Tartan of the Month - Jul 12. What do you see?

[figheadair]

We'll have to take your word on the colour of the stripes in the right circle as they don't look like any colour other than the background. Brown must have been a hard colour to stay fast? Or is it just a trick of the lighting?

But your circles are covering halftone areas and therefore don't represent pure colours. If the right hand one is moved up or down to cover the green square then it would also encompass the brown overstripes too. Here are high-res extracts of the blue and green sections.



Blue square with light blue/green overstripes.



Green square with brown overstripes. There are a number of ways of getting brown with natural dyes. Traditionally a shade like that shown would probably have been obtained from a dyestuff like cochineal or madder (neither of which only give red) which would have been saddened, or one of several tannin sources. Slightly later Wilsons used imported the tropical hardwood known as 'Rid-wood' in conjunction with Shoemack and coppras to sadden the colour.

[David Thorpe]

...Slightly later Wilsons used...

So this is either pre-Wilson or an earlier Wilson?

[figheadair]

Rural weave - definitely not Wilsons'.

[xman]

Rural weave - definitely not Wilsons'.

How do you know?

[figheadair]

Because I've had my hands on many examples of both types of cloth for over 30 years. They are quite different and distinct. This piece has neither the colours or handle of Wilsons' cloth, was woven with singles etc.

[xman]

Because I've had my hands on many examples of both types of cloth for over 30 years. They are quite different and distinct. This piece has neither the colours or handle of Wilsons' cloth, was woven with singles etc.

Thank-you Peter. Not that I doubt you, just that I wonder.