Cook Islands Tivaevae

Destination: the South Pacific

Most visitors miss some of the most beautiful South Pacific islands of paradise for the simple reason that they are in the middle of a vast sea and, frankly, are not well known.  One lovely island nation is the Cook Islands. The “Cooks” are comprised of 15 islands with a total land area of a little over 90sq.miles, however their geographical boundaries are nearly 700,000 sq. miles of Pacific Ocean.

They have a parliamentary form of democratic government and have a unique relationship with New Zealand as a “free, associated state”, in that N.Z. has responsibility for their external affairs.  Cook Islanders are also New Zealand citizens, although the reverse is not true.

                                                    Parliament building in Rarotonga

The capital is Rarotonga, but our final destination was Aitutaki, which is reported to have “the most beautiful lagoon in the world”, according to tourist information.  Our reason for this short air flight (in the smallest plane I have even flown), was a meeting with a ham radio operator and a meeting with textile artists, Mrs. RuRu Carl  and  Mrs. Tara Thomas, who worked with the island’s tivaevae makers.  Guess whom I was meeting.

At first glance, Tivaevae, is a version of Hawaiian quilts (also sometimes mistaken for Tahitian”Tifaifai”).  Their resemblance is understandable.  Although the islands are thousands of miles apart, missionaries and their families traveled throughout Polynesia.   The missionary wives taught native women sewing and embroidery techniques, including the making of bed coverings. While all variations are based upon appliqué of common native plant life motifs onto a ground fabric, which is then sewn onto a backing fabric, there are differences.  The most outstanding difference is that Hawaiian quilts are quilts in the sense that they have 3 layers: the patterned front, the plain backing and an inner layer of some type of batting.  These are heavily quilted using very small stitches to create parallel quilt lines, which follow the appliqué pattern.

Tivaevae are, what we would call, bed spreads.  There is no inner batting, nor, usually quilting.  The motifs are folded squares of cotton fabric, cut into designs, similar to cutting out snowflakes 
( believe me, there is no snow to be found).  These appliquéd spreads are called” Tivaevae manu”.using only one color for the pattern.

“Tivaevae taorei” are pieced spreads made from small pieces of  four or more colored fabrics forming triangles, squares or diamond patterns.  This is intricate work, as each member of the sewing group (vainentini) works on her own square.  Therefore, each square must be counted and sewn correctly if the sections are to fit and form the overall pattern.

“Tivaevae tataura” patterns are cut out and embroidered before being sewn onto the ground fabric, although it may be appliquéd and then embroidered with 2 strands of pearl cotton, often variegated..  Embroidery stitches may include feather, chain and stem stitches, as well as variations of other embroidery stitches.

Each floral motif takes one artist up to one day to create.

Tivaevae tataura

A variation of “Tivaevae tataura” is “tuitui”, in which motifs are sewn onto ground fabric squares, The squares are then crocheted together before being sewn onto the backing fabric.

Tivaevae: Portraits of Cook Islands Quilting, Lynnsay Rongokea, Daphne Brasell Associates Press, Wellington, N.Z., 1992

Virginia Lee Burton of Folley Cove Designers

Folley Cove Revisited

Several years ago I wrote about a mid-19thC American cooperative, Folley Cove Designers from Cape Ann, Ma. ( 5/25/12)

Recently I received correspondence from Christine Lundberg, an independent film producer.  Christine has produced a documentary on Virginia Lee Burton, her life and career, Virginia Lee Burton: A Sense of Place. Virginia (Jennie) Lee Burton is well known as an author and illustrator of children’s books.  In fact, she was one of the first to use high quality artist techniques to illustrate her stories, which have been read and loved by generations of children and their parents.

Virginia was also the founder of a group of artists, Folley Cove Designers who produced the most incredibly designed textiles ( and later other products featuring their designs).

Now, Christine is preparing to produce another film, this time on the Folley Cove artists and the history of their cooperative.  If any readers have relevant information regarding Folley Cove and the artists perhaps you could communicate with Christine.  I am sure she would be most interested in your contributions and comments on the subject.

Christine Lundberg, Red Dory Productions

reddory@msn.com

Virginia Lee Burton: A Sense of Place was produced by Red Dory Productions, Gloucester MA in partnership with Searchlight Films, Bernardston MA.  It has been aired on PBS, so check with your local PBS station to inquire about possible re-airing schedules.  You can also obtain more information of Virginia Lee Burton by visiting www.virginialessburtonthe film.com

"A Celebration of American Quilts"

“A Celebration of American Quilts” is a small exhibition accompanied by a very large reference volume, “Four Centuries of Quilts”.  The DeWitt Wallace Art Museum, one of the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg, is showing only a small number of quilts from their large collection (12 quilts).    The real gem is not the exhibit, however, but the large reference volume written by curators Linda Baumgarten and Kimberly Smith Ivey, with 356 pages and over 300 color illustrations.

The history of quilting fabrics is a long one.  Early warriors and fire fighters wore garments of heavily quilted cotton and other fibers for protection.  Quilted cloth was a protection from the elements and was also used as padding.  Quilts, as bedcovers, did not originated in the US, although quilting has been extremely popular in this country. Fabrics introduced into Europe from the east were made into bedcoverings as well as whole cloth quilts of wool and other local materials.  These, then, were introduced into the newly populated US in the 17^th and 18^th centuries.  Once valued only for their utilitarian purposes, quilts today are regarded as artistic expressions.  The skill of the makers in creating images of color and pattern is not the entire process, however.  The real story lies in the history, thoughts and emotions sewn into the textiles by their makers.      

There are many folk tales about magic and supernatural powers attributed to textiles, especially bedcovers, which protect against cold but also evils that might befall those at rest.  These stories about the quilt makers are unfortunately often lost, as many of these textile works of art were neither dated nor signed.

“Four Centuries of Quilts” catalogs the museum’s collection of nearly 180 quilts and the authors have attempted to relate the stories of the quiltmakers, bringing their efforts into our world today.

 Four Centuries of Quilts, Linda Baumgarten and  Kimberly Smith Ivey, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Yale University Press

Linda Baumgarten is the curator of textiles and costume.  She is also the author of “What Clothes Reveal”.  Kimberly Smith Ivey is the curator of textiles and historic interiors.

A  Celebraton of American Quilts can be seen through May, 2016

Another Look at Kiminos

Another Look at Kimonos

"Enjoying the Cool at the Ryogoku Bridge", Utamaro Kitagawa,

        (1753-1819)

In my blog,  Modern Kimonos ( November, 9, 2014), I reported on an exhibition at LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) which featured over 30 modern kimonos from their collection.

Another famous institution, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City is showing an exhibition (through January 19, 2015) of their collection of Japanese kimonos beginning with the Edo Period , 1615-1898.  Not only featured are glorious, beautifully embroidered garments but also garments such as firefighters’ coats, which might be considered rural textiles.

So-called “country textiles” differ from those created in the urban weaving centers.  While many have similarities with those silk, embroidered garments, there are significant differences in style, fiber content and patterning techniques.

Japanese Country Textiles, Anna Jackson, Victoria and Albert Museum, Far Eastern Series, Weatherhill,1997

Japanese Country Textiles by Anna Jackson, draws from the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. 

Four chapters: 1. Definition and Acquisition

                        2. The Context of Cloth

                        3. Textile Techniques

                        4. Continuity and Change

explore the variety of textiles commonly referred to as “country” or even “folk”.

This volume offers another insight into Japanese textiles.  The photographs are instructive and there is also a selected bibliography for further sources of information.

A Christmas Tradition

“The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would  be there”.

A visit from St Nicholas, Clement Clarke Moore, 1823

 The People's Home Journal, December 1907

  F.M. Lupton, Publisher, New York

Legend has it that St. Nicholas was traveling through a small village and heard of 3 impoverished girls whose father could not afford dowries for them.  St Nicholas entered their cottage by sliding down the chimney and found freshly laundered stockings drying by the fire.  He filled their stockings with gold coins.

St Nicholas was born in Greece (now the southern coast of Turkey) in the 3^rd century.  He is the protector of those in need, fishermen and children.

Christmas stockings made from a 19thC quilt and trimmed with vintage laces and ribbons.

  

Hopefully your stockings, if not filled with gold, will not be filled with lumps of coal.

Armor-dillo Part 2

Armor-dillo Part 2

Last week, in armor-dillo part 1, protective clothing made of vegetable materials was explored.  Most likely, though, when we think of armor it is plates of metal made into protective suits that comes to mind.

During the 3^rd millennium BCE a new material was manufactured for the making of tools and weapons, Bronze.  Bronze is made by alloying copper with tin which was more strong and durable than copper, itself.  The alloy could be beaten into shapes or pored into molds of stone or clay.  While copper and tin were not common, the demand for these ores lead to new networks for trade.

Greek Bronze Armor c1200 BCE

Greek Archaic vase painting

Souvenir postal card of a Chinese Terracotta Warrior wearing bronze armor.  The first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, built a massive mausoleum which was guarded by more than 6,000 life size terracotta soldiers.

During the period 1200 – 550 BCE metallurgy produced iron and the so-called iron age was the third of the prehistoric ages: stone age, bronze age and iron age.

 Adding carbon to iron ores produced steel, which was used to make the best weapons and tools.  If insufficient amounts of carbon were added the steel was not as strong.  If too much carbon was added the resultant steel was hard but too brittle.  Iron was not cast but hammered into shape.

Medieval knights wore suits of protective clothing , which included mail or linked iron rings.  Makers of mail could produce “tailored” garments by increasing or decreasing the number of links. A padding called aketon or gambeson made of quilted linen or wool and stuffed with horsehair was worn under mail, but could also be worn separately.

Scenes from the Bayeaux Tapestry: (see blog  8/24/14)  soldiers wearing suits of mail and protective helmets

It is a common misconception that plate armor was heavy and clumsy, impeding the motion of the warriors.  In fact, a full suit weighed approximately 50 pounds.  The advantage of plate armor, was just that: plates that were hinged to each other so that they moved with the actions of the wearer.  Separately moving plates also provided protection for the war horses. 

Body suits of full plated armor, including helmets with visors, gloves and boots.

Modern protective clothing for military, police and fire applications is a topic for a future discussion.

Armor-dillo?

Armadillo

If you’re not from these parts, you may not recognize this animal.  It is an armadillo, a toothless, burrowing animal of the southern US, Central and South America.  Its distinguishing feature is an armor-like covering of bony plates, even on his skinny tail.

So today we are not talking about zoology but about armor, covering worn to protect the body, more specifically, for protection from weapons.

Early man, from the Aleutians to the Andes, wore heavy, leather tunics, leggings and head coverings and carried shields cover in hide.  According to Anawalt (The Worldwide History of Dress), Eskimo men wore “armor” consisting of” a series of lower-body hoops made of double sealskin…the head and neck were protected by a large wooden shield covered in sealskin”.  There is also evidence that Eskimos of the Bering Sea area wore plates of walrus teeth (The Basel Museum).

 The Pacific coastal people, Tlinglit and Tsimshian, wore tunics of  multiple layers of hide. They further protected their bodies with garments made of wooden rods or wrapped rope around them for protection. For protection of the head and neck some wore heavy wooden face masks.

Basel Museum

The Plains Indians carried large shields made from buffalo hide.  Some native tribes wore basketry for armor or layers of deerskin.

Central American, Pre-Hispanic Indians, wore body protection made of densely quilted cotton.  Patagonian warriors wore bullhide helmets and layers of horsehide.

Evidence of armor-wearing warriors c.3500BCE was found in Ur (southern Iraq) which was the capital of Mesopotamia.  Excavation of a rubbish dump revealed a royal burial plot.  Amongst the findings was a decayed mosaic, The Standard of Ur.  According to the British Museum it was fashioned from shells, lapis and limestone and consisted (as found) of two main panels known as “war” and “peace”.  On the “war” panel are three horizontal sections depicting Sumarian warriors in battle.  The warriors on foot wore short skirts, covered with a leather cloak with metal studs

 and a fitted leather cap.

Standard of Ur

The peoples of Oceania (Sulawesi, New Guinea and the Gilbert Islands and others) wore wicker helmets and cuirasses (a piece of close fitting armor, protecting the neck and back).  This one-piece body armor was made of coiled bundles of coir (coconut fiber) or rattan held together with fine bast cording.  Beneath the cuirass was worn a shirt, cap and gloves of coir twine.

Next time we will examine the contribution of metallurgy and the construction of plate armor.