Hello all,
My curiosity was piqued by Jeri's message regarding hairwork done on a
"braiding table". I did a search on "hairwork" and found a number of
interesting sites. On the first link below, there is such a table
listed for sale. It appears to be a Japanese marudai which is used to
make kumihimo braids. The weighted "bobbins" around which hair (or
thread or yarn) is wound are called tama. An example of table-braided
hair is shown on another of the sites below, and it is obviously the
same technique. There are even kumihimo books offered for sale and/or
referenced on some of the sites.
What I am curious to know is how did this technique which I understand
as having originated in Japan perhaps as early as the 7th century,
manage to travel to the West in the form of hairwork? Or is there no
connection and the "wheel" was just "reinvented" for the hairwork?
One more bit I'd like to pass along is that Woodlawn Plantation in
Alexandria, Virginia, which I mentioned in a post last week related to
its annual needlework exposition, also has several very elaborate
examples of hairwork in its permanent collection in the wreath or
floral arrangement styles. They are quite fascinating, but also leave
me feeling a bit creepy for some reason <g>!!
http://www.hairwork.com/
http://www.victorianhairartists.com/HairworkTechniques.html
http://www.victorianhairartists.com/VictorianTableWork.html
Vicki in Maryland where we had a couple of days of spring and are
heading straight into summer with temps in the 80s F today!!
-----Original Message-----
From: jeria...@aol.com
Subject: Re: [lace] Victorian lace and Bobbin hairwork
Quote in part:
Mourning hairwork was a specialty of a community in Sweden in the
Victorian
era. Women in this community learned foreign languages and traveled
throughout Europe to sell mourning jewelry. The work is braided - on a
round
braiding table. The hair is tied to weights that hang around the
perimeter
of the braiding table.
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