wool

Random Advent calendar – December 4

/ Maria / Leave a comment

All history nerds in Sweden are very happy right now. Swedish national television is currently showing a series about history in Sweden, from the Stone Age to the 1950s.
The episode that was shown on Sunday, was about the time from 1361 until the death of the Swedish king Gustav Vasa in 1560.

We were asked if we could lend a gilt leather coverlet to one of the episodes to create a more cosy environment. Of course we did. and it was especially fun to see the coverlet in the background of the scene of Gustav Vasa’s haircut.

Coverlet in the background
Dalhem II

The Dalhem II coverlet comes from Dalhem’s church in Småland and is believed to be the work of the Birgittine nuns in Vadstena around the early 16th century. Today, the embroidery is in the History Museum’s textile collection.

There are about 12 medieval gilt leather embroideries preserved to this day, thanks to wills and inventory lists we know that there were many more, which are no longer extant. Among other things, there are gilt leather embroideries recorded in inventory lists from several of the Vasa family’s castles. They appear both in the form of coverlets and cushions. The colors mentioned are black and yellow which were the colors of the Vasa family.

The recreated coverlet has been sewn by several people, no one mentioned no one forgotten. Read about our first attempt to recreated two full size coverlets here.

Reconstruction Dalhem II

/ Amica Sundström and Maria Neijman
Photos: CC by 4.0

Random Advent calendar 2023 – December 2

/ Maria / 4 Comments

2023 has sometimes been a really shitty year. Cancer and everything that comes with a treatment has made our business year … different and sometimes a little less energetic than usual years. Initially, we didn’t think we’d be able to make an Advent calendar. But… we got feeling and therefore we will make some posts when we feel like it. So it will be a Random Advent calendar.

Hope you think it’s ok?!

We start with a decorative textile.
Some textiles are a bit cooler than others. This is a brocaded tabby Swedish “krabbasnår” preserved in the medieval church of Roslagsbro. It has been incredibly nice when it was new. But what makes it really special is that it has a set that tells you that it is woven in a different type of loom than a treadle loom. A warp weigh loom or a tapestry loom. Warp in 2-plied linen/hemp thread, pattern in 2-plied wool yarn, in various colors.

The dating needs to be done on stylistic grounds and it is difficult to determine how old the fabric is because this type of pattern forms have been used for quite a long time. But the mix of colors and the asymmetric pattern sings medieval to us. The choice of loom type in combination with the pattern makes us think that the weave belongs in the Middle Ages.

Read about it in the database.

The starting boarder
The starting boarder
The pattern
Broken but lovely

Photos: Historical Textiles CC BY 4.0

/ Maria Neijman and Amica Sundström

Paper at Nesat XIV

/ Maria / Leave a comment

This year we presented our paper at Nest XIV. “Colours in medieval textiles versus archeological textiles from Swedish cities” was the title of our abstract.
Nest XIV was supposed to take place in Oulo in Finland but was first postponed a couple of times and then became a digital version on Zoom. All participants sent in their paper presentation in advance and only the session discussion was a live talk. A lot of interesting papers were presented! We can’t wait for the publication!!!

Since our talk was pre recorded we decided to put it up on YouTube. Here is the link:

We are so happy that we finally can share some of our research that we have been working on the last couple of years, it has taken long due to the pandemic… But finally we can share the amazing colors and fine fabrics from the medieval seal bags from Riksarkivet / National archive


Best wishes,
Amica and Maria



Ett tunt tyg från Stockholm / A thin fabric from Stockholm

/ Maria / 1 Comment

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Här kommer en analys av ett tygfragment från Stockholm. Även en stor stad som Stockholm har blivit utgrävd i omgångar. Just detta fragment kommer ifrån stadsdelen Norrmalm, en plats som varit bebyggd sedan medeltiden. Kvarteret Svalan ligger i Stockholms city, nära T-centralen. 1991 gjordes en stor arkeologisk undersökning, då alla gamla hus hade rivits för att ge plats åt ett nytt kontorshus. Grävningen blev oerhört fyndrik. Med fyndens hjälp kan vi finna spår av stockholmare ända tillbaka till 1200-talet. Exakt hur gammalt detta tyg är vet vi inte då det saknar kontext.
Idag finns tyget i Historiska museets samlingar.

Landskap Uppland
Kvarter Svalan
Anläggningtyp Stadsmaterial
Fyndkategori Textilfragment
Datering Medeltid
Storlek 15x 5cm
Material Textil
Fiber 1 Ull
Fiber 2 Ull
Spinnriktining 1 Z-spunnet
Spinnriktining 2 Z-spunnet
Trådantal/cm -1 14tr/ cm
Trådantal/ cm -2 12tr/ cm
Bindning Tuskaft
Mönster Omönstrat
Stadkant Nej
Färg Mörkt brun
Visuellt intryck Ett mycket lätt och tunt tyg. Garnet har långa ganska glansiga fibrer. Fiber 1 har lite högre snodd än fiber 2 som har lite lösare snodd. Fiber 1 är tunt och jämnt spunnen. Fiber 2 är lite grövre och inte lika jämt spunnet.
Kommentarer Tråden ser ut att vara av kammgarnstyp. Då de två trådsystemen skiljer sig lite åt i uttryck. Möjligen är Fiber 1 varp då denna har en jämnare tråd samt fler trådar per cm. Tyget är väldigt jämnt slaget. Det är svårt att få någon känsla för tygets fall då det är väldigt fragmentariskt på sina platser, men det förefaller vara lite stelt om än tunt och luftigt.

 

Here comes an analysis of a fabric fragment  from Stockholm. Even a large city like Stockholm has been excavated in rounds. This fragment comes from the district of Norrmalm, a place that has been built since the Middle Ages. Quarter Svalan Eng.Swallow is located in central Stockholm, close to the Central Station. 1991 was a great archaeological survey, when all the old houses had been demolished to make way for a new office building. The digging became extremely rich in finds. With the finds help, we can find traces of locals back to the 1200s. Exactly how old this fabric is we do not know when it lacks context.

Today is the fabric of the History Museum’s collections.

Landscape Uppland
Street block Svalan
Facility type City material
Finds category Textile fragment
Dating Medieval
Size 15x 5cm
Material Textile
Fiber 1 Wool
Fiber 2 Wool
Spin direction 1 Z-spun
Spin direction 2 Z-spun
Tread count/ cm -1 14tr/ cm
Tread count/ cm -2 12tr/ cm
Binding Two shaft/ Tabby
Pattern No pattern
Selvedge No
Color Dark brown
Visual impression A very light and thin fabric. The yarn has long rather shiny fibers. Fiber 1 has a bit higher twist than fiber 2, that has a little looser twist. Fibre 1 is thin and evenly spun. Fibre 2 is a bit rougher and not as evenly spun.
Comments The yarn seems to be of a worsted type. The two thread   systems differ slightly in their expression. Fiber 1 could be the warp since it consists of a more even thread and has more threads per centimeter. The fabric is very evenly beaten. It’s hard to make any sense of the fabric’s draping as it is very fragmented in some places, but it seems to be a bit stiff, yet very light and airy.

Randigt från Lödöse C266/ Stripes from Lödöse C266

/ Maria / 4 Comments

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Här kommer en analys av ett textilfragment från Lödöse, Sveriges västkust. Idag är Lödöse en liten stad men på medeltiden var det en betydelsefull plats med mycket människor.  Hittills har ungefär 1/3 av den medeltida staden grävts ut. I de upp till 4 m djupa kulturlagren har över 150.000 lösfynd gjorts. Lödöse är en av Sveriges fyndrikaste utgrävningsorter. Bebyggelsen går tillbaka till mitten av 1000-talet.

Lödöse C 266
Datering: medeltid
Teknik: tuskaft med rända vävda i halvpanama, även kallad tvistrand
Storlek: 10×12 cm stort fragment
Material: ull
Varp: Z-spunnet tunt garn, hård snodd 9-10 tr/cm
Inslag: S-spunnet fylligt grövre garn, 8-9 tr/cm

Randen är 1,2 cm bred och utgörs av 16 trådar. Tråden i randen är tjockare än i bottengarnet och den har en tydlig röd färg. Det är 3,5 cm mellan de två ränderna.

Tyget har en antydan till ruggning på ena sidan.

Det går inte att säga vad tyget har använts till då det är ett lösfynd.
Randig textil av denna typ har även hittats vid utgrävningarna i London och förekommer även på andra platser i Sverige.

C266
CC-by SA please cred if using photo

Here comes an analysis of textile fragments from Lödöse, Sweden’s west coast. Today Lödöse a small town but in the Middle Ages it was an important place with many people. To date, approximately 1/3 of the medieval city have been excavated. The up to 4 m deep cultural layers have over 150,000 finds. Lödöse is one of Sweden finds richest excavation sites. The settlement dates back to the mid 1000’s.

Lödöse C 266

Dating: Medieval
Technique: plain weave/tabby with stripes woven in extended tabby, aslo known as twist stripes
Size: 10 × 12 cm large fragment
Material: wool
Warp: Z-spun thin, hard twist yarn 9-10 tr / cm
Weft: S-spun loose twist, yarn with bigger volume, 8-9 tr / cm

Stripe is 1.2 cm wide and consists of 16 treads. The weft yarn in the stripe is thicker than the bottom yarn and the yarn has a clear red color. It is 3.5 cm between the two stripes.

The fabric has a hint of napping on one side.

We can not say what the fabric has been used for, since it is a find without any clear context.
This type of striped fabric has been found during the London excavations, and in various Swedish locations as well.