January Tartan of the Month - What do you see?

**figheadair** · 3rd January 11, 11:32 PM

Originally Posted by orvice

I'll posit a guess and say this is an 18th c. piece of rural domestic tartan woven as a shawl or airisaid, with a border sett woven around all four edges and a herringbone selvedge (displayed on one long edge in the close-up photo, and probably repeated on the other side as well). There does not appear to be a selvedge mark. This, together with the tasseled finish on the ends, strongly suggests that this length of tartan was intended for domestic use. If the fabric was woven as one piece, the loom must have been quite wide for a rural loom. If it is a joined plaid, I cannot see if there is a length-wise joining seam in the middle (along the white stripe), but I wouldn't be surprised if there was one and that the halves of this piece were woven to a very narrow width (perhaps 17"-18"), which is not unprecedented. Although the sett is very large (as were the setts on tartan woven to be joined and worn as a belted plaid), the presence on all four sides of the border sett confirms to me that the fabric was intended to be used as a shawl or airisaid. As to the red ground color of the tartan, it is my guess that this tartan was intended for a high-status or wealthy household, given that red was reportedly gotten from expensive dye-stuff and was an indicator of high social status. According to Figheadair's research papers on his website, other border-sett lengths of tartan have been located in Nova Scotia, but I couldn't guess whether they were woven in Scotland and brought over by immigrants, or if the old tartan weaving technique flourished for a while in Gaelic settlements in the New World.

A good guess and along the right lines. I won't spoil it for everyone else just yet but as I mentioned above, there's no join. Look again at the close up. Herringbone?

**Orvis** · 4th January 11, 02:51 PM

Originally Posted by figheadair

A good guess and along the right lines. I won't spoil it for everyone else just yet but as I mentioned above, there's no join. Look again at the close up. Herringbone?

Hmm - maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me, but as I looked at the long edge in the close-up, it appeared that the twill line at the selvedge by the black stripe did a right-angle dog-leg, making it appear to be a herringbone pattern. But closer examination of the red area along the selvedge does not show this, indicating no herringbone weave along the selvedge. I stand corrected, sir!