Anoushik Posted October 9, 2006 Report Share Posted October 9, 2006 By accident I came upon the "Armenian Lace" article in Wikipedia tonight. So naturally, I searched the Web My maternal grandma made hundreds of beautiful Armenian lace. My mom managed to bring a few with her from Armenia. After reading about the Armenian Needlelace tonight, I'm even more gradeful that we have that small treasure in our possession. I'm looking forward to passing it down to generations to come ARMENIAN NEEDLELACE Over the centuries, Armenian woman have excelled in fine needlework. At a very young age, girls worked diligently preparing their trouseau (an important part of a bride’s dowry), making lace, embroidering towels and preparing all the clothing they would wear for the rest of their lives. Armenian "Janyag" (needlelace) was a handcraft that every girl learned from her family. Janyag consists of very tiny knots made with a sewing needle and fine cotton thread. Some of the more common motifs included rosettes, hollie points, bow type motifs and leaf patterns. The Armenian woman gained a high reputation in designing complex patterns and very fine workmanship. All woman, of all classes, made lace for clothing, linens, costumes and church related items. The handwork used for folk dress of most cultures often-distinguished members from other ethnic groups. However, because the Armenians were a politically powerless group within their own homeland, they had to conform to the dress of the surrounding populace. For example, in areas where there was large Kurdish population, Armenian men would wear clothing similar to that of the Kurds. Armenian woman, however, had less contact with life outside the household, therefore their clothing remained more distinctively Armenian, and traditional patterns were maintained. Today in most Armenian homes, one can still find examples of this very fine handwork. Excerpts taken from Article written by: Susan Lind-Sinanian Reference: ARMENIAN NEEDLACE & EMBROIDERY by Alice Odian Kasparian http://www.armenianheritage.com/faneedle.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anoushik Posted October 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2006 WHERE NEEDLELACE HAD ITS BEGINNINGS A 3,000-year-old brooch, found in ancient Armenia and now in the Berlin Museum, shows two women wearing head scarves edged in lace similar to the lace-edged scarves worn by Armenians in the past. In her book Armenian Needlelace and Embroidery, Alice Odian Kasparian states that in her opinion, Armenia was not only the original home of needlelace but of needle art in general. She cites four archeological discoveries as support. Each of these discoveries, going back some 3000 years, depict women in fine dress with lace on the edges of their clothing. Further, Serik Davtyan, a textiles and needle art authority believes that the same evidence supports his belief that the people of Armenia were familiar with the methods of lace making centuries before the art reached other parts of the world. There are four requisites for the making of lace: Raw products such as hemp, flax, cotton & silk for threads Vegetable, animal and mineral sources for making dyes Metallic tools such as needles, knives, shuttles and thimbles Hardwood for looms, frames, hoops and other implements The first is a requirement for raw material such as hemp, flax, cotton, wool and silk for the threads. A native plant of Armenia was hemp described by the Armenian word djout (pronounced jute). The workshops in Van were called djoutaran. Flax called voush was also used for lace. There is also evidence that ancient Armenia possessed silk made from the silk worm, like the Mulberry tree. The secrets of unraveling silk from cocoons needed for silkmaking became the secrets of the Armenian heritage. There is no evidence to indicate if silk in Armenian preceded that of China. The second is the availability of vegetable, animal and mineral sources for the dyes as well as the knowledge to prepare the dyes. The trade of dyeing existed in every Armenian community. They were called Boyajian, which is also a common Armenian name. Worms from the valley of Ararat made a red dye. Logwood gave a bluish-black color. Vortan garmir (or cochineal) was a fast red. Turmeric berries, onion skins provided yellow. Catechu gave the browns. Indigo the blue. Other colors came form plants, fruits, buds, roots and nuts. The third are the tools needed to weave the lace such as needles, hooks, knives and thimbles. At first lace was made by knotting with the fingers. Tools made of fish or bone soon developed. However, Armenian lace could not be done by hand and required too much tension for fish or bone. Rather, Armenian lace required tools of iron. Hans Wulff in his book, "The Traditional Crafts of Persia", suggests that there is evidence that Armenians possessed iron ore and knew how to process it centuries before other peoples. Evidence exists to indicate that Armenians used iron or steel needles as early as 1000 B.C. Steel needles were not manufactured in Europe until 1370 A.D. Finally, the special hard woods for the looms, frames and hoops are required not only to prepare the thread, but also to prepare the web warp (the set of threads placed in the loom) and woof (texture of the lacework). Armenia’s rich forests of oak and walnut trees provided the required woods. The combination of each of the four requirements resulted in lacework becoming the artistic gift of every Armenian woman. When they visited each other they would bring their threads and needles. Armenians today are blessed with a richness of heritage that goes back over 30 centuries. Such craft has been placed in museums leaving machines to manufacture the needlework of today. Gone are the creative detailed works of our grandmothers; what is left is the lifeless cloth of progress. Thanks to Bob Takvorian, MA for the contribution of this article. Reference: ARMENIAN NEEDLACE & EMBROIDERY by Alice Odian Kasparian http://www.armenianheritage.com/ethistne.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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