cotton-msg - 1/16/08
Period cotton cloth.
NOTE: See also these files: linen-msg, silk-msg, textiles-msg, cotton-art, fabric-ident-msg, velvet-msg, spinning-msg, weaving-msg, fabric-SCA-msg.
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Stefan at florilegium.org
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From: foxd at silver.ucs.indiana.edu (daniel fox)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Period Velvet?
Date: 14 Jun 1996 06:11:57 GMT
Organization: Indiana University, Bloomington
Actually you can tell them the cotton comes from Italy.
See: Mazzaoui, Maureen Fennell, _The Italian Cotton Industry in the Later
Middle Ages:1100-1600._
Audelindis
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 10:06:34 EST
From: <SNSpies at aol.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu, h-needlework at ansteorra.org,
h-costume at indra.com
Subject: Cotton in a European grave
In the recent issue of "Archaeological Textiles Newsletter," (ATN 27, Autumn
1998, 12-14) Penelope Walton Rogers writes about "Cotton in a Merovingian
Burial in Germany." She points out that cotton rarely enters the picture for
European textile researchers and when it does, it usually can be dismissed as
a modern contaminant. However, in this case, the identification of cotton
comes from a secure context in a Merovingian burial dated to the end of the
5th century, so it is therefore of rather exceptional interest.
The cotton is a Z-spun thread which was used to quilt some sort of garment or
cover which was made from a wool diamond twill with a padded backing. This
textile was found over the whole length of a woman's body in a coffin burial
in the Merovingian cemetery at Lauchheim/Ostalbkreis in Baden-Wuerttemberg.
She concludes that the presence of this cotton thread suggests some far-
reaching link with the eastern Mediterranean or western Asia. It is at
present unknown whether the textile arrived in Germany already quilted with
the cotton thread or whether the thread arrived in Germany on its own and was
then used to quilt the textile. It is also unknown whether it was unpicked
from another textile, but further research should answer these questions.
Ingvild/Nancy
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 12:35:23 -0500
From: capriest at cs.vassar.edu (Carolyn Priest-Dorman)
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Cotton in a European grave
Daveed wrote:
>Wouldn't such a
>thread and/or cloth have been available through Roman trade routes across
>the Med with Egypt?
Upper Egypt did produce some textiles woven of indigenous cotton. However,
if a cotton textile was purchased during that period in Egypt, then it was
mostly likely that its cotton fibers themselves originated in India. From a
very early date India had a lively trade relationship in both raw fiber and
finished cotton goods with the Mediterranean via the Arabian Sea and the
eastern coast of Egypt. The Near East, India, and the Arabian peninsula
also produced indigenous cotton textiles of many sorts, much more than was
produced in Egypt. The intriguing question is, what species of _Gossypium_
(_arboreum_ or _herbaceum_) will the fibers turn out to be? That would give
a much clearer signal of where it ultimately originated.
Maureen Mazzaoui (in _The Italian Cotton Industry in the Later Middle Ages
1100-1600_) makes the important point that cotton in the late Roman and
early Byzantine Empire was a luxury textile limited by its high price to the
court and the wealthy landowning classes. The Arabs were the first to adopt
cotton as the dress of the normal people. Before that, cotton had been a
novelty textile, even in the areas where it grew readily.
Accordingly, I'd guess the Merovingian woman had some sort of royal
connection. The other Frankish find of cotton in a grave that I know of is
dated seventh century. The textile in question was a violet overtunic made
from a silk, cotton, and unidentified vegetable fiber blend, perhaps a
_mulham_ from Persia. That woman was also sporting Byzantine gold-thread
embroidery--a clear sign of high rank.
Carolyn Priest-Dorman Thora Sharptooth
capriest at cs. vassar. edu Frostahlid, Austmork
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 17:04:44 EST
From: <SNSpies at aol.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Cotton in a European grave
<< Wouldn't such a thread and/or cloth have been available through Roman
trade routes across the Med with Egypt? >>
Let me quote further from the article:
"Cotton and cotton-union fabrics circulated within the Roman empire, although
they seem to have been regarded as a luxury and are comparatively rare in
the European archaeological record.
J.P.Wild (1970, "Textile Manufacture in the Northern Roman Provinces") cites
the following findings of cotton in Roman Europe: a single S-spun thread from
an early 4th-century well near Chew Stoke in Somerset, England (possibly a
modern contaminant - Wild, pers.comm.); a cotton-wool union fabric used to
wrap a 4th-century mummified woman's body buried near Aquincum-Budapest,
Hungary; and a cotton winding sheet from another mummified body in a tomb
on the Via Cassia near Rome."
There are also a couple of examples of fibre capsules from cotton plants found
in 6th-7th century France, but such objects are thought to have been brought
back from the Holy Land by pilgrims.
Ingvild/Nancy
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 17:21:01 EST
From: <SNSpies at aol.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Cotton in a European grave
<< I have never heard of the "ATN" before. Can you tell me how I may obtain
a subscription? >>
Subscriptions to "Archaeological Textiles Newsletter" are available by
writing to:
Dr. J.P. Wild
Department of Art History and Archaeology
University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 3PL
England
Payment is 20 pounds for a 2-year subscription (4 issues) and is accepted
only in pounds sterling. Payment should be made in the form of a bank check.
Ingvild/Nancy
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 19:38:45 -0500
From: capriest at cs.vassar.edu (Carolyn Priest-Dorman)
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Cotton in a European grave
Ingvild asked:
><< I'd guess the Merovingian woman had some sort of royal
> connection. The other Frankish find of cotton in a grave that I know of is
> dated seventh century. >>
>
>Thora, could you please post your reference for this? =20
The reference for this is:
France-Lanord, Albert. "La fouille en laboratoire:
Methodes et resultats." _Dossiers de l'Archeologie_
32 (January-February 1979), pp. 66- 91.
Details of the burial textiles in the so-called
Aregond grave, that of a seventh-century
Merovingian royal woman. Includes evidence for
silk, linen, hemp, wool, and cotton! Frustratingly
vague on weave details in some cases.
The gist of the article's information on textiles can be found in Chapter 6
of Marieke's and my _Compleat Anachronist_, #59.
Carolyn Priest-Dorman Thora Sharptooth
capriest at cs. vassar. edu Frostahlid, Austmork
Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 20:06:06 EST
From: <SNSpies at aol.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Cotton in a European grave
<< Oooh! Are there any pictures, or detailed descriptions, available??
This sounds like something that would be fun to duplicate! >>
Sorry. The only picture with the article is a x400 magnification of the
cotton fibres. I will see what I can find out. From the article, it appears
that the quilted garment is still being analysed, etc. by Johanna Banck-
Burgess, she who did the Hochdorf chieftain textiles (so you can believe that
the end result of her analysis will be very good indeed). I will pass on
anything further that I can find out.
Ingvild/Nancy
From: nweders at mail.utexas.edu
Date: September 21, 2006 11:10:43 AM CDT
To: ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: [Ansteorra] cotton in period
I found an article on "The Cotton Industry of Northern Italy in the Late
Middle Ages: 1150-1450" by Maureen Fennell Mazzaoui, (The Journal of
Economic History, Vol 32, No 1. The Tasks of Economy History. (Mar 1972)
pp. 262-286. The author has also written a book, since I found numerous
reviews on it as well bt I have not had a chance to find a copy.
Anyway, the article talks about the development of the cotton fabric and
thread industry in Italy. She states " In the European climate, cotton and
linen represented seasonal alternatives to the heavier silk and wool
cloths suitable for winter wear. She does say later that cotton was often
combined with linen, hemp, wool and silk to produce more diverse fabric
types.
During this time period, vast amounts of cotton fiber and fabrics was also
imported from Egypt and comprised of canvas to fine dress weight fabrics
(sorry no description or names of said fabric). however, the use of the
fabric as clothing is quite extensive.
It is a myth that cotton was not used for clothing or wool was used more
than cotton in some countries. During the 12th through 15th centuries,
cotton was used in the Mediterranean area for the same reasons why we use
it... it is cooler than wool in the summer, it took some dyes better than
linen, it allowed more diversity in fashion. I would also note that during
the 16th century, a severe dip in the weather caused a change in clothing
that made it more important to wear wool and furs rather than cottons.
Clare St. John
From: mikea <mikea at mikea.ath.cx>
Date: September 21, 2006 11:25:34 AM CDT
To: "Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc." <ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] cotton in period
On Thu, Sep 21, 2006 at 11:10:43AM -0500, nweders at mail.utexas.edu wrote:
> During this time period, vast amounts of cotton fiber and fabrics was also
> imported from Egypt and comprised of canvas to fine dress weight fabrics
> (sorry no description or names of said fabric). however, the use of
> the fabric as clothing is quite extensive.
In addition, the Arabs introduced the cotton plant into Sicily, before
1100, according to what I've been able to find. Since all this is pre-
cotton-gin, the fiber would have been separated from the seeds by hand,
making the cloth more expensive then in terms of labor than it is now.
--
Mike Andrews, W5EGO
From: Maridonna <maridonna at maridonna.com>
Date: September 21, 2006 1:21:18 PM CDT
To: "Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc." <ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] cotton in period
mikea wrote:
> In addition, the Arabs introduced the cotton plant into Sicily, before
> 1100, according to what I've been able to find. Since all this is pre-
> cotton-gin, the fiber would have been separated from the seeds by hand,
> making the cloth more expensive then in terms of labor than it is now.
Yes. :) The Arabs introduced cotton to Sicily (circa 827). A
source says that the reasons why cotton spread throughout the
western Mediterranean between the 9th-12th centuries is because of
the popularity of cotton among Muslims and their advanced knowledge
of irrigation techniques. Cotton came to rival flax in Sicily.
The source I have says Fustians may have been imported to Sicily up
to the 13th century. Fustian production was significant because
Sicily did not import the cloths, but there is no mention of what it
was made. S. Epstein, "An Island for Itself", pp.182-190.
--
Andrea / Maridonna, who moved her persona to Sicily so she could
wear cotton.
From: Claude Anthony Penny <cpenny at swbell.net>
Date: September 21, 2006 2:22:53 PM CDT
To: "Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc." <ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] cotton in period
I remember reading that the Arabs had a primitive type of a cotton gin.
It was compsed of knots on ropes that was pulled through the cotton
bolls. If I remember, a lot of the cotton was used as weft fibers,
because spinning strong, tight cotton thread was difficult. I believe
that the mixed fabric was used as cheap blanket-type material in Italy.
Cairenn
who has entirely TOO much info about way TOO many fields
<the end>