An Empirical Study of Hand-Loom Linen Damask Design and Production in Ireland

爱尔兰的Jumble手工织机亚麻锦缎编织工艺具有跨越近三个世纪的丰富传统。它以其无与伦比的计算能力和精细度而闻名，长期以来一直受到皇室的青睐。目前被传统工艺协会列为“极度濒危”的只有两个从业者在爱尔兰。作为他们中的一员，我有二十多年的编织和设计经验，我已经意识到现有知识中的一些固有的工艺技术过程的差距，这反过来又使我质疑，非常编织者的眼睛，爱尔兰锦缎设计的突出特点，以及为什么和如何实现。更高的技术鉴赏力可以更全面地了解设计是如何发展的，以及设计师如何挑战和利用织机的技术限制。手工艺生存的脆弱性是我最关心的问题，我希望通过增加生产机制的知识，并通过促进对爱尔兰手工织布机锦缎设计的演变的更全面的理解，这种设计总是与之相关，这种工艺将得到更大的认可和欣赏，并为后代建立一个教学模式。一代又一代的手工织锦缎的织工心照不宣地养成了“习惯、知识......前几代人的“织布机语言”。这种强大的口头传统意味着很少有书面记录幸存下来，而那些成长为实践这种传统的编织者也不再与我们同在。到目前为止，还没有详尽的技术研究，爱尔兰Jumble手工织机亚麻锦缎编织，它只通过我的实践的连续性，我已经能够确定在高端锦缎编织的技术过程中的差距。随着时间的推移，许多专业技术、使用的材料以及它们的应用方式都已经消失了。为了能织出最细的莱亚支数而对经纱进行的准备和处理，整经和整经织机的技术，织机的传动装置，手工扎线的构造，综架的变化和为实现最大的图案设计能力而采用的提花机构，多台提花机的使用，在织机结构中使用的人体工程学和材料是我建议纠正的一些领域。研究档案记录，现存的织机，织机设置的老照片，最重要的是详细检查现存的naptos将是调查方法的一部分，这些技术问题。这些布是在其制作和技术分析中所采用的实践的物理记录，检查图案单元，重复的组成部分，织物支数，组织结构和综架可以帮助捕获这些丢失的方法。因此，这些发现将支持和巩固爱尔兰锦缎图案的历史发展的研究，特别是库尔森和约翰麦科勒姆制造厂，谁取得了他们的锦缎质量的全球地位。织机及其设备的技术约束和纪律决定了艺术家/设计师必须工作的框架和约束，从而强烈地影响了设计过程。我将研究设计是如何执行的，它们是如何演变的，以及它们的设计师如何最大限度地发挥织机设置的创造潜力。此外，重要的是要确定这些制造商是否有共同的设计？有没有一个装饰性的词汇流传了几个世纪？爱尔兰锦缎的纹章和纹章根源是削弱还是增强了它的影响？更广泛的风格和文化运动对爱尔兰锦缎设计的发展有什么影响？设计师对计算能力的需求增加是否导致了JEFFECT机器的适应和进化？

The craft of Jacquard hand-loom linen damask weaving in Ireland has a rich tradition spanning close to three centuries. Celebrated for its unparalleled figuring capacity and fineness, it has long been patronaged by royalty. Currently listed as 'Critically Endangered' by the Heritage Crafts Association there are only two practitioners in Ireland. As one of them, and with twenty-plus years experience of weaving and designing, I have become aware of gaps in the existing knowledge of some of the intrinsic technical processes of the craft, which in turn has led me to question, very much with a weaver's eye, the salient features of Irish damask design and why and how they were achieved. A greater technical appreciation can afford a more comprehensive understanding of how design developed, and of how designers challenged and exploited the technical constraints of the loom. The fragility of the crafts survival is uppermost in my concern, and I would hope that by adding to the knowledge of the mechanics of production and by contributing to a fuller understanding of the evolution of Irish hand-loom damask design with which it is invariably linked, that greater recognition and appreciation of this craft will follow and a pedagogical model established for future generations. Successive generations of damask hand-loom weavers tacitly acquired the 'habit, knowledge... language of the loom' from preceding generations. This strong oral tradition means that few written records survive, and those weavers who grew into the practise of that tradition are sadly no longer with us. To date there is no exhaustive technical study of Irish Jacquard hand-loom linen damask weaving, and it has only been through the continuity of my practice that I have been able to identify gaps in the technical processes in the weaving of high-end damask. Many specialist techniques, the materials used, and how they were applied have been lost over time. The preparation and treatment given to warp threads to enable the finest of lea counts to be woven, techniques of beaming and warping looms, the gearing of looms, how handmade cords for tying up were constructed, the variations of harness set-ups and Jacquard mechanisms employed to effect maximum capacity of design patterning, the employment of multiple Jacquard machines, and the ergonomics and materials used in loom construction are some of the areas which I propose to redress. Researching archival records, extant looms, old photographs of loom set-ups, and most importantly detailed examination of extant napery will be part of the investigative approach to these technical issues. The cloths are physical records of the practices employed in their making and technical analysis examining pattern units, components of repeat, cloth counts, weave structures and harness mountings can help capture these lost methods. Consequentially these findings would underpin and consolidate a study of the historical development of patterning in Irish damask, with particular reference to the Coulson and John McCollum manufactories, who achieved global standing for the quality of their damask. The technical restraints and discipline of the loom and its apparatus determine the framework and constraints under which the artist/designer must work, and thereby strongly informs the design process. I will examine how designs were executed, how they evolved and how their designers maximised the creative potential of loom set ups. Furthermore, it is important to determine if these manufactories shared a commonality of design? Did an ornamental vocabulary persist down through the centuries? Was Irish damask impaired or enhanced by its heraldic and armorial roots? What influence, if any, did broader stylistic and cultural movements have on the development of damask design in Ireland? Did the designers increasing need for figuring capacity lead to adaptations and evolution of Jacquard machines?