Weaving Batten

Datec. 1880

DimensionsOverall: 2 5/8 × 5/8 × 11 1/2 in. (6.7 × 1.6 × 29.2 cm)

Object numberT0105

Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw

Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC

Label TextBattens, or "weaving swords," are thin strips of wood that are slipped between the warps to hold them apart and make a shed through which the weft yarns are passed. When the weft yarns are in place, the battens are used to pack them down and make the textile tight. These short batons were used with a narrow back loom, a type which is much older than the blanket loom and is still used for weaving sashes, belts, and decorated bands for ties. (c.f. Underhill 1944, pl.III-10; Kent 1983, fig.65) The warp threads are stretched on a frame, or from a tree or post, to a belt around the weaver, who adjusts the tension by his/her position. The belts have distinctive warp-faced designs. Good battens are highly prized by weavers and rarely decorated with carved designs like these. Dated and published examples are very rare, but the style of carving and amount of wear suggests a nineteenth-century date. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
ProvenanceCollected at Acoma Pueblo; Larry Frank, Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.225.

Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 240.

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