Looking at Textiles: A Guide to Technical TermsTextiles have been made and used by every culture throughout history. However diverse--whether an ancient Egyptian mummy wrapping, a Turkish carpet, an Italian velvet, or an American quilt--all textiles have basic elements in common. They are made of fibers, constructed into forms, and patterned and colored in ways that follow certain principles. Looking at Textiles serves as a guide to the fundamentals of the materials and techniques used to create textiles. The selected technical terms explain what textiles are, how they are made, and what they are made of, and include definitions of terms relating to fibers, dyes, looms and weaving, and patterning processes. The many illustrations, including macro- and microscale photographs of a range of ancient and historic museum textiles, demonstrate the features described in the text. |
Common terms and phrases
American Art Resource bast fiber blue Camelid carpet century A.D. China cochineal cocoon color areas composed compound twill compound weaves COPPERPLATE PRINT cotton create cultures design repeat detail discontinuous wefts DOUBLECLOTH drawloom dyebath dyed elements embroidery Europe example fabric garments gauze Gift gold heddles Hermitage Museum IKAT Image The Metropolitan indigo interlace Jacquard loom JPGM kermes kermes dye knotted pile LACMA lampas linen loops madder METAL LEAF metallic yarns Metropolitan Museum mordant multiple Museum of Art National Design Museum number of different pattern Pazyryk Peru Photo plain weave plants point repeat polychrome produced purple quilt RESIST DYEING samit satin selvage sets of WARPS sometimes SPINDLE spinning spun stitches surface TABLET WEAVING tannins tapestry weave technique textile Textile fragment trade twill twisted type of loom velvet warp and weft warp yarns warp-faced WARP-PATTERNED warps or wefts weave structure weavers weft weft yarns width wool woven yarns