conference

PRIFYSGOL CYMRU ABERTAWE,
UNIVERSITY OF WALES SWANSEA.

Ann Richards

Could Ancient Egyptian Textiles Have Pleated Themselves?

It is widely assumed that, in Ancient Egypt, all pleated linens were produced by imposing pleats on finished fabrics, either by hand or using pleating boards. However Rosalind Janssen has suggested that some fabrics may have been woven in such a way that they pleated ‘naturally’ when washed. I am a weaver who makes extensive use of such spontaneous pleating techniques in my own textiles. I will explain the mechanisms involved and describe experiments I have carried out, with various yarn thicknesses, twists and densities, to investigate the possibility that Ancient Egyptian textiles could have pleated themselves.

Ann Richards is a designer/maker specialising in textiles with ‘naturally emerging’ textures. She has exhibited widely and has work in a number of public collections. She was formerly a lecturer in woven textiles at the University of the Creative Arts, Farnham.

_________________________________________________________________________

Back to list of Speakers

Back To Events

Back to Title Page