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I have received an e-mail from a re-enactor interested in making a
tabletwoven band as part of his costume. I suggested that I should
forward his e-mail to the TW lists for more expert answers than I could
give, and he agreed. I will forward any list replies to him, but if
anyone replies to him off-list, I would be grateful if it could be cc:d
to me as I am intrigued by his project.
From: John Davis-WAC <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>I belong to a Roman living history society
>and we try to be as accurate in our reconstructions as possible. I've been
>giving much thought to the problem of Roman legionaries' crests. Without
>going into too much detail, the problem is that there is no evidence of how
>the horsehair plumage was actually held together. An arragement like a
>broomhead is usually adopted, but this seems cumbersome and if the housing
>were of wood or metal, it seems odd that none have survived whereas there
>are plenty of examples of other helmet fittings.
>
> I am proposing a tablet woven braid with small bundles of horsehair
>replacing the weft, which could then be folded into a short length,
>stitched, and sprung into place between the helmet fittings, rather like a
>Red Indian head-dress. Now, here is the question.
>
> Part of the evidence for my theory is that Greek paintings of their own
>crests, from which the Roman ones were copied, often shew a chequered margin
>along the lower edge which looks like weaving. A simple chess-board pattern
>would do, about two squares wide on the braid. Can you suggest how I could
>set up the tablets to do this?
I described how to produce his chess board pattern using double faced
TW, and suggested that he would need to use a continuous weft in
addition to the horsehair so as to make the band stable. I also
suggested an inkle loom method that should work.
I told him that I have not seen any descriptions of convincing TW finds
in that period outside Scandinavia, but that I am no expert on TW
history. 8-)
Here is his response:
> Thank you very much for such a quick and full reply. My main source is
>Thorskegga Thorne's booklet which doubtless you've seen, and your
>observations have exactly answered the questions which it begs. I note that
>there are other methods, I was attracted to the ingle loom when I saw it,
>but I am reluctant to go for anything beyond reasonably inferred evidence.
>It is interesting what you say about tablet weaving in the Roman period, our
>civillian ladies are quite sure they used it, perhaps we should look harder
>at the evidence. My original idea was for something that an individual
>soldier might do in his spare time without needing any bulky equipment. We
>know that personal adornment of Roman soldiers' kit was both practised and
>rewarded. If this seems incongruous, it is only the T.V. age in which no-one
>whiles away dark winter nights in skilled craft work!
>
> I will take your notes home with me and study them properly. I should be
>very grateful if you forwarded my letter to the people whom you mention, as
>I shall soon run up against the problem of finding sources for materials to
>do the work.
--
Jenny Kosarew from England mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Home Page: http://www.whorls.freeserve.co.uk
Berkshire Guild Page: http://www.whorls.freeserve.co.uk/guild
The Braid Society: http://www.braidsociety.org
Send private reply to Jenny Kosarew <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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