06-20-2005, 12:06 PM
I was just reading Anastasia Pekridou-Gorecki: Mode im antiken Grieenland (Fashion in Ancient Greece) and I was struck by the breadth of decorative techniques and colourful combinations used (brocade-weaving, tablet weaving, kelim binding, embroidery and cloth painting).
Now, whenever a Roman woman's gravestone reads 'lanam fecit' I used to have the impression of a poor lady eternally, repetitively spinning and weaving monochrome wool into tunics, togas, pallas and underwear. But looking at this riot of not just color (I know the Romans did colourful) but pattern and decoration I ask myself: how many of these decorative techniques would a Roman housewife have been expected to master? Did the women of the Julian house interrupt their murderous intrigues to embroider tablecloth borders or tablet-weave swirl patterns?
Can anyone recommend good reading matter on that aspect of Roman clothing?
Now, whenever a Roman woman's gravestone reads 'lanam fecit' I used to have the impression of a poor lady eternally, repetitively spinning and weaving monochrome wool into tunics, togas, pallas and underwear. But looking at this riot of not just color (I know the Romans did colourful) but pattern and decoration I ask myself: how many of these decorative techniques would a Roman housewife have been expected to master? Did the women of the Julian house interrupt their murderous intrigues to embroider tablecloth borders or tablet-weave swirl patterns?
Can anyone recommend good reading matter on that aspect of Roman clothing?
Der Kessel ist voll Bärks!
Volker Bach
Volker Bach
