Felting between East and West

Murray Lee Eiland III


Uses of Felt
Felt is a difficult aesthetic medium, as it cannot reproduce a design sharply. It can be decorated by adding tufts of coloured wool to the felt before it is pressed, it can be pieced together to form a mosaic, or it can be painted. It can stretch and mould well. It can therefore be used for clothing, such as warm waterproof cloaks, and is often used for saddle blankets. The traditional shepherd’s cape, or kapanak (in Quashqa’i), has a wide geographic distribution, as it is worn by the Lurs and Kurds in Iran and Iraq, and in the recent past similar garments have been worn from West Turkestan to the Balkans. In Hungary similar coats to those depicted on Achaemenid reliefs are the szür, which are long, straight cut coats made of heavy fulled wool. Sleeves are seldom encountered, and are frequently tied at the wrists and used to carry small objects. The coat is usually worn across the shoulders. The primary function of this outer garment is to protect the wearer against the elements, and it can be used as a shelter - serving as both a blanket and a tent (Gervers-Molnár 1973: 3). This garment is of great utility in severe climates and would have been adopted particularly by nomadic people who were by nature exposed to the elements.

Some indication of the status held by felts is given in numerous classical accounts of the Scythians describing how their carts were used as dwellings (Hetrodotus (IV, 46). European accounts of the Mongols also make clear that they worshipped felt figurines, as do nomads of the Chahar district of Inner Mongolia. In the collection of the department of ethnography in the National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, there is a felt lined pouch with two anthropomorphic felt figurines (Gordon 1980: 24). While many are familiar with the small ceramic figurines from the Hellenistic world, felt is at the same time light and portable and - unlike their ceramic counterparts - could withstand the rigours of travel. While this kind of nomadic life style may not be dependant upon the use of felt, it is clear that this easy to make, waterproof, insulating, and flexible fabric is ideally suited for dwellings. John of Plano Carpini records the kinds of dwellings used by the Mongols:

"Their dwelling-places are round like tents and are made of twigs and slender sticks. At the top in the middle there is a round opening which lets in the light, and is also to enable the smoke to escape, for they always make their fire in the middle. Both the sides and the roof are covered with felt, and the doors also are made of felt. Some of the dwellings are large, others small, according to the importance or significance of the people; some can be speedily taken down and put up again and are carried on baggage animals; others cannot be taken down but are moved on carts...Wherever they go, be it to war or anywhere else, they always take their dwellings with them... "

Dawson 1980: 8