TABLET WEAVING

Technique. A brief description of how tablet weaving is carried out will be given in the fol-lowing6):

The manipulation of the tablets limits the number of tablets used, and the product is there-fore always a relatively narrow band. A thread is passed through each hole. When the weavingis to take place the tablets are placed on edge with the mounted warp, as the threads aretautened they divide into two layers with a gap between, a weft thread is then passed through

Tablet weaving is a method of weaving bands with the help of a collection of tablets - usuallyof wood, but horn, bone, leather, cardboard, etc., may also be used. The shape and size of thetablets differ: the most usual type is square, and in folk tablet weaving the specimens usuallymeasure about 6-8 cm along each side. The tablets have rounded corners, and in each corneris a hole through which the threads of the warp are threaded.

Some sets of tablets are to be found in Danish local history museums, the Danish FolkMuseum has also a little collection of tablet weaving looms but little is known about them, andtheir provenance is often uncertain or not known 1). The number of tablet-woven bands to sur-vive in Denmark is not large, nor do the more recent examples bear witness to a particularlyhighly developed technique. Their significance lies in the fact that they show that tablet weav-ing has a long tradition as a Danish folk handicraft until the present day, and has undoubtedlybeen carried out in this country and in the rest of Scandinavia since prehistoric times.

Admittedly medieval tablet weaving is not as yet represented among archaeological finds,and we have to go back to the 10th century A.D. to find a Danish tablet. A square bone tabletwith a hole in each corner was excavated in Lund in 1909. Its measurements are 4.8 x 4.8 cm,and a number of runes incised along one edge have been dated to the close of the 10th centuryon the basis of their shape2).

Tablets from the same period have also been recovered elsewhere in Scandinavia, forexample, the excavation of the Norwegian Oseberg ship-burial, usually dated to the mid-9thcentury, yielded several tablets: three were found in a box and a number elsewhere in theexcavation, some of which still had threads in when found3). Birka in Sweden4) has alsoyielded a tablet.

Earlier evidence of tablet weaving than this in Denmark takes us far back in time to theDejbjerg carts5) excavated in Ringk0bing county and dated to the Celtic Iron Age (c. 200 B.C.- Anno Domini). This famous find included two wooden tablets, only one of which is com-plete, it measures 43/4 x 5th cm, and is 3 mm thick, the other was in fragments (Fig. 223).These tablets are not only the oldest known examples in Scandinavia, but as far as we knowthe oldest four-hole tablets in existence.

CHAPTER VII. TABLET WEAVING

CHAPTER VII

TABLET WEAVING

225

226 MARGRETHE HALD: ANCIENT DANISH TEXTILES FROM BOGS AND BURIALS

Fig. 223. Tablets found with the Dejbjerg cart. Celtic Iron Age. 5/6.

Vrevebrikker fra Keltisk jemalder fundet sam men med Dejbjergvognen. 5/6.

this gap, called the shed. In four-thread tablet weaving a fresh shed is made by giving the blockof tablets a quarter turn either backwards or forwards, i.e. there are four shed openingsthrough which to pass the weft: four wefts to a full turn of the tablets. When the tablets areturned in the same direction at once, the four threads through each tablet twist round eachother, and as work proceeds they form warp cords which hide the weft entirely. I call this typetablet weaving with cording?). But the warp threads twist into cords as the tablets are rotatedat the same time as they bind the weft, therefore their course is slightly oblique and patterneffects may be obtained. For example, if all the tablets are threaded in the same direction, sayfrom the right, an even diagonal effect is produced. If, on the other hand, the threading methodis alternately from the right and left through groups of tablets, the resulting ornament is zigzag.If the change is made at every other tablet, we describe it as the method where tablets arethreaded alternately in pairs (Fig. 224). The result shown in Fig. 225 is if tablets I and 3 standon their right edges and tablets 2 and 4 stand on their left edges.

Another combination interplay is also possible, in that the tablets need not necessarily beturned in the same direction, i.e. by changing the twisting direction from Z-wise to S-wise anidentical pattern is produced in reverse. A little groove is made across the band when the turnof the tablets changes (see Fig. 60, the Corselitze band). The advantage of this kind ofchange is that the threads behind the tablets, which become tangled in the course of weaving,have a chance to untwist themselves again. Tangling is otherwise quite a handicap in the longrun.

In the following I will use the term 4-ply tablet weaving to describe tablets threaded withfour threads thus producing 4-ply cords. Not all holes need be threaded though, one or twomay remain unused in which case the terms are 3-ply and 2-ply tablet weaving.

This kind of weaving is very distinct from that produced by other implements because of thecurious corded effect, however there is another form of tablet weaving which is more difficultto distinguish from ordinary weaving. We have seen how patterns can be made by changes inthe turns of the tablets, either backwards or forwards. When the changes are made at fairlylong intervals the cording is clearly visible in the band, but if in 4-ply weaving the tablets arealternately given two quarter turns forwards and two quarter turns backwards with a pick in-serted at each turn, the result is one in which the warp and weft are at right-angles to each

227

- ---=~~.-- - ::-

Fig. 226. See text at the top of this page.Se teksten !!Iverst pi\.denne side.

Fig. 227. See text at the top of this page.Se teksten !!Iverst pi\.denne side.


Fig. 225. Weave produced by themethod shown in Fig. 224.

Produktet efter den ved Fig. 224 anvistemetode med parvis modstillede brikker.

Fig. 224. Diagram of four-th read tabletweaving with cording. Tablets J and 3stand on their right edges, 2 and 4 on

their left edges. The tablets arethreaded alternately in pairs.Skematisk fremstilling af firtd'ldet

brikvrevning med snoredannelse med parvismodstillede brikker. Brik I og 3 rejses pi\.

h!!ljre kant, 2 og 4 pi\.venstre.

other and there is no cording because its commencement upon the first and second turns iscancelled out at the third and fourth turns. Figs. 226 and 227 are examples of this.

Tablet weaving as an auxiliary technique. Tablet weaving is not always carried out on itsown; on the contrary, it has played a far greater part in conjunction with ordinary weaving andseems to have played its most important role in this respect. In any event, there are moreexamples among ancient Danish textiles of tablet weaving as part of a loom-woven textile,than on their own simply as a separate band.

228

Figs. 228-229. Wool tablet-woven band from Mammen: a. right side, b. reverseside. (Museum no. C 136 a-b). 2(1.

Brikvrevet band af uld fra Mammen: a. retside, b. vrangside. 2(1.

The usual form is as a tablet-woven border along what has presumably been a starting bor-der, here it served a purely practical purpose as the basis of the whole warping arrangement.First of all a band warp is laid which corresponds to the loom width of the textile to be woven.Into this warp, usually fairly narrow, are inserted as wefts those threads which are to comprisethe warp of the textile to be woven. Obviously these threads are tied to one edge of the bandbut the other ends are looped to the length intended for the completed fabric. An extremelyinteresting semi-finished product that provides conclusive proof of this technique as a startingborder is among the finds from Tegle in Norway dated to the Migration Period8).

PREHISTORIC MATERIAL

Detailed studies of tablet weaving products with a bearing on Danish prehistoric exampleshave been published by Bj¢rn Hougen9), Agnes GeijerIO), and Grace M. Crowfootll), there-fore in the present context a systematic description of all the archaeological material is super-fluous and I will confine myself to the Danish finds, referring to other sources when these areof direct interest by way of comparison with the Danish materiaJl2).

229

The Danish Iron Age finds of tablet-woven bands with cording are as follows: Br<endeLydinge (second half of the 1st century A.D.), Kannikegaard (3rd century A.D.), Donb<ek (3rdcentury A.D.), Corselitze (3rd-4th centuries A.D.), Thorsbjerg and Vrangstrup (MigrationPeriod), Vejen Mose (presumably Migration Period), Hvilehl"j and Mammen (close of the 10thcentury A.D.), Siotsbjergby (9th-11th centuries A.D.). Most of these examples are withoutexceptional details, but a few features deserve to be mentioned. For example, one of thetablet-woven bands from Kannikegaard is so finely woven that there are 19cords side by sideto 1cm, i.e. 76 threads. The other piece from the same find gives the impression of having beenmade in a more complicated way in the middle, unfortunately it is too damaged to be studied indetail. The Donb<ek band is also an impressive example of tablet weaving, carried out withbetween 150and 160tablets, the fact that at least 600 threads lie side by side across the widthof c. 8 cm gives an idea of its fineness (Fig. 75).

Typical examples of tablet weaving along the finishing borders are seen in the scarf in tabbyfrom Corselitze (Fig. 59), and in the textiles from Thorsbjerg and Vejen (Figs. 50b and 55). Inevery case the warp threads of the cloth pass downwards through a shed in the tablet-wovenborder, loop round its lower edge and return in the neighbouring shed. In the boundarybetween the cloth and tablet-woven border we find the turning ends of the warp threads.

Among the numerous fragments of cloth from Vrangstrup with remains of tablet-wovenborders, there is one scrap which seems to have two which meet at right-angles, indicatingthat both a transverse edge and a selvedge have had a specially woven border. In the fairlylarge, rectangular blanket from Vejen Mose (Figs. 48-50) we have a fine, well preserved exam-ple of a textile in which all four edges are finished with tablet-woven borders. A similarcharacteristic is found among textiles from the bog finds in Schleswig-Holstein 13), as well assome pieces of cloth from Norwegian finds.

There is a lacuna in regard to tablet weaving after the Migration Period as far as Denmark isconcerned. This is all the more striking because the technique appears to have flourished inNorway, but the explanation is most likely that no archaeological evidence has yet come tolight. For material from the Viking Period in Denmark shows no signs of stagnation and thethree finds from this period: Hvilehl"j, Siotsbjergby and Mammen, contain some interestingexamples of tablet weaving. As the Mammen textiles are in the best condition, it is these whichare taken as our point of departure in the following discussion. Four fragments of silk fromMammen are specially significant because they contain two-thread and four-thread tabletweaving, yet perhaps the most interesting item is a woollen band (Figs. 228-229) of modestappearance but nevertheless the most refined. This band is extremely intricately woven, inthat each tablet has been turned by itself; the right side has a diagonal texture while the wrongside is canvas-like. Only the tablets at the edges are threaded with four threads, these aregiven quarter turns forwards. In all the remaining tablets two adjacent holes seem to be thread-ed and the others remain empty.

It is difficult satisfactorily to explain this intricate and unusual textile, however, relatedpieces are known, for example a very similar band from the Daetgen bog find published by R.Stettiner, with a diagramI4). The weaving, though, is carried out differently because the tab-lets of the Daetgen tablet weaving have been given two quarter turns forwards, and then half aturn backwards. Each tablet is individually turned, yet apart from the diagonal effect made bythe method, there is no patterning.

Another two-thread tablet-woven band (Fig. 230) is from the Norwegian Snartemo findpublished by H. Dedekam. It differs from the bands just described because it has a diagonal

230 MARGRETHE HALD: ANCIENT DANISH TEXTlLES FROM BOGS AND BURIALS

texture on both sides. H. Dedekam 15)gives the schematic outline of tablet weaving with twothreads to each tablet. The threads are in neighbouring holes and the tablets are rotated in halfturns individually, although always left unturned for every other pick. The product of thismethod, however, can be made in a much more simple manner. Fig. 231 shows tablets set withthe holes diagonally opposite each other. The tablets are then arranged so that the empty holesare still opposite the threaded 0'1eS in the contiguous tablets. The block of tablets is then givena quarter turn per pick. It corresponds to the basic method found in the silk bands with goldbrocading also from the Mammen find (Fig. 234).

Bj0rn Hougen 16)describes a band in two-thread tablet weave from Vestrum in Norway anddates it to the transitional era between the Roman Iron Age and the Migration Period. Judgingfrom the description it is woven with tablets rotated both forwards and backwards but no dia-gram is given to clarify the precise method used.

Other examples of tablet weaving with a diagonal texture are found in a group where theweaving has been carried out with four-thread tablets, i.e. 4-ply cords. Both the Snartemoand Eveb0 finds I?) from the 6th century A.D. have yielded bands made in this way. A bandwith animal ornament from Eveb0 in a diagram by Hans Dedekam reproduced in Fig. 232shows the upper layer of a 4-ply double weave with changes in the rotation of tablets. Twoholes in each tablet are threaded with light yarn and two with dark. If the tablets are turned for-wards twice and backwards twice the band has the same texture on both sides, and each ofthese with its own colour. But if the tablets are individually turned the points of intersectionform thin diagonals, and the light thread surfaces at intervals on the dark ground and viceversa on the other side 18).

We will now turn to the surviving material in this group. Norway is represented by otherexamples; a scrap of band from the corner of a cape (Eveb0 find, U.3.yI9)), and a piece ofborder on a textile from the Setrang find20), dated by Bj0rn Hougen to the second half of the4th century A.D. Moreover, the finds from 0vre Berge21) (6th century A.D.) and Snartemohave yielded scraps of tablet-woven bands with a swastika motif22).

The diagonal patterned four-thread tablet-woven bands appear to have a widespread geo-graphical distribution, in that they are also found further south. Among the textiles of the

[J~e1J~~~I_ °1 ~ 10 -II- 01 ~ E;]t;]~E;]~E;][;j10 -I 1°_II_ °11° -I ~ EJ

J'Vt){

Fig. 231. Diagram showing the position of the tablets forweaving Fig. 230. All the tablets are turned at the sametime and will then stand on their edges marked with a

thick line.Skema over brikkemes arrangement for vrevning af bl'lndetFig. 230. Aile brikker drejes i eet greb. De rejses fra den

strerkest optrukne kant.

I 2. 3 •• ~ (. "1 81 Iu II It

z..3'tS-f,

7t

't

Fig. 230. Norwegian tablet-woven bandwith a diagonal texture made by

two-thread tablets with cording (afterH. Dedekam, Fig. 21).

Norsk brikbl'lnd med diagonaltekstur udf\llrti snorevrevning med to trl'lde pl'l hver brik.

Thorsbjerg find is a coat or kirtle with sleeves trimmed with a band which R. Stettiner23)

described in 1911 as the most intricate example of prehistoric tablet weaving yet known. Theband has thin broken diagonal lines, said to be executed with four-thread tablets but clearerdetails of the method are not yet known.

[n 1940 Irmingard Fuhrmann24) published a paper on a tablet-woven band from a royalburial in a barrow dated to the 3rd-4th centuries A.D. at Pilgramsdorf in South-East Prussia.Only a scrap of the band has survived but enough to reveal variations of tablet weaving whichare evidently related to the group under discussion. [rmingard Fuhrmann also points out thatfragments of tablet-woven bands with a diagonal texture have been found among the textilesrecovered from the royal burials in Sacrau25); these are dated to the 4th century and like theNorwegian examples, they are somewhat older than the Mammen textiles. In Finland, too,tablet-woven bands have been excavated which are woven in diagonal texture and with a pat-tern of two interchanging colours on each side26). Agnes Geijer mentions a tablet-woven bandfrom Birka which appears to have been produced by individually rotated tablets, unfor-tunately the textile is too decayed for a detailed analysis to be made27).

To date, though, the most intricate example of the technique is a band with gold brocadepreserved in the shrine of St. Cuthbert at Durham Cathedral in Eng[and. The band is tablet-woven in two shades of red silk, and Grace M. Crowfoot28) has established that the basicweave is the same as that of the Norwegian bands: a four-thread diagonal weave with cordingbut embellished with a demanding brocading in which the gold threads on the right side of theband make a pattern which is repeated on the reverse side alternately between the two redshades of the basic weave. Other tablet-woven bands from the shrine are of interest, too, andwe will return to them later.

Gold brocaded bands. Danish tablet-woven bands with gold brocade are best representedby the three pieces from Mammen because of their good condition. The tablet-woven bordersof the wrist-bands (C 138, Fig. 233) and the fragments (C 136 b, Fig. 234) are possibly the samepiece of tablet weaving, whereas the borders of the pennants (Figs. 101 and 346) are not as wideand have another pattern. In principle, though, the technique for making them is the same.

The arrangement of the warp is as follows: the tablets at each side are threaded with four

231

Fig. 233. Wrist-band woven in gold and silk. TheMammen find, Viking Period. (Mus. no. C 138).

ArmbAnd vrevet i guld og silke fra Mammen. Vikingetid.


Fig. 232. Analysis ofa tablet-woven band witha diagonal texture made by four-thread tablets

and changing turns (after H. Dedekam).Analyse til bAnd med diagonaltekstur, udf9Jrt medfire trAde pA hver brik og skiftende drejeretninger.


f

Fig. 234. Reverse side of tablet-woven band of gold and silk from Mammen. Viking Period. (Mus. no. 136b). 2/1.Vrangside af brikb~nd i guld og silke [ra Mammen. Vikingetid. (C. 136b). 2/ •.

threads while those in the middle are threaded with two threads through diagonal holes. Thetablets are turned so that the empty holes always lie beside the threaded holes of the adjacenttablets. The threads are also threaded alternately from the right and left sides of the tablets(Fig. 235). Two kinds of thread are used for the weft: a fine silk background thread inserted atevery quarter turn runs through the normal shed across the width of the warp, and a goldbrocading thread lying in long picks on the surface, only attached here and there to the warpthreads as needed to make the required pattern (Fig. 236a).

The brocade thread is used in the centre of the band only for as far as the pattern extends, itthen turns in loops although the turns do not appear to be systematic29).

Yet another brocade thread of silk is used in the bands (Figs. 233,234 and 236a), a coarsethread. It is used to make a fine diagonal line, and now and again a little motif which shows upon the gold surface (the dark lines Fig. 236a). This is tablet weaving with a weft pattern asopposed to the usual form of tablet weaving with the warp threads causing the pattern andcompletely concealing the weft.

Obviously these bands of rich materials and carefully executed patterns are purely decora-tive products carried out in a complicated technjque: not only with three different weft threadsbut with partly a two-thread and partly a four-thread corded warp. However, the basic weaveis carried out in fairly simple tablet weaving with cording and the shed changed regularly atevery quarter turn. The time-consuming and elaborate part is that the pattern picks have to be

MHald

Fig. 235. Arrangement of tablets for weaving the Mammen wrist-band (C 138). Tablets stand on right edge.Opstilling af brikkerne til vrevning af armb~nd [ra Mammen. (C 138). Pladerne rejses [ra h~jre kant.

inserted at certain points to produce the pattern, and that the fabric is of such fine texture.Both these factors have made heavy demands on the attention and skill of the person weaving.

The tablet-woven bands from Hvileh0j are closely related to the Mammen bands, althoughit is not possible to determine how the basic weave was accomplished as the warp has decom-posed in places and the general condition of the fabric is very poor. The Siotsbjergby find has alittle scrap of tablet-woven band with gold brocade 2 cm wide.

The origin of tablet-woven bands. The usual forms of band and border on fabrics recoveredamong archaeological finds in Denmark are generally considered to be of native origin, but thecostly and highly sophisticated products of gold and silk are less clearly attributable and thequestion of their origin has understandably aroused a certain amount of interest. The patternsgive no important clue, as the swastika motif was widespread both in time and place, but theraw material is undoubtedly of foreign origin. We will now turn to the scholars who havestudied these textiles. J. J. A. Worsaae wrote about the Mammen textiles in 18693°): "As sure-ly as the gold brocaded silk fabric has once been imported from a foreign country, just assurely is the embroidery on the cape, perhaps also the textile and the silver inlaid axe, ofDanish or Scandinavian origin". C. Engelhardt31) remarked about the Hvileh0j find in 1881:"The ornament on the undoubtedly foreign fabrics corresponds in style to the ornament on theMammen textiles, and both rest on classical tradition. We know that in the 11th and 12th cen-turies similar rich textiles spread throughout Europe from workshops in Byzantium andSicily. "

And more recently, Agnes Geijer and Grace M. Crowfoot32), each in her own way, haveendeavoured to throw light on the matter on the basis of the Swedish and English materialrespectively. A comparison between the Danish tablet-woven bands and those from Birka,Sweden, is interesting. Agnes Geijer has published a considerable number, most of whichcomprise one group that at first glance seems very similar to the Danish material, althoughcertain differences are to be found. Firstly, the Swedish bands are woven with a warp offour-ply cords as the basic technique, while the Danish examples (which could be examined)proved to have two-ply cords with four sheds in the middle zone, and ordinary four-ply cordsat each edge. Secondly, the Swedish bands with silver or gold brocade have with a few excep-tions pattern picks in double threads of drawn metal, while the Danish examples are of spunsingle thread. The latter, too, seem to be offiner quality. It is wasted effort to compare the twokinds of band by counting number of tablet threads to a cord as we know that the numbersdiffer. The best point of departure is to study the number of weft picks. The Danish bands allhave about 30 pattern picks per cm, whereas none of the Birka bands have such a high number.Two with the greatest number are B. 22 and B. 25 with respectively 20-25 and 23 picks per cm- otherwise the number varies between 12 and 1833). There is more harmony between theSwedish and Danish material as far as the ornamental motifs are concerned, viz. swastikas,diagonal lines, meanders etc., although the Swedish material also has examples of plait motifs,stars and the like, but this is not surprising as the group of finds is larger and more variationsare likely to occur34).

Agnes Geijer, an acknowledged expert on the history of silk textiles, has carried out adetailed study of the archaeological material as well as the literary sources, and weighs theadvantages and disadvantages of these in the context of the Birka tablet-woven bands' origin.She points out that the Imperial Court of Byzantium35) had a workshop which exclusivelywove the golden bands trimming formal Court costumes. However, on the basis ofexisting Scandinavian material, she demonstrates that the technical skill in our part of the

CHAPTER VII. TABLET WEAVING 233


t.~~II"\IIIIII~II~~w'~11~{j!]II[!!!1~] ~]~~m~!!f1] ~!!ll[I~~~~~ll~~II ~~ll~ll~r1117~ "\ 111111%41f4~~ ~~II[;.,-'::::: [~~IIII~~ Iw~~11r~~~:ttll~::::::R II~~~II~II', 1111::::::11::::::11:::::: :::::: ~ -:::- ~ I< ~ II ~ " ~'" ~ '" ] \ '" II~II 'if ~ '" '" '" I~' it ~ ,

/':::::]~~I'I[~] [\\\JI[1111~1'lli~~~~tr~]-:-"::::::]~'T~1~t'"'f1]~/ ~fJ>~ :::::l~ll"" f u/~~'" II~Jh~~*~1i<;h, ~~ i 11111~1:;'~']R~[Il"'~~>II~"IllllI~ 111111 "lflllllllllm" 1IIIIIh~llllll1N!jfJhil~IIIIILilllllll"ttlill [IIILIf" IIIIII?'" II {ji~••

Fig. 236a. Diagram of wrist-band from Mammen (C 138). The basic weave is shown at the oflower edge to the right with the brocade thread above it. The dark diagonal stitches are of

thick silk thread.Analyse til armbflnd fra Mammen (C 138). Nederst til hliljre ses bundvrevet, derover

brocheringstrflden. De mlilrke sting efter diagonalen bestflr af svrer silketrfld.

world is of such excellence that there is good reason to suppose raw materials - gold and silk-were imported and the tablet weaving performed here. It is a hypothesis amply borne out forexample, by the highly accomplished woollen bands known from Eveb~ and Snartemo inNorway, and the woollen bands from Mammen.

Tablet-woven bands in England which have a bearing on those discussed in the presentchapter have been found in two coffins supposed to contain the remains of King William Rufusand St. Cuthbert, the former in Winchester Cathedral and the latter in Durham Cathedral.

According to some records from 1592 King Rufus36) is reputed to have died as the result ofahunting accident on 2nd August 1100 in t~e thirteenth year of his reign; he was buried inWinchester Cathedral and a marble slab marked the grave. Whether this is sufficient evidenceon which to date the tablet-woven bands cannot be decided here, unfortunately we are not giv-en any detailed description of the textiles recovered from the coffin, but from the illustrationsreproduced in Archaeologia they appear to bear a close resemblance to our Mammen bands,both in size, colour, material and motifs. Due as far as I know, to the absence of a technicalanalysis no firmer conclusion can as yet be drawn.

The tablet-woven bands from St. Cuthbert's coffin, on the other hand, are a more satisfac-tory source of information due to the thorough study carried out by Grace M. Crowfoot. Thefact that they are thought to be fairly accurately dated to the period between 909 and 916 isespecially significant in the present context when dealing with Danish 10th century textiles.Seven of St. Cuthbert's bands proved to be woven in ordinary four-thread tablet weaving, i.e.4-ply cords, as the basic technique, with the addition of brocading in single spun gold thread.In other words, they are similar to the Swedish bands in technique but materialwise they moreclosely resemble the Mammen bands. That two of the tablet-woven bands were used as wrist-bands like two of our Mammen examples is another significant similarity37). When the coffinof St. Cuthbert was opened, one of the bands still lay in position round the wrist, still in theshape of a cuff too, but the other wrist-band had unrolled.


Fig. 236b. Tablet-woven bands and fringes, experiments carried out by the author.Brikvrevede bAnd og frynser udf~rt af forfatteren.


The fine texture of the English bands relates most closely with the Danish material but fromthe point of view of ornament they are a distinct group. The motifs of birds, dragons, vases,acanthus foliage, etc., are all ornaments which must have been difficult to incorporate in sucha narrow loom width, namely from 4 mm to 2 cmwide. Yet these motifs give little indication ofthe origins of the bands, although we are well acquainted with them in oriental and classicalart. Grace Crowfoot demonstrates that the motifs could well be inspired by the illuminatedmanuscripts written in England at the same period, although she adds that a link with the Con·tinent is also discernible38). She also points out that the materials of the bands - gold and silk-are identical with the embroidery on St. Cuthbert's vestments, and the manner in which thegold brocade on the bands is executed corresponds to the gold thread embroidery on his robe.Grace Crowfoot maintains that the tablet-woven bands and the embroidery are contemporarywith each other. All English experts consider the robe to be a native product, writes GraceCrowfoot, and concludes from this that the bands are English. Their close kinship to Scandi-navian textiles is easily explained as the period is one when Vikings and Anglo-Saxons hadmuch contact with each other. All in all, Grace Crowfoot emphasises even more strongly thanAgnes Geijer the viewpoint that this fine textured tablet weaving in gold and silk should beconsidered products of the region from which they have been recovered.

To me the question of where these tablet-woven bands were made is not only difficult toanswer, it is also hampered by the need for more evidence. The very fact, however, that thebrocaded bands from Sweden, England and Denmark have - in spite of some differences - somany features in common indicates that their place of origin is presumably the same. If theywere separately made in each of the three countries, we would expect them to have greaterlocal- or national- characteristics. The straightforward explanation by Agnes Geijer that thecraftsmanship may well be Scandinavian but with imported materials is feasible; conversely,it would be equally feasible to maintain that woollen cloth could well be imported even thoughwool was readily available in the countries in question, for example the fine woollen textilesfrom Birka, and the similar Danish example from the Lousgaard find, as well as the patternedcloth from Hvileh¢j.

As we have seen, the woollen tablet-woven bands from Mammen are closely related to theNorwegian ones with a diagonal texture, and that all these bands both in technique and mate-rial fall into one group. Nevertheless, the geographical distribution of the group must be treat-ed with caution: A. Stein's excavations in East Turkestan have yielded a wool tablet-wovenband (dated to the 8th-9th centuries) which also bears a distinct technical resemblance to theScandinavian examples, even with an animal motif like the woollen Norwegian bands39

).

Aureil Stein has demonstrated the relationship between the ornament of this textile with Per-sian, Greek and Cretan decorative art. In any event, its discovery serves as a warning notsolely to consider the woollen diagonally textured bands a Scandinavian phenomenon.

Hans Dedekam endeavours to answer the question through a stylistic study of the animalmotifs in a number of archaeological finds which are more or less contemporary with the Nor-wegian tablet-woven bands from Eveb¢ and Snartemo. He concludes his remarks upon theEveb¢ band as follows: "Our woven animal border appears to belong to this group of Ger-manic animal motif"40). It seems to me that Dedekam has in this context produced the mostsignificant piece of evidence to support the hypothesis that our diagonally textured tablet-woven bands of wool are of North European craftmanship.

The silken tablet-woven bands also make up a group. Grace Crowfoot has shown that oneof St. Cuthbert's bands with gold brocade has the same basic weave as the woollen Norwegian

Fig. 238. Bobbins from Als in Denmark used for making longcords similar to those shown in Fig. 237.Slyngestokke fra Als. Benyttes ved fremstilling af lrengere snore afsam me art som Fig. 237.

bands with four-thread tablets and diagonal cording. I have also pointed out that all the silkMammen tablet-woven bands in the two-thread technique are likewise closely related withthese. In fact the technical dividing line between the two groups is extremely fluid, but as far asthe gold brocade bands are concerned, it is difficult to deny that they appear standardised -just the characteristic noted by Agnes Geijer in regard to the fine woollen cloth from Birka.This marked uniformity of production would seem to mark routine work - even factory work,and it goes without saying that exceptional dext~rity with fine yarns has been called for inorder to produce the complicated patterns: skill which is difficult to attribute to amateurs. Ifeel that it indicates one or other "industrial centre", wherever this may have been. Unfor-tunately, whereas the Scandinavian and Baltic countries, as well as North Germany and Eng-land have relatively rich collections of tablet-woven textiles, we lack similar archaeologicalmaterial from other regions, even Egypt - otherwise the source of many ancient textiles - tosome extent fails us. The very controversial belt of Ramesis41) has been copied by GraceCrowfoot42) without using tablets. Moreover, to judge from the material I have seen, Egyptiantablet-woven bands dating from the beginning of our era onwards are not particularly skilfullymade. Although it should be mentioned that some late classical Egyptian tunics published byWulff and Volbach43) are trimmed with bands which appear to be tablet-woven with a brocad-ed surface. It would be interesting in this context to know what a detailed analysis of thesedecorative bands would reveal, because recent material from Asia has produced the closestparallels to the Danish gold and silver brocade bands of the Viking Period. MargretheLehmann-Filhes illustrates several examples of the same type in her book, for example, aPersian belt in green silk with a secondary pattern of diagonal lines in silver thread44), and aband of violet silk with squares and diagonal lines on a silver surface45). These two tablet-woven bands were bought in Cairo. Another band from Jerusalem but bought in what was thenConstantinople, is likewise of silk with silver brocade46), and finally a belt from Baghdad - afine specimen of the same type47). In reality there is no reason why these tablet-woven bandsshould not have ancient lineages; they may well be descended from the products woven inantiquity in ancient cultural centres but we lack the evidence to prove it.

237CHAPTER VII. TABLET WEAVING

1) As far as it is known no-one in Denmark today has learnt tablet weaving via oral tradition, but at the closeof the 19th century the tradition was still alive. For example, Mrs. Christine Hvass from Randrup nearAalborg mounted a tablet weaving loom with an old North Jutland folk pattern for an exhibition in Copen-hagen in 1888. According to K. Moszynski, the area of distribution of tablet weaving has extended, apartfrom North and East Europe, to the Middle East and South Asia, China and Japan, as well as North Africa.Slavernas Folkkultur, (Swedish translation), 1936, P. 175.

2) E. Olsen: Benplatte med runinskrift, Forvannen 1908.3) Sigurd Grieg: Osebergfundet II. Fig. 126.4) Birka III, PI. 39.5) Henry Petersen: Vognfundene i Dejbjerg Pnestegaards Mose, 1888, P. 18.6) Margrethe Hald: Brikvrevning. 1932. A detailed description in Danish of tablet weaving.7) K. Moszynski mentions that in some countries, for example Letland, a single tablet with four holes is used

to ply threads. Siavernas Folkkultur. II, P. 175. Cf. U. T. Sirelius: Finlands folkliga kultur II. P. 51.8) Hans Dedekam: Et tekstilfund i myr, Figs. 4-5.9) Hougen: Snartemofunnene. Pp. 92-95.

10) Birka III. P. 76 ff.II) Grace M. Crowfoot: The Tablet-Woven Braids from the Vestments of St. Cuthbert of Durham. The Anti-

quaries Journal, XIX, 1939, Pp. 72-75.12) For the technique of tablet-weaving and the geographical distribution of this kind of weaving cf. the pion-

eer work by Margrethe Lehmann-Filhes: Uber Brettchenweberei, 1901.13) Stettiner: Brettchenwebereien, P. 26.14) Stettiner: Brettchenwebereien, P. 41, Table I.15) Hans Dedekam: To tekstilfund fra folkevandringstiden. Pp. 42-45, Table Figs. 21 and 22, and PI. VII, 2.16) Hougen: Snartemofunnene. P. 68 and PI. XI, 1.17) Hans Dedekam: To tekstilfund fra folkevandringstiden. Eveb\il No. u3bl, Figs. 2-3, P. 8. Snartemo No.

282a, Fig. 20, Pp. 38-40, PI. VI and VII.18) Hans Dedekam: op. cit. P. 9, Fig. 5.19) Dedekam: op. cit., P. 17, PI. II.20) Hougen: Snartemofunnene. P. 66 PI. X, 6.21) Hougen: Snartemofunnene. 0vre Berge. P. 77-79, PI. XVIII, I and 2.22) Hougen: Snartemofunnene. P. 75 and PI. XIV and XV.23) Stettiner: Op. cit., P. 50, P. IX.24) Irmingard Fuhrmann: Der Gewebefund von Pilgramsdorf. Praehistorische Zeitschrift. XXX-XXXI,

1939-40, nos 3-4, P. 308.25) Gertrud Sage: Die Gewebereste aus den Furstengrabern von Sacrau unter besonderer Berilcksichtigung

der Brettchenweberei. Altschlesien. 5, 1934, P. 272.26) Appelgren Kivalo: Finnische Trachten aus der jungeren Eisenzeit, PI. VII, VIII and XII.27) Birka III. P. 81, PI. 18 and 202• Cf. the weaving method B 27, PI. 19 which seems to be a special one.28) Grace M. Crowfoot: The Tablet-Woven Braids from the Vestments of St. Cuthbert at Durham. The Anti-

quaries Journal, XIX, PI. XIX, 1939.29) In the borders of the wrist-bands the impression is that in some places the gold threads turn as shown in the

diagram in Fig. 236a. But because of the fineness and firmness of the fabric this point is difficult toexamine entirely satisfactorily.

30) J. J. A. Worsaae: Mammenfundet. Aarb\ilger 1869, P. 210.


Notes

31) C. Engelhardt: Jernalderens Gravskikke i Jylland, Aarb9Jger 1881, Pp. 140-144.32) The Tablet-Woven Braids from the Vestment of St. Cuthbert at Durham. The Antiquaries Journal, XIX,

1939, P. 57.33) Birka III, Pp. 85-90.34) Among the Baltic peoples tablet-woven bands are found with motifs which correspond closely with those

from the Viking period discussed in the present chapter. See: "IIIustrierte Yolkerkunde" II, P. 29, Fig. 3 inM. Haberlandt's section.

35) Birka III, P. 91. Cf. Sophus Larsen: Kvindeligt Haandarbejde i Middelalderen, Aarb9Jger 1915, P. 59.36) J. G. Joyce: On the Opening and Removal of a Tomb in Winchester Cathedral, reputed to be that of King

William Rufus. Archaeologia 42, II, P. 315, PI. 17.37) Agnes Geijer mentions (Birka III, P. 142)that 2 pieces of band lay near the spot where the hands and hips of

the body would be expected - a wrist-band?38) Note how closely Grace Crowfoot's remarks agree with mine (P. 199) concerning the motifs of the

embroidery from the Mammen burial and made on the basis of J. Br9Jndsted' s study of English ornament.Nordisk og fremmed Ornamentik i Vikingetiden. Aarb9Jger 1920, P. 228 ff.

39) Yivi Sylwan: Brickbandet som kulturobjekt. Fornvannen 1926, P. 231.40) Hans Dedekam: To tekstilfund fra folkevandringstiden, P. 16.41) Johl: Altagyptische Webestiihle. P. 61.42) Grace M. Crowfoot and H. Ling Roth: Were the Ancient Egyptians Conversant with Tablet-Weaving?

Annals of Archaeology and Anthropology. X, Nos. I and II, P. 7.43) O. Wulff und W. F. Yolbach: Spatantike und koptische Stoff, 1926. Mus. No. 14243. P. 136 and PI.

121-l22.No.14232,P. 136, PI. 123.No. 14231,P. 137, PI. 125. The tunic reproduced here (Fig. 412)inthecollections of the Staatl. Mus. in Berlin (No. 9935) has tablet-woven borders, and likewise the tunic No.9922 s. St. The borders are sewn onto the tunic and considered to be Persian inspired. All date to the6th-7th century.

44) Margrethe Lehmann-Filhes: Ober Brettchenweberei, P. 44, Fig. 64.45) Op. cit., P. 44, Fig. 66.46) Op. cit., P. 44, Fig. 67.47) Op. cit., P. 46, Fig. 69.


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TABLET WEAVING