Glossary
- ChintzA Western term for multi-colored trade cloths exported from India made by a complex process involving block printing and freehand application of mordant resist. They were prized for their intricate designs and strong, clear reds and blues. Chintz, also known as kain batik India in the archipelago and sarasa in Japan, were made with different patterns and formats to suit the taste of the intended markets. Those that found their way into the archipelago influenced batik production and other regional styles.
- CinnabarNaturally occurring mercury sulfide (hgs). It is ground to form a brilliant red pigment (vermillion).
- Circular WarpA warp that is mounted on the loom as a continuous loop, and that results in a textile that is in tubular form (usually with a short section of unwoven warp).
- Circular Warp
A warp that is wound in a circular fashion between a warp beam and a cloth beam, and then woven in the same fashion to make a tubular piece of cloth (usually with a short section of unwoven warp). The cloth must normally be cut after removing it from the loom, but on occasions it may be used as-is without cutting, as happens with some lamalera bride-wealth cloths on the island of lembata.
- Clasped HeddleSee bidirectional heddle.
- Cloth BeamThe axle/beam to which the warp is fastened (or passes around), and on which the woven fabric is wound on some looms. On horizontal looms this beam is usually positioned directly in front of the weaver, in which case it may also be called a breast-beam.
- Cloth Beam
The beam of a loom nearest to the weaver, around which the warp is wound.
- Coil RodA rod around which every warp thread is wrapped once. This rod serves to keep the warp threads aligned and in order. Mainly found in simple body-tensioned looms that lack a reed.
- CombSee reed.
- Combing
A method of preparing fibers for spinning. Fibers are aligned by drawing them through the teeth of a single large comb or transferring them between two combs. The process also separates longer fibers from shorter ones. Yarns spun from combed wool are smoother and stronger than yarns from carded wool, and are known as “worsted.”
- Comp Warp PatterningSee warp patterning.
- Complementary Warp Or Weft
In a woven fabric usually two sets of threads, the warp or vertical threads and the weft or horizontal threads, are interlaced. During weaving a further group of threads may be introduced in either direction: these extra threads are known as a supplementary warp or weft. They provide a decorative element on the textile surface and often appear as groups of long strands or floats creating blocks of colour, patterns and motifs. The technique of supplementary weaving is used throughout Indonesia, most spectacularly on the silk textiles made for the region’s courts. Intricate brocades are created with supplementary weft patterns in gold and silver metallic thread, and is widely known as songket. Some important hand-spun cotton textiles are also decorated with supplementary threads. Among the best known are the tampan and palepai shipcloths of Lampung, where ship and animal motifs are created with floating supplementary cotton wefts. A group of warps or wefts that belong to a set; they are part of the interlacing for the ground weave (thus they are not supplementary) and also used to create patterns. Weave structures with complementary elements can be warp-faced or weft-faced. See samit, taqueté, and jin.
- Complex Pattern HeddleMechanism consisting of heddle strings with multiple pattern rods or strings/cords embedded in it, used to raise selected warps in sequence. Also called compound pattern leash system and drawloom system.
- Compound Pattern LeashSee complex pattern heddle.
- Compound WeaveA weave structure with multiple sets of elements (warp and weft), each fulfilling different roles, either for ground weave or for patterning.
- Continuous Supplementary WeftSee supplementary weft.
- Continuous Supplementary Weft
Supplementary weft that extends from selvedge to selvedge.
- CottonA shrub plant from the Gossypium genus, whose seed heads produce fine floss fibers from which cotton yarn can be spun.
- CouchingAn embroidery technique, in which yarn or small accessory materials are laid on a fabric surface and then attached in place with closely spaced stitches, creating raised designs.
- Counter ShedOne of two sheds used in making plain weave, the other being the natural shed. The counter shed is usually opened by pulling up a lower layer of warp using a heddle.