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

爱尔兰手工编织提花亚麻锦缎的工艺有着丰富的传统，跨越了近三个世纪。它以无与伦比的计算能力和精致而闻名，长期以来一直受到皇室的赞助。目前，爱尔兰只有两名手工艺者，被遗产手工艺协会列为“极度濒危”。作为他们中的一员，以及二十多年的编织和设计经验，我已经意识到对这项工艺的一些内在技术过程的现有知识的空白，这反过来又让我以编织者的眼光质疑爱尔兰锦缎设计的显著特征，以及为什么和如何实现这些特征。更多的技术欣赏可以让我们更全面地了解设计是如何发展的，以及设计师是如何挑战和利用织机的技术限制的。手工艺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，并通过帮助更全面地了解爱尔兰手工织机锦缎设计的演变(它总是与之相关)，人们将更多地认识和欣赏这项工艺，并为子孙后代建立一个教学模式。一代代锦缎手工织布工默默地从前几代人那里获得了织布机的习惯、知识……语言。这一强大的口头传统意味着很少有书面记录幸存下来，那些成长为实践这一传统的编织者不幸地不再与我们在一起。到目前为止，还没有关于爱尔兰提花手工织机编织亚麻锦缎的详尽的技术研究，只有通过我不断的实践，我才能够发现高端锦缎编织工艺中的差距。随着时间的推移，许多专业技术、所使用的材料以及它们的应用方式都已丢失。经线的准备和处理以使最好的Lea计数能够被编织，经纱和经纱织机的技术，织机的传动装置，用于打结的手工绳索是如何构造的，用于实现最大设计图案能力的线束设置和提花机构的变化，多台提花机的使用，以及织机建造中使用的人体工程学和材料，这些都是我建议纠正的领域。研究档案记录、现存织机、织机设置的旧照片，以及最重要的是对现存织布的详细检查，将是对这些技术问题的调查方法的一部分。这些布料是制作过程中使用的实践的物理记录，检查图案单位、重复部件、布数、编织结构和马具的技术分析可以帮助捕捉这些丢失的方法。因此，这些发现将支持和巩固一项关于爱尔兰锦缎图案历史发展的研究，特别是参考库尔森和约翰·麦科勒姆的制造厂，他们的锦缎质量取得了全球声誉。织机及其设备的技术约束和纪律决定了艺术家/设计师必须在其下工作的框架和约束，从而强烈地指导了设计过程。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意潜力。此外，重要的是要确定这些制造商是否共享设计的共同点？一种装饰性词汇是否流传了几个世纪？爱尔兰锦缎是因纹章和纹章的根部而受损还是增强？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提花机的适应和发展？

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?