Textiles

None of Us Is Sentimental About the Hand: Dorothy Liebes, Handweaving, and Design for Industry

by Alexa Griffith Winton

Color and Personality: Dorothy Liebes and American Design

by Alexa Griffith Winton

Etnobotânica altoduriense: o sumagre na cultura e na historia

by Lois Ladra

-LADRA, Lois (2012): "Etnobotânica altoduriense: o sumagre na cultura e na história", Côavisão, n.º 14, pp. 67-78.

Environmental management in transnational product chains

by Michael Soegaard Joergensen

Textiles for Protection Against Cold

by Tanveer Hussain

PVC Coating

by Tanveer Hussain

Textiles for UV Protection

by Tanveer Hussain

Fabric parameter mapping for seam sewability

by Steve Hayes

Dyeing with Vat Dyes

by Tanveer Hussain

Branding Authenticity: Cambodian Ikat in Transnational Artisan Partnerships (TAPs)

by Susan Falls

Pad Dyeing with Reactive Dyes

by Tanveer Hussain

Exhaust Dyeing with Reactive Dyes

by Tanveer Hussain

Dyeing with Direct Dyes

by Tanveer Hussain

Introduction to Textile Dyeing

by Tanveer Hussain

Assessing the potential of historic archaeological collections: a pilot study of the British Museum’s Swiss lake village textiles.

by Susanna Harris

Co-authored with Higgitt, C., Harris, S., Cartwright, C., Cruickshank, P., The British Museum Technical Research Bulletin. 2011, Vol.5. pp.81-94.

The online paper will be available Autumn 2012: http://www.britishmuseum.org/system_pages/holding_area/technical_research_bulletin.aspx

Summary: The British Museum houses a significant collection of organic material from prehistoric Swiss lake dwellings... more Summary: The British Museum houses a significant collection of organic material from prehistoric Swiss lake dwellings (c.4000 to 500 bc) excavated in the late nineteenth century. The waterlogged, anaerobic, alkaline burial environment provided conditions suitable for the preservation of a range of organic materials including many textiles. The textiles, which represent a range of techniques and include fine complex weaves, netting and skeins, largely remain as treated at the time of excavation. Recent assessment of the condition of this textile collection, with a view to improving the storage and display of these rare survivals, has allowed nineteenth-century approaches to the recovery, treatment, mounting and display of archaeological materials to be documented. The collection has been rehoused in a suitable standardized storage system, preserving the original and highly informative historic mounts. Some of the textiles remain, however, at risk due to acidic mounting materials, broken glass or the fragments being insecure in their frames. The opportunity was also taken to assess the potential of this historic textile collection for detailed investigation, including fibre identification, technological study and dye analysis. A range of analytical techniques was employed, including macroscopic analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Weave analysis and technological classification of the textiles was possible, even for textiles still in their original mounts. Many of the textiles showed signs of early consolidation and the presence of detrital material but, using SEM, fibre identification was possible in every sample examined. This demonstrated the use of flax fibres (Linum usitatissimum), lime/ linden (Tilia sp.) bast fibres and lime/linden bark showing various degrees of processing. The majority of the fibres examined showed evidence for low temperature or incomplete charring. Using FTIR a range of consolidants has been identified, including natural resins and a carbohydrate material, possibly a gum or sugar solution. The chemical condition of some of the fibres, determined by Raman spectroscopy, and the presence of consolidants and other detrital material, suggests that potential dye analysis and other forms of (bio)molecular analysis could be compromised for some of the collection. The results of this pilot study will guide the future conservation strategy for this historic collection and allow informed decisions to be made regarding future access for technical and scientific study.

From the Parochial to the Universal: Comparing Cloth Cultures in the Bronze Age.

by Susanna Harris

Published in the European Journal of Archaeology 15 (1) 2012, 61–97

The aim of this research is to compare the cloth cultures of Europe and Egypt in the Bronze Age and New Kingdom. The... more The aim of this research is to compare the cloth cultures of Europe and Egypt in the Bronze Age and New Kingdom. The comparison focuses on the fourteenth century cal BC and includes four geographically separate areas, including the oak coffin burials of southern Scandinavia, the Hallstatt salt mines of central Europe, Late Minoan Crete, and the tombs and towns of the later Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. The comparative approach can bring insights even when applied to unconnected cultures or regions. However, in this study I concentrate on a restricted chronological period and areas that were connected, directly or indirectly, by widespread networks of trade or exchange. The concept of cloth cultures is used to include both textiles and animal skins as these were closely related materials in the prehistoric past. Information was gathered according to the following categories: raw materials, including textile fibre, and species of skins; fabric structure and thread count (only for textiles); decoration and finish; and use and context. From this study, it is possible to recognize the universally shared principles of cloth cultures and the great versatility and creativity in the regional cloth cultures of the Bronze Age.

The Industrial Determinants of Transnational Solidarity: Global Interunion Politics in Three Sectors

by Marco Hauptmeier

Co-authors: Mark Anner, Ian Greer, Nathan Lillie and Nik Winchester

European Journal of Industrial Relations, 12 (1): 7-27. 2006.

This article compares forms of labour transnationalism in three
industrial sectors: motor manufacturing, maritime... more This article compares forms of labour transnationalism in three
industrial sectors: motor manufacturing, maritime shipping and clothing and textile manufacturing. In each case, unions engage in very different transnational activities to reassert control over labour markets and competition. As institutions of transnational cooperation deepen, unions continue to struggle with competitive tensions (worker to worker and union to union) which vary from one industry to another.

Etiquetage textile "Pure Silk, Pure Lao" : à propos d'une étoffe du Laos

by Annabel Vallard

2011, in F. Wateau (dir.), Profils d'objets. Approches d'anthropologues et d'archéologues, VIIe colloque international et interdisciplinaire de la Maison René-Ginouvès

Dans les boutiques de luxe et les musées d’art comme d’ethnologie de part le monde, les textiles du Laos occupent... more Dans les boutiques de luxe et les musées d’art comme d’ethnologie de part le monde, les textiles du Laos occupent souvent les vitrines d’exposition en vertu de la complexité et de l’intrication de leurs décors. Tranchant à priori avec cette réputation, cet article propose plutôt de se pencher sur une pièce de tissu unie, « sans » motif, mais étiquetée. À partir de descriptions ethnographiques et toujours de manière située, il examine le rapport qu’elle entretient au fil de sa trajectoire commerciale avec son étiquette. En comparant cette étoffe et la filière de négoce à laquelle elle participe – c’est-à-dire le marché international de l’artisanat haut-de-gamme – et celles qui circulent le long des filières locales de place de marché, il montre notamment en quoi ce dispositif prothétique de qualification textile module non seulement le rapport des humains au tissu sur lequel il se greffe, mais ses modes et degrés de présence de ce dernier.
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Laotian textiles are often displayed in luxury boutiques and art or anthropology museums all over the world due to the complexity and intricacy of their designs. Departing from that perspective, this article will instead focus on a plain, pattern-less but labeled piece of fabric. On the basis of well-situated ethnographical descriptions, the paper examines the relationship the textile maintains with its label throughout its commercial trajectory. Comparing this piece of fabric and its commercial network – that is to say, the high-end international crafts market – and those traveling along the pathways of local market places, it shows how this textile prosthetic modifies not only the human relation to the fabric on which it is placed, but the modes and degrees of its presence.

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Available online in July 2013

Laotian Textiles in Between Markets and The Politics of Culture

by Annabel Vallard

2011, Journal of South-East Asian Studies, 42 (2) : 233-252

The policies of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) related to heritage... more The policies of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) related to heritage preservation and promotion have been spreading worldwide for the past few decades. This ethnographically focused paper examines two UNESCO devices, the Crafts Prize and the Awards of Excellence for Handicrafts, as they apply to the contemporary Laotian textiles scene. It questions in particular the uses and values locally assigned to these international certifications of excellence and their mobilisation in the commoditisation of fabrics. On a larger scale, it considers what those devices reveal and entail regarding a ‘traditional’ handicraft that is, from now on, entangled between trade and the ‘politics of culture’.

De la jupe à la femme. Tissage, vêtement et subjectivation au Laos

by Annabel Vallard

2012, in E. Anstett & M.-L. Gelard (dir.), Les objets ont-ils un genre ? Culture matérielle et production sociale des identités sexuées, Paris: Armand Colin (Recherches)

Premières lignes :

Pour être femme, tu dois te comporter convenablement
Tes cheveux peignés... more Premières lignes :

Pour être femme, tu dois te comporter convenablement
Tes cheveux peignés méticuleusement ; ta jupe, dans un rabat, ajustée soigneusement

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Son tissage, lâche, le tissu ne vaut pas d’être donné
Des vers à soie élevés, ne reconnaissant ni les éveillés, ni les endormis
Une telle fille n’est pas bonne à marier

De ces deux maximes tai, qui sont des exemples parmi de nombreux autres d’une littérature orale et écrite particulièrement riche sur le lien essentialisé associant d’une part femmes et tissu et d’autre part femmes et tissage, émerge d’emblée l’idée qu’être femme est, dans cette région, non seulement lié à une présentation de soi qui se traduit par un soin du corps et par le port adéquat de certains attributs vestimentaires, mais aussi, dans le même temps, par la capacité d’assurer de bout en bout la réalisation d’un textile propre à être échangé dans le cadre de prestations sociales, notamment matrimoniales. En partant d’une ethnographie fine, je propose d’explorer la manière dont la jupe tubulaire participe, en tant qu’objet technique à priori doublement « genré », tout à la fois dans son processus de fabrication et dans son usage, de la construction de soi, de la transformation de néophytes en tisseuses émérites, de petites filles en femmes. Il s’agira de tester l’hypothèse selon laquelle utiliser un tissu et le fabriquer subjective différemment les femmes révélant le potentiel éminemment protéiforme, fluide et instable des relations entretenues entre les humains et les objets techniques d’un certain genre.
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