Loom Uprights

Object: loom uprights (standing frame for double-bar loom)

Use: weaving

Era: collected in 1912

Collector: C.F. Newcombe

Materials: cedar wood, green and black paint

Size/ Dimensions: human figure upright: 180 centimetres, animal figure upright: 170 centimetres, width: 14 centimetres

Collection site: Nanaimo

Current Location/Museum: Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, Canada

Accession Numbers: 2387 A, 2387 B

Display Technique: in storage

Condition: fair

 

A loom is a frame used by weavers to support the threads used to make fabric. Constructed from wood, the uprights stand vertically, supporting crossbars that slide through four large, parallel openings. These loom uprights are tapered at the bottom and would have been driven into the earth like posts to help support the loom.

The Snuneymuxw women were renowned for their weaving and created thick, beautiful blankets, straps and other textiles. Weaving techniques and the looms themselves were passed down through generations of weavers. Looms are used by many cultures to make cloth by passing a weft thread horizontally, left-to-right and right-to-left, through the warp, which is arranged vertically on the loom frame.

Large Snuneymuxw blankets were woven on rolling crossbars in what is known as a continuous warp. This means that one end of what will become the blanket is tied to the warp threads on the other end. The crossbars are fitted snugly into the loom uprights with wedges that can be taken out, so that the weaving rolls around to the other side. This allowed Snuneymuxw weavers to create long blankets with a continuous weave.