| It
is a great excitement, especially to a structuralist, when a
"new" technique swims over the textile horizon. But
ply-splitting for me only came into sight gradually. First I was given a
beautiful camel girth when teaching at St Loius; then a cousin sent one
from India . I only fully realised what these were when Betsy Quick's
and Judith Stein's research report appeared almost simultaneously with
Virginia Harvey's "Split-Ply Twining".
Caught by the technique I had a hunch that there was more to be discovered. The hunt was then on! I first researched the technique at secondhand by collecting from John Gillow, an indefatigueable traveler and seller of textiles. Then followed five field trips with Elizabeth over ten years to N W India, its sole place of production, and the gathering of camel girths, every one showing new possibilities of technique and design. Added to this was the discovery of ply-split braiding being used in the production of bags, camel bridle, neck decorations and reins - even horse anti-fly fringes! All this meant that the monograph, my original intention, grew and grew, becoming a fair-sized book. This was more than Ib Bellew had bargained for; but I was lucky to find a kind sponsor who backed me and also made possible the large number of detailed B/W plates. There was much correspondence with Noemi Speiser both over the always knotty problem of inventing a new nomenclature and over how to reduce the dense structure to easily followed diagrams. Having made rough sketches of these it was with great relief that I handed them all over to the amazing team of Ann and Ralph Norman, who cleaned them up into impeccable additions to the text. The technique has now caught on, stimulating the production of various ingenious cord-makers, including the logic-defying Tibetan Twister. Much PS work is now devoted to making 3D objects of a completely untraditional nature.. an exciting development, which would completely baffle the Indian girth-makers! |
|
| The
Techniques of Ply-Split Braiding, published by Ib Bellew, 1999, ISBN
1 85725 133 4.
208 pages, 196 diagrams, 120 full-page B/W plates To obtain a SIGNED COPY, send me an email at <plysplit@onetel.net> PRICE £35 plus postage. Available in USA from Unicorn Books, <lars@unicornbooks.com> Price $60.00
|
|
