Fig. 176.—Penelope at the Loom.
Fig. 177.—Loom Weight (No. 428). 2:3.
(b) The Loom.—The only kind of loom in use in Greek and Roman times was probably the upright loom. A good idea of its form is obtained from the illustration (fig. 176), taken from a Greek vase-painting[45] of the fifth century B.C., representing Penelope seated beside the loom, with one of the suitors or Telemachos before her. The primary part of the loom is the wooden frame (jugum) resembling two posts with a cross-bar. Near the top is a roller, about which the threads of the warp and the finished cloth are wound. The threads of the warp hang downwards, strained by weights attached to their ends. The row of nine rods fitted into sockets in the top framework is probably for holding the balls of different coloured wool used in the weaving. Coloured patterns are woven towards each selvedge of the fabric. The band of winged figures must be regarded as a piece of embroidery. (For tapestry weaving see below.) The two horizontal rods lower down are the canons, which effect the alternation of the threads of the warp. It may be noted that the threads are alternately long and short at the lower end, so that the canon would be inserted correctly with great ease. The loom weights, which hang at the bottom, closely resemble in form the sets (No. 427) of pyramidal terracotta and lead weights in this Case. The terracotta discs (figs. 173 and 177), which are pierced with two holes and sometimes have a stamped design, are also probably loom-weights. No. 428 (fig. 177) has a design of two dolphins plunging into the sea; No. 429 (fig. 173) is stamped with a name—Kleodamos. As a loom weight was needed for every thread of a warp, it is not surprising that they are found in great numbers. Possibly the small bronze object (No. 430) seen at the bottom of fig. 173 may be an ancient shuttle, for passing the thread of the woof to and fro in a horizontal direction, alternately before and behind the threads of the warp. Afterwards they were driven close together by the batten (σπάθη), a possible example of which is the toothed bone object seen in this Case (No. 431).
Various specimens of ancient cloth are shown here. A piece from the Crimea (No. 432), with pretty geometric patterns in black on a light ground, and a large fragment from an Egyptian tomb (No. 433), inscribed in paint "Diogenes, who was a patcher in his lifetime,"[46] may be specially mentioned.
The art of tapestry weaving was highly developed during the later Roman Empire, especially in Egypt. See a fragment from Antinoe, fourth to fifth centuries A.D. (No. 434). The art of embroidery, that is, of working with a needle on an already woven fabric, was practised from very early times. See the small vase with a woman seated working on a four-sided embroidery frame, supported on her lap (No. 435).
Fig. 178.—Bronze Thimble (No. 436). 2:3.
Fig. 179.—Iron Scissors from Priene (No. 437). 2:3.