Ars polymita, ars plumaria: The Weaving Terminology of Taqueté and Tapestry

Abstract

In Roman Egypt papyrologists and archaeologists sometimes seem to inhabit two different, if parallel, worlds, each apparently unaware of the treasures to be found in the other. This paper, however, is a co-operative venture between an ancient historian with papyrological interests – Kerstin Droß-Krüpe – and an archaeologist – John Peter Wild. In the research field of textiles we overlap, and we want to offer you insights from each of our worlds. At some point in the later 2nd century AD an unnamed magnate in the territory of the Lingones in central Gaul dictated a will in which he stipulated that a number of his prized possessions should be cremated with him on his funeral pyre. Among those listed are vestes polymitae et plumariae. What do these two textile terms mean? And what did the textiles themselves look like? The images in Figures 1 and 2 are our provisional suggestions. The two items shown here are of wool – they are actually from Roman Egypt – and at first glance they look in decorative terms rather similar to one another;4 but the textile in Figure 1 is in taqueté – vestis polymita, we argue – mechanically woven – while the piece in Figure 2 is in tapestry weave, vestis plumaria, and hand-woven. The structures of the two weaves can be characterised as follows: Tapestry weave, made famous by the Gobelin workshops in Paris, is essentially a mosaic in coloured wool yarns, constructed free-hand, and concealing the underlying warp. The weaver has available on individual spools a selection of dyed yarns which he or she interlaces with the warp threads according to the requirements of the pattern. A distinctive feature of tapestry is the oblique lines or even vertical slits where weft yarns in different colours meet one another and turn back (Fig. 3). Across an area, an accomplished weaver can achieve the subtle, gradual, changes in colour visible in the highest-quality floor and wall-mosaics and in wall painting.