Norse Metallic Tablet-Woven Trim

For Entry into the Tir Righ Arts & Science Principality Competition AS XLI

2006

By Lady Caoimhinn ingen Domnaille (mka: Zoe McDonell)

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Historical Introduction:

Tablet weaving was a common form of clothing decoration during the Vikingage. The vast majority of extant Norse metallic tablet-weaving examples are from the Birka finds in Sweden from the 9th and 10th century. The example piece is based on the dimensions and pattern of a Birka III tablet-woven find. The original piece used silk for both the warp and weft and utilized drawn silver wire, not spun silver over a fibre core (Geijer 1938).

Design

The author was inspired from the photographs of the Birka III tablet-weaving finds (Geijer 1938) and desired an attempt to emulate one of the pieces. The original design of the piece is referred in the literature as Birka 6 and while first located on the internet (Priest-Dorman 1997), the author was able to research and verify the design as seen in Fig 1. I was able isolate the design from a tablet-woven fragment and reconstructed the design using the two clearest sections from the trim. The three design elements of the piece became; Broken Combs, Crosses in Saltires, S-pattern and these were repeated for the length of the piece (see Fig 2).

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Figure 1: 1) Trim fragment from the Birka II find. 2) Shows how the author’s elimination of the background fibres, highlighting the design itself. 3) The red boxes indicate the portions of the design that were used to construct the pattern for my design, modified from Geijer 1938.

Figure 2: Diagram of the design used for the tablet-weaving example. Modified from Priest-Dorman 1997.

This design was then reconstructed on graph paper to determine the number of cards needed to emulate the design. Borders on either side of the main design were not always elaborate or even used. For instance, examine the last photograph on the title page. I chose to take the design right to the weft edges, with only 1 card on either side as the solid background material. This was done to bury and anchor the wire portion as it was turned around for each weft line. The design itself was graphed into Microsoft Excel with the idea of grouping and minimizing the amount of time spent per line moving the metal-holding shuttle back and forth (see Fig 3).

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Figure 3: An example of the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet used during weaving. The BOLDED number along the rows indicates the number of cards the shuttle will either go over or under per line with the colour indicating whether it was under (orange- background colour) or over (white). The A within the P column indicates the cards to be turned away (A) per row, the other portion of the design should be moved towards (T) the weaver.

Materials

FIBER Wool and linen dominate the textile finds from the 9th and 10th century (GrahamCampbell 2001, Graham-Campbell & Kidd 1980). Yet in terms of the Birka tabletweaving, the vast majority of the pieces used silk warp and weft threads (S-plied). There are a number of reasons this material may have been the case; including extra-strength for the warp threads, resistance to shredding when weaving with the metal threads, as a sign of wealth, and the ability of silk to absorb and display vibrant colour. Some of the pieces also had more inexpensive linen threads used underneath in the warp where it would remain unseen when woven. The mean diameter of the silk thread was 0.25 mm, though this varied considerably per weaving project (Geijer 1938).

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The fibre the author used was 100% cotton perle DMC in the size 8, with a diameter of 0.5 mm. I was not able to locate the appropriate quantity of silk of the desired diameter to weave with at the start of this project.

WIRE Drawn silver wire was commonly used in the tablet-weaving from the Birka finds. Gold-inlayed brocaded trim appeared to only be created for men, while women wore trim incorporating silver (Hagg 1983). The wire was doubled up per weft line, meaning two wires were used per weft pass in creating the design (as visible in Figs 4 & 5). The original wires were incredibly uniform in length and fell within the range of 0.2 – 0.05 mm in diameter (Lundgren 1975). The wire I used was sterling silver in 24 gauge with a diameter of 0.5106 mm. The larger diameter meant the wire was far more stiff and unwieldy, I could only use one strand per weft pass.

Figure 4: Examples of metallic tablet weaving from Birka showing two wires per weft pass (modified from Geijer 1938).

TABLETS The cards were constructed from a number of materials including antler, wood or leather with four holes, one at each corner through which the warp threads pass. The size was smaller than used currently, and were usually around 1 ½ inches2 (Hall 1984).

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The cards used for this piece were commercially purchased 3 ½ inches2 and were constructed out of paper. Card Count The number of cards used per weaving attempt varied depending on the intricacies of the design. The number could be as low as 17 (from a sample found from Memmelsdorf), or even 160 as from the 3rd century Donbæk finds (Graham-Campbell 2001, Hald 1980). When considering the number of cards used, it may be more accurate to discuss the designs themselves as they define the number of cards not vice versa. The original design used 26 cards to create the design itself and then a further 4 cards per side to create the border (for a total of 34 cards). I used 26 cards as well for the pattern itself with an additional 2 cards (one per side for the border). Therefore, the design itself used the same number of cards (26) though the numbers used to create the border varied (8 for the original and 2 for the recreation piece). Dye/Colour In terms of the Birka finds, little chemical analysis of the dyes has occurred at present. There is evidence that at least madder (Rubia tinctorium) , indigo (from Genus Indigofera), woad (Isatis tinctoria), lichens (Ie. Xanthoria parietine and Ochrolechia tartarea), northern bedstraw (Galium boreale) and kermes (Kermes ilices) were used (Walton 1988b). It was my desire to use an orange hue to match a similarly coloured linen underdress. The dyes used in imported silk during the period also include kermes, weld (Reseda luteola), madder, purple lichens (Rocella tinctoris) and unknown yellow pigments. Orange can be achieved using a number of techniques, usually involving dyeing with yellow pigments and overdyeing with red hued pigments. For example, dyeing with weld then overdyeing with madder or kermes can create an attractive orange hue. It is unclear whether silk from Birka would have included such a vibrant orange but it is important to acknowledge that silk used in creating these trims would have probably been dyed more expensively and extensively than any other piece of their clothing. I was also

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able to achieve an orange using an alum mordant and dyeing with madder and then overdyeing with cochineal during experimentations. Dimensions The pattern itself, the number of cards used to create it and the width of the threads involved, are all factors in determining the overall width of the trim. The original width for this pattern for instance was 11 mm. Other trim widths using the additional metallic weft from the Birka finds include (but not limited to) 6.5 mm, 8 mm, 10 mm, 11 mm, 12 mm and 17 mm. The majority of trim found in Birka was approximately 10 mm, though the largest trim was 17 mm. The diameter of the recreation trim was approximately 11 mm (though it does vary to 12 mm). Good for me! Techniques In general, there were two distinct types of metallic tablet weaving located from the Birka finds. The designs itself were either created using a uniform fibre colour with the design created solely by the metal weft or else incorporating a brocade appearance using a double-weaving technique see Fig 5. The original tablet-woven fragment had a uniform colour background with two strands of metal per weft pass (see Fig 1).

Figure 5: Comparison between plain weave, where the design is created solely using the metallic weft (1) and a stunning example of a brocaded weft below the metallic weft, creating an impression of depth as well as colour contrast (2), modified from Geijer 1938.

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The trim itself was created using two separate shuttles for two simultaneous wefts. One weft closed the shed, cementing the design while the other brings the metal threads across. This is the same historical technique as outlined in P. Collingwood’s definitive work on tablet weaving while discussing Norse metallic tablet-weaving (1996). The weaving may have been constructed on a loom similar to the one recovered from the Oseberg ship (Fig 6). This loom was approximately 2 meters in length.

Figure 6: Lay out and reconstruction of the tablet-weaving loom as recovered from the Oseberg ship burial in modern-day Britain. The loom itself was found already warped with 52 cards (Halvgrimr 2006).

Following establishment of the number of cards and the design, the loom was warped up. The design was split into two portions (the broken combs and S pattern), I rotated the cards forward for one design and then in the reverse for the other (see Fig 7). This allowed for minimum knotting of the warp threads as the cards pulled the warp passed each other. The design is made purely from passing a second shuttle holding wire.

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Figure 7: The set-up for the metallic tablet-weaving on an inkle-style loom. Note both shuttles.

Placement of Trim Usually trim of this sort was used to edge cloaks, tunics and seams during the Viking era. Specifically, trim was used to highlight areas such as the upper portion of the torso, headgear, necklines and around the wrist cuffs. This may have been especially true for women (Hagg 1983). This could be accomplished by using the trim as a fillet (with or without a veil), men’s belts, padded cuffs thereby emulating the look of bracelets, and a number of other uses. Fragments from Birka show tablet-weaving sewn onto a fabric background and spaced uniformly. Given the placement of these fragments were located over the chest area of a woman’s grave (grave #735), perhaps the trim was use to decorate a tube-like overdress (See Fig 8 and 9).

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Figure 8: From Grave #735, these fragments were made from a series of equally-spaced tablet-woven fragments sewn onto separate fabric portions. The placement of these fragments within the grave suggests they resided over the chest region of a woman’s body, (photos from Geijer 1938).

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Figure 9: Silver trinkets from two Birka burials depicting women. There appears to be some horizontal, striped decoration on the front (indicated by red arrows), perhaps these are intended to be metallic tabletwoven trim (modified from Geijer 1938)?

Future Considerations: The next step in recreating the metallic tablet-weaving would be to attempt to brocade the background, use silk thread for both the warp and weft and use a thinner wire to be able to double up per weft pass. I would also like to experiment with different types of borders to get a more comprehensive idea of how the borders were constructed during this period. What I did right:

The correct diameter The correct pattern Use of silver, drawn wire

Improvements:

Use of silk, not cotton (at a diameter of ~0.25 mm) 11

Use of thinner gauge wire (40 gauge or 0.02 mm) Double the wire to two strands per weft pass Introduce brocade method below the metal weft

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References:

Collingwood, P. 1996. The Techniques of Tablet Weaving. Second edition. Robin and Russ Handweavers. McMinnville, Oregon. Pp.320. Hagg, Inga. 1983. Viking women's dress at Birka: A reconstruction by archaeological methods. Harte, N.B. and K.G. Ponting. Cloth and Clothing in Medieval Europe. Pasold Research Fund. 1:316-350.

Hald, Margrethe. Ancient Danish Textiles from Bogs and Burials: A comparative Study of Costume and Iron Age Textiles. Trans. Jean Olsen. Copenhagen: Fyens Striftsbogtrykteri, 1980. Hall, R. 1984. The Viking Dig: The Excavations at York. The Bodley Head, London. Pp. 158. Geijer, Agnes. 1938. Die Textilfunde aus den Gräbern, Vol. III of Birka: Untersuchungen und Studien. Uppsala: Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akadamien. Pp. 191. Gosley, S. 1996. Silver brocaded band. http://www.stringpage.com/tw/silver.html. 11.12.06. Graham-Campbell, J. 2001. The Viking World. Frances Lincoln Limited, Hong Kong. Pp: 220. Graham-Campbell, J. & D. Kidd. 1980. The Vikings. British Museum Publications Ltd. London. Pp: 200. Halvgrimr. 2006. University of Missouri Columbia. http://www.missouri.edu/~winsloww/archives/oseberg_stuff/textile_stuff/os_tabletloom.j pg. 11.13.06. Lundgren, Mats. 1975. Tva typer av silverband fran en ryttargrav pa Gotland. Fornvannen 70:144-146. Priest- Dorman, C. 1997. Metallic Trims for Some Early Period Personae, http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~capriest/metaltrims.html. 11/11/06. Walton P. 1988b. Dyes of the Viking Age: A Summary of Recent Work. Dyes in History and Archaeology. 7:14 – 19. Acknowledgements:

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I would like to thank Cristin Olafsson (Mistress Yrsa Kettilsdottir) for teaching the author the method of metallic brocaded trim and for her unending input, advice, knowledge and encouragement. I would also like to thank Mary Larose for her time and generosity for sharing her copy of the Birka III finds by Agnes Geijer and for also scanner each photo that pertained to tablet-weaving, without which I could not have included many of the visuals within this paper.

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Figure A: The reconstruction of Norse-woven trim by Sarah Gosley. She used the double-weaving technique to create the basic pattern of red over white and then overlaying her hand-made fibre-cored silver foil. There is evidence from the Birka III finds that these two methods (double weaving and overlaying metal cording) were done in the Viking age (Gosley 2001).

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