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Indeed, when one purchases yard goods today (rare as it is), shop clerks usually do a rough measure by pulling the cloth off the bolt by "arms" - holding the cloth in each hand, one hand by the nose & other arm extended yields a "braccio." Gloria Allaire At 07:46 AM 9/20/00 -0400, you wrote: > >Sent: 20 September 2000 00:09 >To: ENGLAND MAILBASE >Subject: measurements. > >Dear Colleagues, > >I am taking the liberty of calling upon you for some information. > >In some research that I am doing I come across Italian measurements of >the 1660s and find that at Faenza un braccio "da panno" of 12 once >was 0.638 m., "da tela" of 12 once was 0.720 m. > >What is the meaning of "da panno" and of "da tela"? > >*of cloth*[probably wool] and *of silk* > >Notice that the measurements are by thumbs & arms. This is not as >arbitrary as it seems. Several years ago, I was being shown a chest of >family weavings in the south of Greece. I noticed that each weaving >[bed covers, rugs] was made of 2-3 widths of cloth, which the woman >referred to as "arms." These widths were approximately the length of our >arms, shoulder to wrist, about 22". Back in the US I measured my Greek >spread & rug & found those widths were 22" also. This is a reasonable >width for weaving. I noticed in Morocco looms with two men sitting side >by side -- their widths were double this. > >The widths here are slightly more than 22" or .558 -- possibly >reflecting weaving by women as compared to professional weaving by men. > > >Diana Wright >Washington, DC > > > > > >Mr. NICOLA M. GENTILI > > _______________________ Gloria Allaire Italian Studies Gettysburg College Campus Box 394 Gettysburg, PA 17325 (717) 337-6558 (office) (717) 642-5167 (home) %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%