CS Saddle blanket - Gettysburg provenance

[kaelin]

Re: CS Saddle blanket - Gettysburg provenance

Hello,
I had one of our interpreters here at South Union Shaker Village, who has studied weaving. Here is his perspective, which I thought fit in nicely with this discussion.

This looks to be a "rep" weave. A weave that is intended for heavy use. The weave is heavy because of what it will be used for. If you look at the image, the warp is going left to right, right to left. The warp is top to bottom. This style of weaving would not have been a new style, but something common. The size could have varied, but again this type of weave was made for place mats, door mats, rugs, etc.

I then told him what it was actually used for, he said that would be a perfect example of using that weave.

For what it is worth...

[Mike Ventura]

Re: CS Saddle blanket - Gettysburg provenance

Thank you, Brian for posting a larger image, and for letting me lift the one from your site (with credit, of course).

Looking at the larger image, I'm looking at the ends across the top, which appear to have been cut or sliced with a sharp object, scissors? A sharp knife? I am guessing that if this piece were used with these "raw" edges, that they would soon come unraveled in some way. This makes me think that perhaps the original was cut up in pieces for souvenirs among the person who captured the horse and his mess mates / friends? Just a thought...