The Last Hand Weaver of Irish Linen Damask

The Last Hand Weaver

Sorry for the gap since my last post, but I was back in Ireland attending to family things. While I was there I took the opportunity to visit a couple of local museums, both of which have amassed a huge amount of information on the linen trade and its importance to both the cultural and industrial heritage of Northern Ireland.

The Ulster Folk and Transport Museum in Cultra, near Belfast houses a vast and varied collection of linens, some used to furnish the outdoor museum. One of the recreated buildings is the Ballydugan weaver's cottage, complete with earthen floor and thatched roof.

 

There I was very privileged to meet the last hand weaver of linen damask on the island of Ireland.  John McAtasney has been a weaver for 65 years, starting at the age of 14. His knowledge and skill are unparalleled. He explained how the designs were transferred from the artist's drawing to a point paper or chart, which then enabled the punch cards to be made allowing the damask designs to be woven on the loom. Each point or square on the paper corresponded to the raising or lowering of a weft or warp thread.

Creating a set of punch cards from a point chart could take up to 6 months for a napkin design or 18 months for a tablecloth. It would then take the hand weaver 4 hours to weave just one napkin. It really brought home to me the incredible skill and patience needed to produce these beautiful designs. No surprise that hand woven Irish Linen damask was the most prized of cloths.

John has been working for both the Lisburn and Ulster Folk Museums for the past 40 years or so and you can really tell how important the craft is to his daily life.  I was amazed at how fit he is, climbing up 3 or 4 feet to fix a malfunction on the loom with the agility of a man 50 years his junior!

We chatted for a while, then with a twinkle in his eye he said - "It is lovely to talk to you, but all this chat is keeping me from my loom. You won't mind if I get back to work!" 

He was working on a beautiful design of napkins, with deer and game birds intricately woven into the cloth. It was a delight to watch him at his craft and to learn first hand of all it entails.  

Mill Marks and Proof Cloths

When Irish Linen damask was being produced, one of the most important stages was the weaving of a "proof cloth". This was a sample which would allow the design to be examined in detail and any alternations made before the weaving of the cloth would begin.

Irish Linen damask is usually white and it would have been almost impossible to inspect the design sufficiently closely if the sample had been woven in just one colour. The proof cloth would be woven in 2 contrasting colours, and it could then be viewed and inspected more easily.

On a recent visit to the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum near Belfast I was shown a number of proof cloths in their collection. Although I knew about them, I had never seen one first hand before. The plain part of the design was in an unbleached natural colour and the design was woven in a brick red colour, providing a great contrast. Although not the finished article, they were really quite impressive in their own right!

Above is an example of a napkin proof cloth, which recently formed part of an inspiring project undertaken by the BBC's Radio 4 and the British Museum. In 2010, with the collaboration of schools, museums and individual listeners, a list of 100 objects was collated and resulted in 100 15 minute programmes entitled "The History of the World in 100 Objects". A detailed account can be found on the BBC's website.

I think it just wonderful that a piece of Irish Linen Damask should have been deemed important enough to have been submitted for consideration to this project.

To each of the 4 corners of the napkin you can just make out a tiny shamrock shape. This is known as a Mill Mark. John Shaw Brown was one of the first weaving mills to include this subtle branding on their linens, and it was usually applied only to their finest quality damasks.

Each mill would have its own distinct emblem, a Fleur de Lys or a Lion Rampant for example. Sadly there was no central record kept of which mark related to which mill and only a few are known about and recognised today. 

I am fortunate enough to have come across a wonderful monogrammed set of napkins recently which carry the distinctive shamrock mill mark of John Shaw Brown's factory. Snowy white with an intricate design of irises and passionflowers, they are fine examples of the most lovely Irish Linen Damask. They have been skilfully monogrammed in red and white stitching.

They date from the 1920s I believe and are just beautiful. I would love it if they could tell us some of the dinner party conversations they have overheard through the years!

The vocabulary of linen!

One of the things I just love about the textile world is the way that the vocabulary has evolved over the years.

Growing up in Belfast one of the words I often heard used was "huckaback". It always struck me as a funny word, where could it have come from and why on earth did it seem to be used to describe a linen towel of all things?

Well as the years passed and my love of textiles grew, my curiosity finally got the better of me - what on earth was huckaback and what did it do?

Well, it appears that the word may have come from the word "huckster", or a pedlar who sold their wares, often linens, in markets. Also it my be derived from the Dutch word "hoekster" from the 12th century, someone who carried things on their back, as the pedlars did. This woven linen cloth is also known as "huck" and refers to the pattern woven into the cloth. The patterns produced had an uneven surface, which made them more absorbent and after use, they also dried more quickly. This type of weave was ideally suited for towels.

In Ireland the huckaback towel was not only a functional item, but it became more embellished as time went on and there are some wonderful examples of huckaback towels with elaborate damask designs woven to the borders. At home we had simple hemstitched towels with the distinctive diamond weave, but there were also more special pieces, which would be used when guests came to visit.

This piece came from my mum's linen cupboard and you can see the beautiful damask border alongside the practical huck weave in the body of the towel. The best of both worlds.

Interestingly this type of diamond shaped pattern was also known as "diaper". In the 15th century this was the word used to describe the very absorbent fabric that was well suited to both towels and napkins, which were used to keep babies dry. The USA adopted the word diaper, but here in the UK we still call them "nappies", derived from the word napkins, also made from linen.

So finally my curiosity was satisfied, huckaback is a small woven raised pattern, usually in a diamond shape, which is exceptionally absorbent and mostly woven in linen, Irish Linen of course! Well, not exclusively..... More common in the early part of the 20th century, this great fabric is still available today.

But it isn't just functional, it can be pretty too. I have collected some really lovely guest towels over the years - here are just a few. Hand embroidered or appliqued, they became the "must have" item for the cloakroom of any home from the 1930s onwards.

I would bet that the bathrooms in Downton Abbey were graced with huckaback bath and hand towels woven in high quality Irish Linen. Probably ones like this, with finely hemstitched edges and weaver's mill marks to the corners. The mill mark was only applied to linen of the finest quality - but more of that another time.

Linen laundry secrets!

I am really not a great fan of household chores, but one of the activities I do find exceptionally enjoyable and relaxing is ironing bed and table linen. I worked for a fine linens company for a few years or so, and I loved nothing better than preparing the various products for a photo shoot. Armed with a water spray and a well padded ironing board, I would happily spend hours smoothing creases from fabulous Egyptian cotton pillowcases and sheets.

OK, so really large duvet covers were a bit more challenging, but the end result of a beautifully dressed bed was more than worth it!

Then there is my ever growing collection of vintage table linens! Not always in the best of condition when I find them, I need to give them some care and attention to bring them back to life.

My best laundry tip is always to iron your linens when still damp. Particularly with pure linen, it is much easier to iron when the cloth is moist. Ironing on the reverse, the first pressing allows you to return the piece to its proper shape. Then taking a pressing cloth, you can tackle any areas of embroidery to restore them to their original raised texture, always ironing on the reverse.

If the embroidery is particularly dense, you can achieve great results by laying the cloth right side down on top of a soft towel and then pressing gently.

If you are ironing linen damask, iron on the reverse first of all, then iron on the right side to enhance the sheen of this wonderful fabric.

If you don't have the time to iron the cloth immediately I have a great way to keep the cloth at the right dampness. Fold the still damp cloth in a clean plastic bag and pop in the fridge until you are able to iron it. This is fine for a few hours, but if you need to wait for longer you can also put it in the freezer! Yes, honestly! Just allow 30 minutes or so for the material to thaw before ironing. I wouldn't recommend leaving it in the freezer for more than 48 hours.

Then you can head for the linen cupboard with a beautiful pile of freshly laundered linens – what could be more satisfying?

Welcome to McBurney & Black,

So, I finally got this blog started after months of thinking about it. Here we go with some background on the origins of McBurney & Black and my love for linens.

Margaret McBurney and Lizzie Black, were my two grandmothers; one was Irish, the other Scottish.  Lizzie had the most wonderful sense of style and was an avid embroiderer and collector of interesting linens, jewellery and china. Granny McBurney I sadly never knew, but the family had strong links with the making of Irish Linen in Co Tyrone and Belfast. So, I have a love of textiles and a passion for all things beautiful are well and truly established in my DNA!

So it wasn't difficult to choose the name of the shop I wanted to launch and yesterday it went live on Etsy - you will find it at:

http://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/McBurneyandBlack 

I will be offering a selection of vintage linens from my own collection, and eventually perhaps other lovely vintage pieces, maybe even china and glass.

My grandfather was a tailor in Belfast, producing beautiful garments for both men and ladies from exquisite fabrics, fine wools, Donegal tweeds and Irish Linen.His older siblings worked in the production of linen, first of all near the family home in County Tyrone and later in Belfast, where my great uncle was a linen lapper and my great aunt a linen yarn winder.They were part of the massive industry producing pure Irish Linen cloth in Northern Ireland in the early 1900s; Belfast was even known as Linenopolis.  

Irish Linen Damask tablelinens are renowned the world over. The intricate patterns seem to hover on the surface as the light catches them. A crisp white tablecloth with its matching napkins makes for an elegant and classic table setting.

However, in our busy lives today we don’t always entertain in a formal way, but that is no reason not to use these lovely linens.  Not all the cloths I collect have survived as well as others. In order to give a new lease of life to damask linens that have seen better days, I have begun to dye them. Suddenly these pieces are transformed; vibrant or subtle colours make the woven designs look brand new again.

The concept of coloured damask is not a new one. I recently came across a wonderful book entitled We Dine on Linen Damask, published in 1926 by the Irish and Scottish Linen Damask Guild Inc. in the USA. The foreword to this delightful publication was written by Emily Post, a highly regarded author on matters of etiquette and society matters at the time. She wrote that ”The dinner of dignity is dependent upon linen damask…..the gleaming smoothness of unbroken white.” However a few paragraphs later she comments: “For the lovers of linen damask by the way, who living in little houses find the formality of an unbroken expanse of whiteness formidable, must not be forgotten colored damask. As a decoration, tinted linen damask is a delightful material.”

A coloured cloth lends itself to a less formal setting, so there is no longer the need to hide the cloth or napkins in the linen cupboard waiting for a formal dinner party. I have even used mine in the garden to make a summer table come alive. A raspberry pink cloth teamed with some paisley design cotton napkins I found in a sale is one of my favourite combinations. So long formal damask and hello to vibrant colour and a mix and match theme.

I search out cloths and napkins that are still in good condition, but may be have seen better days and I love to choose the colours. Deep purple, Chartreuse green, Cerise  and Pumpkin are some of my favourite shades. Do have a look on Etsy to see some of the colours I currently have. Here are a few of the ones I have used recently and as you'll see, this photo forms the background to the blog.

Matching sets of napkins are often harder to find, as sets become split over the years, but it can be fun to mix a variety of similar patterns dyed the same colour. Here is a set of dinner napkins in 2 different designs which I have in my shop right now. 

I chose Chartreuse to suit the intricate fern and trellis motifs and I think it has really worked. 

 

So there you have it! The first of many postings I hope and I promise not to ramble on at quite such length in future!!