th
# 84 OCTOBER 17 , 2016
# 84 October 17
aving was integrated with
the local share cropping
farming system, which
produced silk, hemp and
flax, and so rural houses
often became small factory units scattered around
the fields, whose products
were brought to the town
markets together with the
produce of the fields.
baptismal accoutrements and those for newborn
babies, used in noble families, which included
embroidered sheets, covers and an assortment of
tiny gowns.
Until the mid 18th century,
church
accoutrements
of great value were also
embroidered, using the
beaten gold technique:
a very ancient technique
consisting of braided gold
and silver threads applied
to fabric. Over the course of the 20th century,
hand-woven textile pro-
duction, together with the
production of clothing,
gradually became an industry. Artisanal weaving
activities continued, however, particularly in relation
to the production of tailored and quality garments,
made entirely by hand.
When lace is mentioned,
it is in reference to “tombolo di Offida” (Offida
bobbin lace), an ancient
tradition brought to this
area by Benedictine nuns
from Cluny in the late 16th
century. Still today, during
the summer, you can often
come across small groups
of women making bobbin
lace as they chat together,
in the narrow streets of the
town.
Production
Looms were a constant
feature in the province of
Ascoli Piceno. They were
usually
pedal-operated
handlooms with few heddles, made by hand, either
at home or in the village
carpenter’s
workshop,
using oak for the feet, light walnut for the housing
and poplar.
This widely practised we-
The textiles produced
were simple and for ordinary use, whereas the damask fabrics produced on
huge Jacquard looms did
not appear until the start of
the 19th-century, with the
work of the highly skilled
“Monachette” (little nuns),
a convent workshop in the
Papal State that wove liturgical vestments for churches and prelates.
The “liccetti” weaving technique was commonly
used between the 13th
and the 14th century, involving the insertion of a
small, thin rod to build a
manual weaving pattern,
similar to the pick-up sticks in modern looms.
th
2016
procedure, which practically made it a permanent
weaving pattern, marking
the transition from the traditional heddle loom to
the jacquard loom, with its
punched cards, which began to operate at the start
of the 19th century.
From the 14th century, the
best craftsmen from the
peninsula began to converge in the Piceno area,
known throughout Italy
as a major manufacturing
area, where they would introduce new systems and
practices.
The designs were set up
on the loom using a series
of strings, which allowed
the simultaneous lowering
of a series of warp threads corresponding to the
desired decorative motif.
The earliest designs were
produced for the borders
of altar cloths. Weaving
also developed due to the
variety of different locally
produced materials, which included wool, cotton,
linen and silk.
Silk reeling and spinning,
for example, were the
main activities of the silk
industry: in 1865 the area
had 12 spinning mills, four
of which were powered
by steam. These products
were destined for the market squares of Turin, Genoa, Milan, Lyon and Marseille. As many as 1,252
looms for flax and hemp
were recorded in an 1862
survey on industrial conditions in the province of
Ascoli Piceno.
Each decorative motif was
attached to these hanging “liccetti”, connected
to the warp by a special
24 | WE THE ITALIANS
WE THE ITALIANS | 25
www.wetheitalians.com
www.wetheitalians.com