Fig. 167
[Fig. 167] makes a very rich and handsome fabric. It is warped all a rich purplish-brown silk, 180 threads per inch. There are four weft picks in the pattern. The first is a clear olive-green silk about double the thickness of the warp silk, the second shot is a round, firmly twisted worsted cord of the same colour as the warp, the third is the same as the first, and the fourth is silk of the same colour as the warp. There are 100 picks per inch, but the two green silks go along with the cord to form the complete cord or ridge. These silk picks can be brought out to the surface for figuring, as shown by the shaded squares in the pattern, which are not cut on the cards. The black squares are the warp figuring, the dots the warp raised for the ground, and the crosses the warp of the binding threads raised. These binding threads rise over the brown silk pick, and are similar to the yellow warp in the previous pattern.
For richer fabrics than these we must go to pile work, which is, perhaps, the most exquisite production of the loom. Curtains or hangings can be made extremely rich by figuring a rich corded silk ground with a pile of different lengths and colours. The long pile can be cut to form a plush or velvet pile, and the shorter pile may be left uncut to form a looped or terry pile. By a judicious arrangement of colours and length of pile, fabrics of extreme beauty can be made (see Pile Work). For curtains of a heavy description chenille is much used, and makes a very rich, warm-looking fabric; but it is too heavy and of too coarse a nature for small rooms unless they are very well lighted. It is very suitable for screens, or curtains dividing two portions of a room (see Chenille).
CHAPTER IX
TAPESTRY AND PILE WORK
Tapestry.—What are generally known in trade as tapestries, are figured fabrics for curtains, hangings, &c., not damask, which is distinct, being woven with only one warp and weft. Real tapestry is a hand-made fabric of very ancient origin, being in use since the days of the ancient Egyptians, who wove or worked it in a manner very similar to that employed at the present time. It does not belong to ‘jacquard weaving,’ but being the first in point of the excellence of its patterns amongst figured fabrics, a short description of it may not be out of place. Henry VIII. tried to establish tapestry weaving in this country, but failed, but James I. had a flourishing factory at Mortlake. Tapestry weaving appears to have been introduced into France about the ninth century. The Flemish were celebrated for it from the twelfth century. Arras work surpassed all the others, and tapestry was commonly known as arras work. The sixteenth century gave a new impulse to the trade in France. Francis I. founded the manufactory of Fontainebleau, and Henry IV. re-established tapestry making in Paris in the years 1595 to 1606. About the year 1666 Louis XIV. bought the Gobelins Works (which take their name from the original owners, a rich family of wool dyers), and established the Royal Gobelins Tapestry Manufactory, which is now one of the sights of Paris.
There were two methods of working tapestries—one known as ‘basse lisse,’ or low warp, the threads of warp being placed in a horizontal position in the loom; the other was called ‘haute lisse,’ or high warp, as the threads of warp were placed in an upright or vertical position. It is the latter method of working that is now adopted.
The loom consists of an upright frame of wood of a size to suit the cloth to be made. There is a strong roller at the top, which acts as a warp beam, and another at the bottom for the cloth beam. Both these rollers have ratchet wheels on one end, and are held with pawls or catches so as to allow the warp to be wound off and the cloth to be wound up when required, and then hold the stretch of warp steady to be woven. The warp is coarse, but a clean, regular thread of twist, cotton, or linen, about 12 to 18 threads per inch (more or less, as desired,) and of such a thickness that the spaces between the threads are somewhat less than the diameter of the threads. The weft is usually of fine wool but a fairly thick thread, say 4’s or 6’s worsted. This is generally used alone, of whatever shade of colour is required, and there is no end to the shades used; but in some places, to give brilliancy and richness of effect, silk is used along with the wool, and sometimes tinsel or gold cord. These are put in separate threads along with the woollen or worsted weft. The silk is much finer than the worsted, say about equal to 12’s or 16’s cotton, and, of course, can be regulated to give the effect required. The gold is sufficient to give sparkle to the portion it is employed in.
After leaving the warp beam the warp is divided by two thick glass lease rods. Then every alternate thread, those to the front of the frame, is drawn through a doup of a half-leaf of heddles which is fixed in a horizontal position above the weaver’s head. This enables a plain shed to be formed, as the thick lease rod divides the threads and forms one shed. Then, when the weaver, sitting at the back of the loom, draws back the half-leaf of heddles, all the front threads or any portion of them can be drawn back past the back set, and form a cross shed. As the doups of the heddles are long and strong, the weaver can take any number of them he requires and draw the front warp back; then putting his fingers into the shed thus formed, clear it down to the fell of the cloth and insert his bobbin.