearest to the weaver, the weights will reach the level of the table. That is the time to feed more warp by loosening part of the braid.

The most important part to remember is to always pass all threads through the holes from the same side of the tablet as seen from one end; otherwise, the tablets will not turn!

Here are some videos showing how the warping is done, beginning with adding the warp threads:

 

Next, you braid the ends of the warp threads:

 

Then you tie the weights to the warp threads just above the braids:

 

As the weaving progresses, you need to periodically undo some of the braiding and lower the weights to allow the warp to advance on the loom.

 

Each tablet can be threaded in one of two ways, either “Z” or “S,” named after the way the thread direction through the tablet looks when viewed from above. This is illustrated in Figure 6.

Here you are looking at the tablet from above with the bottom of the figure towards you and the top towards the far end of the warp. For brocading the tablets are typically arranged in pairs: one “S,” the other “Z”. This arrangement results in easier turning as discussed in more detail below. With an odd number of tablets, you can leave the tablet at the center unpaired in order to get selvages that are mirrored with respect to the middle, e.g. “SZSZSSZSZSZ.”

Figure 6: “S” (top) or “Z” (bottom).[8]

warping6-8

A wide variety of designs can be woven using a combination of just four variables:[9]

  1. The colors of the threads through each tablet.
  2. The position of these colors in relation to those in neighboring tablets.
  3. The direction in which the thread pass through each tablet.
  4. The direction in which the tablets are turned during the weaving.

Only the first one has to be decided while warping the loom. The other three can be changed at the start or even during the weaving.

Weaving

Tablet weaving in its simplest form is a repeating sequence of just two steps: 1) passing the weft through the shed, and 2) turning the tablets either forward or backward, thus creating a new shed. Here, I limit the discussion to square tablets and quarter turns after each pick.

Figure 7: Forward and backward turning.[10]

For differently shaped tablets or more complicated turn sequences, I refer to Collingwood. The forward and backward turning is illustrated in Figure 7. The shed is formed by the space between the two threads from the top holes and the two from the bottom holes of each tablet.

As a result of turning the tablets, the threads from each tablet will start to twist, thus locking the weft in place.

Figure 8: Twining direction of the cord.[12]

Figure 8 illustrates how turning the tablets is related to the twining direction of the cord.

Turning each tablet clockwise (as shown) will give a “Z” twined cord; turning the other direction will give an “S” twined cord.

If you work this concept out for turning forward or backward with an “S” or “Z” threaded tablet, you arrive at the following table:[11]

 

“S” threaded tablet “Z” threaded tablet
Forward turning “Z” twining “S” twining
Backward turning “S” twining “Z” twining

So, interestingly, both an “S” threaded tablet turned forward and a “Z” threaded tablet turned backwards give a “Z” twined cord.

The easiest way to change the twining direction of the cord is therefore to change the turning direction of the tablets. This is very relevant once you realize that turning the tablets leads to twining of the cord on both sides of the tablets; so, during weaving, you build up twist in the unwoven part of the warp behind the tablets. Without doing something you will end up with so much build-up twist that you cannot turn the tablets anymore. A common solution is to periodically change the turning direction to remove the build-up twist. Looking at the table above, another way to change the twining direction of the cord is to flip the tablets from “Z” to “S” and visa versa around a vertical axis through the center of each tablet.

One advantage –what I consider to be a big one — of warp-weighted tablet weaving with individual weights per cord is that you can easily remove buildup twist without changing the turning direction or tablet orientation. You simply lift the end while keeping tension on the cord, place a finger in the shed behind the tablet, and push out the twist by sliding your finger towards the end of the cord. The weight will spin freely to release the build-up twist.

One last aspect to address here is why most traditional bands are warped with  their tablets alternately “S” and “Z” threaded (unless the design dictates otherwise).

Figure 9: Illustrating why two similarly threaded tablets turn with difficulty.[13]

If you look in detail how the threads are moving while the tablets are turned for a pair of neighboring tablets that are threaded similarly, you can see that the threads between the tablets are sliding against each other. (See the left diagram in Figure 9.) The thread through hole 2 in the back tablet and the one through hole 4 in the front tablet rub against each other while turning the tablets. This situation is avoided by threading the tablets alternately “S’ and “Z” as shown in the right diagram of Figure 9. The thread through hole 2 in the back tablet now moves in the same direction as the thread through hole 2 in the front tablet while the tablets are turned.

Brocading

There is a variety of techniques to create color or texture patterns by combining threads of different color in the holes of each tablet with sometimes very complex turning sequences. Brocading distinguishes itself from those in the sense that the pattern is created by an extra weft to create the design. It is discussed in detail and with many historical examples in Chapter 13.2 of Collingwood. The ground weave consists of the warp and the ground or structural weft binding the cords together and hidden in the usual way. Then there is an extra weft passed at each pick to decorate the surface.

This second weft is purely decorative; it has no other function in the woven structure. It lies on top of the band in floats tied down at certain intervals by the warp threads, usually only showing on the top of the band. The tablet woven band merely serves as the support of the brocading weft.

The easiest and the most common way for many Anglo-Saxon brocaded bands as well as the Birka bands illustrated in Figure 3 is to tie down the brocading weft under two threads of one or more cords. This means that the brocading weft floats on top of the band, but at intervals dictated by the desired design, it loops under the top two threads through the regular shed for one or more adjacent cords. When the brocading weft passes through the shed it is, like the ground weft, hidden by the warp and thus not visible from either the top or the bottom of the band. So the brocading weft is sometimes visible and sometimes hidden by the warp, giving us an enormous freedom of design.

We can chose a brocading thread in a contrasting color from the warp or use multiple colors in different parts of the band. We can even use silver or gold thread for the brocading weft, either as flat metallic silver or gold or wrapped around a core like silk. Most of the Birka bands were woven with gold or silver brocade. The ground weft is typically of the same color as the warp. Since it is always nearly invisible it was often made from a cheaper material like linen instead of silk. It is better to use a thinner ground weft thread to get a nice dense brocading coverage. Alternatively, you can use multiple threads as a single bundle for the brocading weft.

Instead of tying the brocading weft by two threads per tablet, you can also go completely around one or more adjacent tablets on the back of the band and then come forward to the front again. This results in a pattern on the back that is the negative of that on the front, which can be more interesting in certain uses for example for a belt.

There are a number of ways to treat the selvages. Quite often there was a stave border on both selvages. The brocading weft would always show at say the second and third and the two and one but last tablet and be hidden for the first and the last tablet. It would pass through the end of the shed just like the ground weft. This will show as small “pips” on both sides of the belt. Alternatively, or to avoid the latter, you can bring the brocading weft to the back between the one but last and the last tablet, then turn the tablets and at the next pick come to the front again between the same two tablets.

To more easily keep track of each pick, I recommend starting with the ground and brocading weft shuttles at opposite sides of the band. For example, start the ground weft on the left and the brocading weft on the right. Then always pass the brocading weft first, followed by the ground weft. Loop the ground weft over the brocading weft at each pick before passing it through the shed. This is not the only way to do it, but I think that it is less important what method you use than it is by picking one and sticking with it consistently. The rest is simply lots of practice.

Below are two examples of my own designs with their brocading diagrams. I make my diagrams in Excel. Setting the row height to 8 and the column height to 1 gives you a nearly square raster that can be colored for tablets where the brocade shows on top and left blank for those where it is hidden by the warp by going through the shed. I cut out an extra “ruler,” the column with numbers all the way on the left. I lay that on the diagram and push it forward one pick at the time. I also number the tablets correspondingly after I warp the loom. That way, I can read the diagram and match the numbers of the tablets where the brocade will show.

Figure 10: Two of my own designs with their brocading patterns.


My blog has a video that illustrates the brocading process the way I do it.

Bibliography

Collingwood, Peter (1982) The Techniques of Tablet Weaving, Echo Points Books & Media (Vermont).

Geijer, Agnes (1938) Birka III: Die Textilfunde aus then Gräbern, Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien (Uppsala).

Hoffman, Marta (1974) The Warp-Weighted Loom: Studies in History and Technology of an Ancient Implement, Robin and Russ Handweavers.

Endnotes

[1] Peter Collingwood (2015) The Techniques of Tablet Weaving.

[2] Ibid. page 12

[3] Marta Hoffmann (1974)  The Warp-Weighted Loom, Figure 69, page 153 and Figure 70, page 154

[4] Peter Collingwood (2015) The Techniques of Tablet Weaving, Plate 5, page 15.

[5] Agnes Geijer (1938) Birka III: Die Textilfunde aus then Gräbern.

[6] Ibid. Plates 22 and 23.

[7] Ibid. Pages 82 and 83.

[8] Peter Collingwood (2015) The Techniques of Tablet Weaving, Figure 27, page 54.

[9] Ibid. Page 54.

[10] Ibid. Figure 29, page 56.

[11] Peter Collingwood (2015) The Techniques of Tablet Weaving, Figure 34, page 57.

[12] Ibid. Figure 33, page 57.

[13] Peter Collingwood (2015) The Techniques of Tablet Weaving, Figure 35, page 58.

For more information, contact THLord Hrolf via his email, and/or see his blog or Academia site.

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A&S Play Time at War Practice

11 Wednesday May 2016

Posted by aethgazette in Arts & Sciences, Music, Scribal

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AEthelmearc War Practice, cooking, Dance, Embroidery, Fiber Arts, Music, scribal, Weaving

scribe3Looking for something to do at War Practice?  Wishing to try your hand at a new art?

Come to the Great Hall and do just that!

In addition to classes in music and dance, and an embroidery salon run by THL Cristina inghean Ghriogair, you can try calligraphy and illumination under the helpful guidance of Mistress Yvianne de Castel d’Avignon and Mistress Liadin ní Chléirigh na Coille, play with fibers with Mistress Mahin Banu Tabrizi, or try cooking over an open fire with Mistress Katla úlfheþinn.

Scribal play time and the embroidery salon will run 3pm to 6pm on Friday; on Saturday, the various play times will be from 10am to 4pm.  Stop in and try your hand at something new – embroidery, calligraphy, illumination, cooking, weaving in between attending the classes being run in the Hall.  Or stop in and lend a hand to one of the areas, or just come spend the day doing something you love and sharing it with others!

Looking forward to the day.

Baroness Orianna Fridrikskona
Deputy Kingdom Minister of Arts & Sciences

 

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Æthelmearc’s  Pennsic A&S War Point Champions

18 Tuesday Aug 2015

Posted by aethgazette in Arts & Sciences, Pennsic

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Armor, Arts & Sciences, calligraphy, cooking, Embroidery, illumination, Leatherwork, Pennsic, Sewing, Sotelties, Stained Glass, Weaving

Mistress Arianna of Wynthrope reports on the Pennsic Arts & Sciences War Point.

This Pennsic included a War Point for Arts and Sciences for only the second time in the history of the War. The first time an Arts & Sciences competition was a Pennsic War Point was 20 years ago, in the first reign of Timothy and Gabrielle as King and Queen of the East. Their Majesties and the entrants all hope we won’t have to wait so long for it to happen again after the success of this year’s competition.

Each side chose 14 champions (plus alternates) to represent them, with none being Laurels. The entrants displayed their items on Wednesday of War Week in Æthelmearc’s Royal Encampment. All items had to be anonymous as to both creator and kingdom. Gentles from all the Kingdoms of the Known World were invited to view the entries, and those with Arts and Sciences awards from their Kingdom were given three beads to bestow on the entries they liked best, either all to one entry or distributed among multiple entries. Judging took place from 9am to 3pm, and then the artisans were encouraged to return to stand by their entries and answer any questions that visitors might pose from 3 to 5 pm.

We proudly present an overview of the entries created by Æthelmearc’s Arts and Sciences Champions.

Lady Máirghréad Stíobhard inghean uí Choinne of the Barony of Thescorre entered a calligraphed and illuminated page of music for the motet “Deus in Aujitorium” based on a folio from the Montpellier Code, a significant source of 13th and 14th century French polyphonic musical manuscripts. In her documentation, she discussed how she prepared the goatskin parchment, made quill pens, bought inks and paints made using medieval recipes, and gilded the piece with 24K loose leaf gold. You can read more about her entry here under the link “Preparing a Late Period Medieval Music Manuscript: Deus in Aujitorium.”

Entry by THLady Mairghead

Scroll by Lady Máirghréad Stíobhard inghean uí Choinne. Photo by Mistress Rowena ni Dhonnchaidh.

Mairghead scroll closeup

Closeup of Lady Máirghréad’s scroll. Photo by Mistress Arianna of Wynthrope.

THLady Álfrún ketta of the Shire of Sylvan Glen, who received the Fleur d’Æthelmearc at Kingdom Court the night before the competition, had an extensive collection of weaving samples based on finds from a variety of archaeological sites in Scandinavia. In a binder, she displayed numerous pages of photos of the period cloth on the left, with explanations about how each piece was made, along with a sample woven to match the original artifact on the right side. She also displayed larger samples of her weaving along with information about wool production (and the evolution of the Northern European sheep) as well as how wool was processed and used in period. You can read more about her entry on her website.

Weaving by Lady Álfrún ketta. Photo by Mistress Rowena ni Dhonnchaidh.

Viking weaving by THLady Álfrún ketta. Photo by Mistress Rowena ni Dhonnchaidh.

THLady Renata la rouge of the Shire of Hartstone (formerly of Heronter) embroidered a 16th century sword hanger with a Pelican motif in metallic threads. It was originally inspired by a Swedish sword hanger from the reign of Gustavus Adolphus, 1594-1632, which is housed in the Collections of the Royal Armouries, Sweden, but the design is loosely based on a goldwork book cover from Cambridge, 1629, which includes a Pelican. The embroidery is of a raised nature, but the stitches are satin stitch and surface couching. You can read more about THL Renata’s entry here.

Metal embroidery by THLady Renata Rouge. Photo by Mistress Rowena ni Dhonnchaidh.

Metallic embroidered sword hanger by THLady Renata la rouge. Photo by Mistress Rowena ni Dhonnchaidh.

Lady Abigail Kelhoge of the Shire of Hartstone created a breeching gown, which was worn by both girls and boys during their toddler years throughout the High Middle Ages and Renaissance. It allowed them to walk and made diaper changing easier. The hand-sewn outfit included a biggin (white linen cap), a blackwork linen shirt with ruffles on the cuffs and collar, a long coat or petticoat with buttons down the front, and a long gown with hanging sleeves, fur-lined for warmth. More information about her entry is available on her website.

A child's breeching gown by Lady Abigail Kelhoge. Photo by Mistress Rowena ni Dhonnchaidh.

A child’s breeching gown by Lady Abigail Kelhoge. Photo by Mistress Rowena ni Dhonnchaidh.

Baron Artemius Andreas Magnus of the Barony of Delftwood created a stained glass panel based on a German piece at the Cloisters in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC that dates to 1260-1270. Measuring 9-1/16″ square, it’s an image of the Prophet King from a Tree of Jesse window. His Excellency spoke to a curator at the museum about the piece, in the process helping him to correct some errors in the information posted about it online. He made most of the lead cames by hand until his mold broke, then also made the stain for the details on the king’s face as well as the solder for the project, both using period recipes and techniques. You can read His Excellency’s documentation for the project here and here.

Stained glass by Baron Artemius Andreas Magnus. Photo by Mistress Rowena ni Dhonnchaidh.

Stained glass by Baron Artemius Andreas Magnus. Photo by Mistress Rowena ni Dhonnchaidh.

Artemius glass closeup

Closeup of Baron Artemius’ stained glass. Photo by Mistress Arianna of Wynthrope.

Duke Christopher Rawlins of the Barony-Marche of the Debatable Lands, who was elevated to the Laurel the day after the competition, entered a 14th century arming jacket based on the one worn by Edward, the Black Prince, of England. His Grace visited the site of the Prince’s tomb in Canterbury and did extensive research into how the arming jacket was constructed. Then, through wearing multiple reproductions of it while fighting, Duke Christopher determined that it had to have been worn over the fighter’s arm harness rather than under it as is common among SCA fighters.

14th c. Arming Jacket by Duke Chrisopher Rawlins. Photo by Mistress Rowena ni Dhonnchaidh.

14th c. Arming Jacket by Duke Chrisopher Rawlins. Photo by Mistress Rowena ni Dhonnchaidh.

Lord Silvester Burchardt of the Shire of Abhainn Ciach Ghlais created a tablet woven brocaded band. According to Lord Silvester’s documentation, “Brocading is a technique that uses one or more secondary weft threads to create patterns on the surface of woven fabric. These additional weft threads are not a structural element of the fabric. Because the brocade threads bridge across the surface of the fabric, they need to be “tied down” to the fabric at various locations; these “tie down” points become an integral part of the design.” Rather than basing his design on a single exemplar, he chose to use a range of period pieces from central Europe in the 9th through 13th centuries as models, but designed the band to show his own animals (including chickens, ducks, a dog, and even a parakeet) as they actually appear in life. You can read more about his entry here.

Brocade tablet weaving by Lord Silvester Burchardt. Photo by Mistress Arianna of Wynthrope.

Brocade tablet weaving by Lord Silvester Burchardt. Photo by Mistress Arianna of Wynthrope.

Lord Enzo de Pazi of the Barony of the Rhydderich Hael created an ornate bascinet for Duchess Eanor of Ealdormere, complete with ducal coronet and motto, chainmail aventail, and an elaborate faceplate. The helm is made of 4130 spring steel, commonly called “chromoly” in industrial terms. The motto was acid etched into the coronet, which was made of brass with cast bronze strawberry leaves.

Ducal Helmet by Lord Enzo de Pazzi. Photo by Mistress Arianna of Wynthrope.

Ducal Helmet by Lord Enzo de Pazi. Photo by Mistress Arianna of Wynthrope.

THLady Jacqueline de Molieres of the Shire of Abhain Ciach Ghlais created a red velvet pouch with pearls sewn in the shape of a rose. Her Ladyship says in her documenation, “If you were a lady in the late Medieval period, a red velvet pouch embellished with pearls would… communicate to the world that this is a lady of wealth and importance. This pouch is not a replica of a particular item, but rather is made up of elements of various items; i.e., drawstring, beads, pearl appliqué, gold couched outline, tassel, etc. The time frame is 1450 to 1600. The area would be anywhere in Europe, most likely England, France or Germany.” You can read more about her entry here.

Pealred pouch by THLady Jacqueline de Molieres. Photo by Mistress Rowena ni Donnchaidh.

Pearled pouch by THLady Jacqueline de Molieres. Photo by Mistress Rowena ni Donnchaidh.

THLord Ian O’Kennavain of the Shire of Heronter’s sugar soteltie was easily the largest entry in the competition. His Lordship noted, “I wanted to exhibit a few different ways to create sculpture from sugar, so the display is comprised of three main elements: a fountain of sugar paste, a 20 lb. turtle cast in “grained” sugar and a pear tree made from free-formed sugar paste over an armature of wire, printed sugar paste leaves and cast sugar plate pears.” The fountain’s design is based on one in Perugia, Italy called the Fontana Maggiore that was constructed between 1277 and 1278 by the sculptors Nicola Pisano and Giovanni Pisano. “Using this for inspiration, I crafted two octagonal basins depicting the arms of the 20 SCA Kingdoms and the 4 peerages topped with a column supported bowl shaped basin.” You can learn more about his entry here.

Photo by Mistress Rowena ni Dhonnchaidh.

Sugar soteltie by THLord Ian O’Kennavain. Photo by Mistress Rowena ni Dhonnchaidh.

Sugar soteltie by THLord Ian Kennovan. Photo by Mistress Rowena ni Dhonnchaidh.

Closeup of THLord Ian’s rosewater fountain soteltie. Photo by Mistress Rowena ni Dhonnchaidh.

THLord Kieran MacRae of the Barony-Marche of the Debatable Lands designed an ornate calligraphed page based on  folio 67 of the 16th century Mira Calligraphiae Monumenta. The capitals are created to function as an H, N, and R. There was no illumination as the entry focused on the calligraphy of the original artist, Georg Bocskay, imperial secretary to the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I. The scroll was a tiny 6.5″ x 4.75″ in size. To learn more, click here.

Calligraphy by THLord Kieran MacRae. Photo by Lord Kieran.

Calligraphy by THLord Kieran MacRae. Photo by Lord Kieran.

Closeup of THL Kieran's scroll. Photo by THL Kieran.

Closeup of THL Kieran’s scroll. Photo by THL Kieran.

Baroness Betha Symonds of the Barony-Marche of the Debatable Lands created wire wrapped hooks. These are based on items from archeological finds ranging from Viking age to Tudor English. These hooks could have been used for a variety of purposes; one set was found near the legs in a Viking burial, leading scholars to believe they might have been used to fasten wrapped leggings. You can read Her Excellency’s documentation here.

Viking wire weaving clasps by Baroness Betha Symonds. Photo by Mistress Rowena ni Dhonnchaidh.

Viking wire weaving clasps by Baroness Betha Symonds. Photo by Mistress Rowena ni Dhonnchaidh.

Viscountess Rosalinde Ashworthe created a piece of tablet-woven trim based on a band found among the relics of Chelles Abbey. Chelles Abbey was founded in 658 by Queen Bathilde, wife of Clovis II, on the ruins of an old chapel belonging to Queen Clothtilde, wife of Clovis I in 511. Her Excellency says in her documentation, “I wanted something in a warp float technique (also known as Snartemo style) for its high level of complexity, and because I enjoy weaving this technique.” Viscountess Rosalinde is an Æthelmearc treaty subject who has lived in Nithgaard and Thescorre, and soon will be moving to the Debatable Lands. More information about her entry is available here. 

Tablet weaving by Viscountess Rosalinde Ashworth. Photo by Mistress Rowena ni Dhonnchaidh.

Tablet weaving by Viscountess Rosalinde Ashworth. Photo by Mistress Rowena ni Dhonnchaidh.

Lady Sumayya al Ghaziyah of the Barony-Marche of the Debatable Lands was an alternate champion. She crafted 16th c. Ottoman Turkish leather slippers with inlaid designs, along with wood and leather nalin, which were used by women in bathhouses to keep the wearer above the soap and water of the bathhouse floor. You can read more about her entry here.

Leather slippers and wood and leather nalins by Lady Sumayya al Ghaziyah. Photo by Mistress Rowena ni Dhonnchaidh.

Leather slippers and wood and leather nalins by Lady Sumayya al Ghaziyah. Photo by Mistress Rowena ni Dhonnchaidh.

Of course, these are just the Æthelmearc Champions. The East and Middle had their own champions, and they did win the War Point. But we’ll let their Kingdoms tell their stories.

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Æthelmearc Gazette

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