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Some time ago Christopher asked the following questions. I apologise for the delay in answering - I've just been very busy with other things. I am on this list now, however. >Something which you wrote recalled to me a blip which went bye on a >recent previous string on this list which I was not able to follow up on: > >>.....As well as written literature, there is a large corpus of mostly >>>German >images showing the Virgin engaged in various textile work, >including >spinning, embroidery, weaving and knitting.... > >The knit I wish to pique is: "....weaving..." (?) > >While I believe She is frequently shown at work with distaff or drop-spindle >(the most comon?), I know of no medieval representations of the Virgin >actually "*weaving*", i.e., standing (at a vertical loom) or sitting (at a >horizontal loom), *making cloth*. See Robert L. Wyss, 'Die Handarbeiten der Maria: eine ikonographische Studie unter Berücksichtigung der textilien Techniken' in Michael Stettler and Mechthild Lemberg (eds) _Artes Minores: Dank an Werner Abegg_, Stämpfli & Cie, Bern 1973. This article shows numerous pictures of Mary weaving, in various media, from about 1300. There are upright, but not horizontal looms depicted, and a large number of depictions of tablet weaving, mostly on frames, and one representation of a fixed heddle. In only one of the pictures, however is she weaving a wide cloth (in that case an embroidery showing her at a vertical loom); the others are all fairly narrow and might be considered braid rather than cloth. The same article has pictures of Mary spinning, knitting and embroidering. For some of the various knitting madonnas see Richard Rutt, _A History of Handknitting_. >The importance of this--aside from whatever kinkie exegetical overtones there >may be--has to do with the technological history of looms, which is something >of an interest of mine. I presume you know Agnes Geijer's book, translated as _Textile History_? It has a fairly comprehensive section on loom development and variations. > >BTW, whilst I have you on the line (not too often can we on this list >pick the brains of a live textile historian), perhaps you could take a >look at >the "Voile" of the Virgin preserved at Chartres and resurrect a dormant >string >if there is anything which occurs to you? I had a look at this, but I'm afraid I don't have much to offer (I know more about embroidery than weaving). It's hard to tell from the picture, but the weave seems to be a broken diamond twill. This doesn't give much clue to provenance since it's a fairly common weave throughout the middle ages. It does suggest a 4 shaft loom, however. The narrow width is pretty common in medieval fabrics since it's much easier for a single person to weave a narrow strip than a wider one - the width is determined by the distance that the weaver has to throw a shuttle, so the maximum will be the distance between his/her outstretched hands. >http://www.angelfire.com/de/centrechartraine/images/Voile3.jpg >(A detail showing a stylized bird-with-chalice ornament on(/in?) the >cloth "servant d'envelopee a la relique", i.e., a sort of pillow-case >covering >for the relic itself (???). I'd guess that the bird might be Byzantine, but I don't really know too much about Byzantine textiles, although they did make it to the west in quite large numbers. See C. R. Dodwell, _The Pictorial Arts in the West 800-1200_. Byzantine woven silks were highly prized and turn up in quite odd places, so it wouldn't be surprising to find one in this context. The motif is woven in rather than embroidered on to the cloth. The authority on Byzantine textiles is Anna Muthesius; see her book _Byzantine Silk Weaving_ to see if there's anything similar. If it isn't Byzantine, I'd guess that it's Italian, but based on a Byzantine textile source. Sarah ****************************************************************************** Sarah Randles email: [log in to unmask] School of English phone: 02 6268 8842 University College ADFA fax: 02 6268 8899 Canberra ACT 2601 AUSTRALIA Web Page: http://www.adfa.oz.au/English/SOESarah.htm %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%