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ddkity84 · Wysłany: Śro 5:38, 16 Mar 2011 Temat postu: Tapestry Art and the Jacquard Loom

By : Angela Dawson-Field
Submitted 2010-05-02 07:34:32 Paris was the European centre for Tapestry Art up until 1337, when the ‘Hundred Year War’ drove many weavers north, to the south Netherlands. Although Tapestry production did continue, although not to such a scale as before, many of the Tapestries were destroyed. During this period,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Tapestries would be taken into battle, they provided warmth and were also used as a display of wealth and status. However, if the nobleman’s army lost, his Tapestries were lost with him. Once the war had finally ended, in 1453, the Tapestry industry began to flourish once more. That was, until the French Revolution began in 1789. Once again, France was subjected to the turmoil of war, and during the revolution, many Tapestries were destroyed, to retrieve the precious threads they contained, or sold.
Shortly after, around 1804, there would also be a ‘revolution’ within the Tapestry industry, thanks to the ingenuity of Joseph Marie Charles, known to his friends as “Jacquard”. Before the invention of his weaving machine,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], the Jacquard Loom, Tapestry Art was laborious. The Tapestries being painstakingly woven by hand. The Jacquard Loom used ‘punch cards’, which, ultimately, made the production of Tapestry Art faster and easier. Therefore, Tapestries became more affordable. Today, the basic principles of the Jacquard Loom continue to be used within the Tapestry Art industry. As you would expect, the machines of today are bigger and faster. However, they continue to be referred to as ‘Jacquard Looms’, and the weaving process itself is also known as, ‘Jacquard Weaving’.
The Jacquard Loom was the first to rely on ‘controlled sequencing’. Of course, there was no ‘computation’ involved, as in the sense of the word, as we know it today. However, the ‘computing’ ‘punch cards’, and the Jacquard Loom, are considered to be significant moves forward. With regards to the development of computer hardware and programming. As well as having a huge impact on the mass production of Tapestry Art. It was the concept behind the ability to alter the weave pattern, of the Tapestry, simply by swapping the cards, which acted as a catalyst, or ‘conceptual precursor’, for the creation of computer programming. The famous mathematician Charles Babbage, intended to use the ‘controlled sequencing’ principle, of the Jacquard Loom punch cards, to store programs in what Babbage referred to as, his ‘Analytical Engine’. The ‘Babbage Engine’ is considered to be the first ever ‘computer’, and was developed from 1837, right up until his death, in 1871. Most modern commercial Tapestry Art workshops use the Jacquard Loom and rely on computer technology, to transcribe original artworks, accurately, into Tapestry Art.
Jacquard was a French silk Tapestry weaver. His invention was actually an improvement on a Loom which had been developed by three Frenchmen previously, over the course of fifteen years; Basile Bouchon was the first around 1725. He was actually the man behind the Looms original conception; Jean Falcon continued to develop the machine, circa 1728; then Jacques de Vaucanson took over, from around 1740, until 1745. Joseph Marie Charles was the ultimate ‘inventor’ involved, in the Jacquard Loom’s creation. He was born in Lyons and by the time he was ten years old, Jacquard was already working on the Loom. His father, a Tapestry Art weaver, died and left Jacquard two looms. With these, he began his own Tapestry Art business, however, it was not successful. His wife, in Lyons, was forced to plait straw to make ends meet, and he became a lime burner in Bresse. After joining the troops and losing his son in active service, Jacquard went back to Lyons. It was then he returned to the Tapestry industry and began working on the development of the Loom.
The very first Jacquard Loom was put on display in Paris,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], at an ‘Industrial Exhibition’ in 1801. By 1806 it had been declared the property of the people, and by 1812 more than eleven thousand were being used in French Tapestry workshops. Hand woven Tapestry Art is very expensive to produce. The Jacquard Loom is less labour intensive, even so, it still requires a lot of work to produce a Tapestry with this Loom. It is Joseph Marie Charles, we owe our thanks, for perfecting the invention of the Jacquard Loom. It is his machine which has made Tapestry Art an accessible commodity today, one which we can afford to have in our own homes. Today, these incredible works of art are available to everyone, not just the aristocracy.