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Blue wool on a spindle.
23 January 2024 02:45 am
MS Douce 633. Ormesby Psalter, folio 71v
A very cool picture of a lady spinning blue wool. Usually, we see the wool spun first, then dyed, but some wool was dyed in the wool then spun, which is what we are seeing here, I feel. When it was posted up for discussion, there was a huge amount of interest and conversation about the actual practice, the likelihood of actually doing this, the position of the spindle and the choice of other colours in the manuscript itself. Based on colours used elsewhere which are realistic, I feel this was a deliberate colour choice, although, that said, it is art, not a photograph.The more I think about this, the more it bothers me. I mean, wouldn't she get blue on her hands while spinning? Just residual, like when working with blue cloth that hasn't been washed.
One experienced spinner and dyer, Rebecca Gilbert added:
I've found that indigo dye vats, being very alkaline, dye fleece even if it's a little greasy. I assume woad would be the same. I prefer to spin 'dyed in the wool' because it comes out more even color in the end.
Another experienced textile historian and researcher, Amica Spindrift who was kind enough to share her thoughts said this:
What I'd say about this image is that it raises an interesting question about how medieval textile fibres were dyed and I can't give a definitive answer. I know that this is an unusual image - having looked at a lot of medieval depictions of spinning, where they show colour for the fibre, it's almost always white. I also know that that medieval commercial dyers generally dyed woven textiles 'in the cloth' - there are plenty of illustrations and documentary evidence to show large quantities of cloth being dyed. However, other things, such as threads for embroidery and narrow wares were dyed in the yarn. I don't know of any evidence for dying fleece or other raw fibres, but that doesn't mean that it didn't happen. I'd want to find some supporting evidence, however, before I could be sure that this image was intended to depict that practice.
It certainly generated a lot of interesting conversation, and that is where the internet really can shine. Sharing information of like minded souls in a spirit of enquiry and learning together.The outcome of the chat and ideas? It's non-conclusive. It may be blue for a reason, but really, we can't assume on the basis of this image alone. The rabbit hole continues here also.
