Weaving and Dyeing in Highland Ecuador

CHAPTER 7: 3/1 Alternating Complementary-Warp Weave Belts

CHAPTER 7 3/1 Alternating Complementary-Warp Weave Belts Introduction ann p. rowe There are three distinct complementary-warp patterned belt styles in Ecuador, all made on the backstrap loom but each with different technical characteristics that, in turn, reflect a different historical context.1 A consideration of their technical characteristics thus contributes significantly to our understanding of their origin. Two of the belt styles can be shown to have been introduced as a result of the Inca conquest, one by the Incas themselves and one by a group of mitimas, or colonists, while the third is probably a local indigenous development. As with the structure of the ponchos discussed in Chapter 6, there are two complementary sets of warp yarns of different colors that float on opposite faces. Instead of having two-span floats, however, both colors of warp in the belts interlace primarily in three-span floats: over three, under one or under three, over one (Figs. 7.1 and 7.2). And instead of being in herringbone alignment , the three-span floats on each face are in alternating alignment. Thus, the structure can be described as ‘‘a complementary-warp weave with threespan floats in alternating alignment.’’2 A more concise terminology would be 3/1 alternating complementary-warp weave.3 Again, since the fabric is warpfaced , it appears solidly one color on one face and the other color on the opposite face. Unlike the structure used for ponchos, however, the two colors used in belts regularly interchange faces to form designs. To weave this structure, a shed in which all the warp yarns of the surface color are raised to form the ends of the three-span warp floats (in weaver’s jargon, a design row) alternates with a shed in which alternate warp yarns of each color are raised to form the over-one and under-one warp interlacings (in weaver’s jargon, a tie-down or binding row). The variety of techniques used to 7.1 A complementary-warp weave with both faces formed by three-span floats in alternate alignment. The warp yarns are compacted sufficiently to nearly hide those that form on the opposite face, which are normally a different color. From Emery 1980, fig. 244. 7.2 Diagrammatic construction of the weave in Fig. 7.1. From Emery 1980, fig. 245. 3/1 Alternating Complementary-Warp Weave Belts 187 form these sheds in the Andes affects the finished product in various ways, the most diagnostic of which is how the horizontal color changes are done. From such clues one can often infer something about the basic principles of the technique by which a finished textile might have been made, although there are so many variables that details can be provided only by field documentation. One of the technologically simplest methods is found in parts of both southern Peru and Bolivia and is presented briefly here in order to help place the Ecuadorian techniques in perspective. The method has been documented in the Tarabuco area of Bolivia (Fig. 7.3) by Marjorie Cason and Adele Cahlander (1976: 154–159; see also Meisch 1986: Figs. 3, 16, 17). As shown in Figure 7.4, it employs an ABAB warp order, where A and B represent the two colors, with one shedding device (a heddle rod or set of heddle loops tied together) for lifting one color and one shedding device (a shed rod or shed loop) for lifting the othercolor, for a total of two sheds mechanically produced. In Tarabuco the weaver uses a pickup stick to select the warp yarns she wants for the pattern.4 For the color already lifted, the selection of warp yarns is easy; for the opposite color, the warp yarns have to be lifted from below and the yarns of the upper color dropped, one by one. Because of patterning and because the binding rows of the two colors are in successive weft shots, such hand selection (or pickup) is necessary for each weft pass, although if the color is to be the same all the way across, the design rows do not need to be picked. Because each color is controlled by a separate device, the three-span floats of the two colors are not horizontally aligned (see Fig. 7.4). This method produces a neat horizontal color change with the ends of three-span floats lined up alternately...