Mongols
The Mongols are an East-Central Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia and to China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. They live as minorities in other regions of China, as well as in Russia. Mongolian people belonging to the Buryat and Kalmyk subgroups live predominantly in the Russian federal subjects of Buryatia and Kalmykia; the Mongols are bound together by ethnic identity. Their indigenous dialects are collectively known as the Mongolian language; the ancestors of the modern-day Mongols are referred to as Proto-Mongols. Broadly defined, the term includes the Mongols proper, Oirats, the Kalmyk people and the Southern Mongols; the latter comprises the Abaga Mongols, Aohans, Gorlos Mongols, Jaruud, Khuuchid and Onnigud. The designation "Mongol" appeared in 8th century records of Tang China to describe a tribe of Shiwei, it resurfaced in the late 11th century during the Khitan-ruled Liao dynasty. After the fall of the Liao in 1125, the Khamag Mongols became a leading tribe on the Mongolian Plateau.
However, their wars with the Jurchen-ruled Jin dynasty and the Tatar confederation had weakened them. In the thirteenth century, the word Mongol grew into an umbrella term for a large group of Mongolic-speaking tribes united under the rule of Genghis Khan. In various times Mongolic peoples have been equated with the Scythians, the Magog, the Tungusic peoples. Based on Chinese historical texts the ancestry of the Mongolic peoples can be traced back to the Donghu, a nomadic confederation occupying eastern Mongolia and Manchuria; the identity of the Xiongnu is still debated today. Although some scholars maintain that they were proto-Mongols, they were more a multi-ethnic group of Mongolic and Turkic tribes, it has been suggested that the language of the Huns was related to the Hünnü. The Donghu, can be much more labeled proto-Mongol since the Chinese histories trace only Mongolic tribes and kingdoms from them, although some historical texts claim a mixed Xiongnu-Donghu ancestry for some tribes. See Genetic history of East Asians The Donghu are mentioned by Sima Qian as existing in Inner Mongolia north of Yan in 699–632 BCE along with the Shanrong.
Mentions in the Yi Zhou Shu and the Classic of Mountains and Seas indicate the Donghu were active during the Shang dynasty. The Xianbei formed part of the Donghu confederation, but had earlier times of independence, as evidenced by a mention in the Guoyu, which states that during the reign of King Cheng of Zhou they came to participate at a meeting of Zhou subject-lords at Qiyang but were only allowed to perform the fire ceremony under the supervision of Chu since they were not vassals by covenant; the Xianbei chieftain was appointed joint guardian of the ritual torch along with Xiong Yi. These early Xianbei came from the nearby Zhukaigou culture in the Ordos Desert, where maternal DNA corresponds to the Mongol Daur people and the Tungusic Evenks; the Zhukaigou Xianbei had trade relations with the Shang. In the late 2nd century, the Han dynasty scholar Fu Qian wrote in his commentary "Jixie" that "Shanrong and Beidi are ancestors of the present-day Xianbei". Again in Inner Mongolia another connected core Mongolic Xianbei region was the Upper Xiajiadian culture where the Donghu confederation was centered.
After the Donghu were defeated by Xiongnu king Modu Chanyu, the Xianbei and Wuhuan survived as the main remnants of the confederation. Tadun Khan of the Wuhuan was the ancestor of the proto-Mongolic Kumo Xi; the Wuhuan are of the direct Donghu royal line and the New Book of Tang says that in 209 BCE, Modu Chanyu defeated the Wuhuan instead of using the word Donghu. The Xianbei, were of the lateral Donghu line and had a somewhat separate identity, although they shared the same language with the Wuhuan. In 49 CE the Xianbei ruler Bianhe raided and defeated the Xiongnu, killing 2000, after having received generous gifts from Emperor Guangwu of Han; the Xianbei reached their peak under Tanshihuai Khan who expanded the vast, but short lived, Xianbei state. Three prominent groups split from the Xianbei state as recorded by the Chinese histories: the Rouran, the Khitan people and the Shiwei. Besides these three Xianbei groups, there were others such as the Murong and Tuoba, their culture was nomadic, their religion shamanism or Buddhism and their military strength formidable.
There is still no direct evidence that the Rouran spoke Mongolic languages, although most scholars agree that they were Proto-Mongolic. The Khitan, had two scripts of their own and many Mongolic words are found in their half-deciphered writings. Geographically, the Tuoba Xianbei ruled the southern part of Inner Mongolia and northern China, the Rouran ruled eastern Mongolia, western Mongolia, the northern part of Inner Mongolia and northern Mongolia, the Khitan were concentrated in eastern part of Inner Mongolia north of Korea and the Shiwei were located to the north of the Khitan; these tribes and kingdoms were soon overshadowed by the rise of the Turkic Khaganate in 555, the Uyghur Khaganate in 745 and the Yenisei Kirghiz states in 840. The Tuoba were absorbed into China; the Rouran
Contemporary art
Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, technologically advancing world, their art is a dynamic combination of materials, methods and subjects that continue the challenging of boundaries, well underway in the 20th century. Diverse and eclectic, contemporary art as a whole is distinguished by the lack of a uniform, organising principle, ideology, or "-ism". Contemporary art is part of a cultural dialogue that concerns larger contextual frameworks such as personal and cultural identity, family and nationality. In vernacular English and contemporary are synonyms, resulting in some conflation of the terms modern art and contemporary art by non-specialists; some define contemporary art as art produced within "our lifetime," recognising that lifetimes and life spans vary. However, there is a recognition; the classification of "contemporary art" as a special type of art, rather than a general adjectival phrase, goes back to the beginnings of Modernism in the English-speaking world.
In London, the Contemporary Art Society was founded in 1910 by the critic Roger Fry and others, as a private society for buying works of art to place in public museums. A number of other institutions using the term were founded in the 1930s, such as in 1938 the Contemporary Art Society of Adelaide, an increasing number after 1945. Many, like the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston changed their names from ones using "Modern art" in this period, as Modernism became defined as a historical art movement, much "modern" art ceased to be "contemporary"; the definition of what is contemporary is always on the move, anchored in the present with a start date that moves forward, the works the Contemporary Art Society bought in 1910 could no longer be described as contemporary. Particular points that have been seen as marking a change in art styles include the end of World War II and the 1960s. There has been a lack of natural break points since the 1960s, definitions of what constitutes "contemporary art" in the 2010s vary, are imprecise.
Art from the past 20 years is likely to be included, definitions include art going back to about 1970. And early 21st cent. Both an outgrowth and a rejection of modern art". Many use the formulation "Contemporary Art", which avoids this problem. Smaller commercial galleries and other sources may use stricter definitions restricting the "contemporary" to work from 2000 onwards. Artists who are still productive after a long career, ongoing art movements, may present a particular issue. Sociologist Nathalie Heinich draws a distinction between modern and contemporary art, describing them as two different paradigms which overlap historically, she found that while "modern art" challenges the conventions of representation, "contemporary art" challenges the notion of an artwork. She regards Duchamp's Fountain as the starting point of contemporary art, which gained momentum after World War II with Gutai's performances, Yves Klein's monochromes and Rauschenberg's Erased de Kooning Drawing. One of the difficulties many people have in approaching contemporary artwork is its diversity—diversity of material, subject matter, time periods.
It is "distinguished by the lack of a uniform organizing principle, ideology, or -ism" that we so see in other, oftentimes more familiar, art periods and movements. Broadly speaking, we see Modernism as looking at modernist principles—the focus of the work is self-referential, investigating its own materials. Impressionism looks at our perception of a moment through light and color as opposed to attempts at stark realism. Contemporary art, on the other hand, does not have single objective or point of view, its view instead is unclear reflective of the world today. It can be, contradictory and open-ended. There are, however, a number of common themes. While these are not exhaustive, notable themes include: identity politics, the body and migration, contemporary society and culture and memory, institutional and political critique. Post-modern, post-structuralist and Marxist theory have played important roles in the development of contemporary theories of art; the functioning of the art world is dependent on art institutions, ranging from major museums to private galleries, non-profit spaces, art schools and publishers, the practices of individual artists, writers and philanthropists.
A major division in the art world is between the for-profit and non-profit sectors, although in recent years the boundaries between for-profit private and non-profit public institutions have become blurred. Most well-known contemporary art is exhibited by professional artists at commercial contemporary art galleries, by private collectors, art auctions, corporation
Shepherd
A shepherd or sheepherder is a person who tends, feeds, or guards herds of sheep. Shepherd derives from Old English sceaphierde. Shepherding is among the oldest occupations, beginning some 5,000 years ago in Asia Minor. Sheep were kept for their milk and their wool. Over the next thousand years and shepherding spread throughout Eurasia. Henri Fleisch tentatively suggested the Shepherd Neolithic industry of Lebanon may date to the Epipaleolithic and that it may have been used by one of the first cultures of nomadic shepherds in the Beqaa Valley; some sheep were integrated in the family farm along with other animals such as pigs. To maintain a large flock, the sheep must be able to move from pasture to pasture; this required the development of an occupation separate from that of the farmer. The duty of shepherds was to keep their flock intact, protect it from predators and guide it to market areas in time for shearing. In ancient times, shepherds commonly milked their sheep, made cheese from this milk.
In many societies, shepherds were an important part of the economy. Unlike farmers, shepherds were wage earners, being paid to watch the sheep of others. Shepherds lived apart from society, being nomadic, it was a job of solitary males without children, new shepherds thus needed to be recruited externally. Shepherds were most the younger sons of farming peasants who did not inherit any land. In other societies, each family would have a family member to shepherd its flock a child, youth or an elder who couldn't help much with harder work. Shepherds would work in groups either looking after one large flock, or each bringing their own and merging their responsibilities, they would live in small cabins shared with their sheep, would buy food from local communities. Less shepherds lived in covered wagons that traveled with their flocks. Shepherding developed only in certain areas. In the lowlands and river valleys, it was far more efficient to grow grain and cereals than to allow sheep to graze, thus the raising of sheep was confined to rugged and mountainous areas.
In pre-modern times shepherding was thus centered on regions such as the Middle East, the Pyrenees, the Carpathian Mountains and Northern England. The shepherd's crook is a strong multi-purpose stick or staff fashioned with a hooked end. In modern times, shepherding has changed dramatically; the abolition of common lands in Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth century moved shepherding from independent nomads to employees of massive estates. Some families in Africa and Asia have their wealth in sheep, so a young son is sent out to guard them while the rest of the family tend to other chores. In the USA, many sheep herds are flocked over public BLM lands. Wages are higher. Keeping a shepherd in constant attendance can be costly; the eradication of sheep predators in parts of the world have lessened the need for shepherds. In places like Britain, hardy breeds of sheep are left alone without a shepherd for long periods of time. More productive breeds of sheep can be left in fields and moved periodically to fresh pasture when necessary.
Hardier breeds of sheep can be left on hillsides. The sheep farmer will attend to the sheep when necessary at times like shearing. First Shepherd's Fair was announced to take place in the Cyprus Village of Pachna, on August 31, 2014, in the printed editions of Cyprus Weekly and in the Greek language daily, Phileleftheros. European exploration led to the spread of sheep around the world, shepherding became important in Australia and New Zealand where there was great pastoral expansion. In Australia squatters spread beyond the Nineteen Counties of New South Wales to elsewhere, taking over vast holdings called properties and now stations. Once driven overland to these properties, sheep were pastured in large unfenced runs. There, they required constant supervision. Shepherds were employed to keep the sheep from straying too far, to keep the mobs as healthy as possible and to prevent attacks from dingoes and introduced predators such as feral dogs and foxes. Lambing time further increased the shepherd's responsibilities.
Shepherding was an isolated, lonely job, firstly given to assigned convict servants. The accommodation was poor and the food was lacking in nutrition, leading to dysentery and scurvy; when free labour was more available others took up this occupation. Some shepherds were additionally brought to Australia on the ships that carried sheep and were contracted to caring for them on their arrival in the colony. Sheep owners complained about the inefficiency of shepherds and the shepherds' fears of getting lost in the bush. Sheep were watched by shepherds during the day, by a hut-keeper during the night. Shepherds took the sheep out to graze before sunrise and returned them to brush-timber yards at sunset; the hut-keeper slept in a movable shepherd's watch box placed near the yard in order to deter attacks on the sheep. Dogs were often chained close by to warn of any impending danger to the sheep or shepherd by dingoes or natives. In 1839 the usual wage for a shepherd was about AU₤50 per year, plus weekly rations of 12 pounds meat, 10 pounds flour, 2 pounds sugar and 4 ounces tea.
The wage during the depression of the 1840s dropped to ₤20 a year. During the 1850s many shepherds left to try their luck on the goldfields causing acute labour shortages in the pastoral industry; this labour shortage leads to the widespread practice of fencing properties, which in turn reduced the dema
Angora rabbit
The Angora rabbit, one of the oldest types of domestic rabbit, is bred for the long fibers of its coat, known as Angora wool, that are gathered by shearing, combing, or plucking. Because rabbits do not possess the same allergy-causing qualities as many other animals, their wool is an important alternative. There are at least 11 distinct breeds of Angora rabbit, four of which are recognized by the American Rabbit Breeders Association: English Angora, French Angora, Giant Angora, Satin Angora. Others include: German Angora, Chinese Angora, Finnish Angora, Japanese Angora, Korean Angora, Russian Angora, St. Lucian Angora, Swiss Angora. Furred rabbits existed during the reign of King Henry VIII; the Angora is said to have originated in Ankara, in present-day Turkey, is known to have been brought to France in 1723. The Angora rabbit became a popular pet of the French royalty in the mid-18th century, Angoras spread to other parts of Europe by the end of that century, they first appeared in the United States in the early 20th century.
Author of Domestic Rabbits & Their Histories: Breeds of the World, Bob D. Whitman, suggests that the Angora breed could date back ten centuries: "it has been written that the indigenous Trelicians, which were small and frail people, first bred the Angora rabbit in the southern Carpathian mountains around the 6th century." This information has not been substantiated and Whitman himself acknowledges that "we will never know for sure". Angoras are bred for their wool, silky and soft. At only 14-16 microns in diameter, it is similar to cashmere in fineness and softness to touch. Which must be lower than 14 microns. A healthy adult Angora's wool will grow 3 centimetres per month. Regular grooming is necessary to prevent the fiber from matting and felting on the rabbit, which causes discomfort that can lead to pain and infection. Angora wool is harvested every three to four months throughout the year; the coat needs to be monitored after 6 months of re-growth, as it may tend to "die" and mat. Angora wool may be gathered periodically by hand-plucking the hairs within the coat that are being shed.
A full harvesting is done by shearing the coat with clippers or small scissors while the rabbit sits atop a groomer's turntable. Starting with top & sides of head. Moving across shoulders to tail. Flipped for underside, tail to chin, watch for nipples! 12 ounces —and up to 18 ounces —of wool may be harvested from a Giant Angora. Because of the length and abundance of their hair, Angora rabbits are susceptible to wool block, a potentially-lethal blockage of the digestive tract. All rabbits ingest some of their wool when they groom themselves, but their digestive system is not able to pass that foreign matter; the length of Angora hairs compounds the risk of impaction. Clipping or plucking their wool every 90-120 days is considered a must to prevent wool block in Angora breeds. Cheyletiella parasitovorax is a skin parasite found in Angora rabbits. Signs of infestation are fur loss. Wool mites reduce fiber yields and the resulting skin flakes are detrimental to the fiber quality. Wool mites may be treated with carbaryl powder.
The iconic long coat of the Angora is the result of a rabbit gene referred to as: l This "Angora gene" is present in all Angora breeds. It has sometimes been utilized in the development of other rabbit breeds or other breeds' new varieties. "Dwarf Angora" breeds including American Fuzzy Lop, Loin Head and Jersey Woolie, are now recognized in US by ARBA. Belgium and France have their own Dwarf Angora breeds.. There is a rare Mini English Angora breed in New Zealand. Weight: 2.0–3.5 kg. ARBA-recognized varieties: Agouti, Pointed White, Ruby-eyed White and Shaded Prior to 1939, there was one breed of "Angora Wooler". In 1939 ARBA reclassified "Angora Wooler" into "English Type" and "French Type". In 1944 ARBA separated Angora rabbits into two breeds: English Angora and French Angora. Rabbits of the Angora breed are adorned with "fur", growths of wool on the ears and the entire face except above the nose, front feet, along with their thick body, wool, they are gentle in nature. Their wool is dense and needs to be groomed twice a week.
This is the smallest Angora rabbit of the four ARBA-recognized breeds. This breed is more common as a pet because of the facial features that give it a puppy dog or teddy bear look. If the texture of the wool is correct, the maintenance is easy; some may find wool a challenge for beginning Spinners. The English Angora can be bred to have broken colors—i.e. White with black spots—but this is not accepted by ARBA standards, would lead to a disqualification when showing the rabbit; when showing an English Angora rabbit, the toenails should be only one color, the ears could be folded over at the tips, the furnishings on the face may cover their eyes. The English Angora is the only one of the Angora breeds. Weight: 3.5–4.5 kg. ARBA-recognized varieties: Agouti, Pointed White, Shaded and Wide BandThis breed has a dense undercoat. If the texture is correct, it requires less maintenance than other Angora breeds. Small ear tufts are allowed, but not preferred by breeders. ARBA recognizes the same colors as with English Angora, plus
Lagash
Lagash is an ancient city located northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk, about 22 kilometres east of the modern town of Ash Shatrah, Iraq. Lagash was one of the oldest cities of the Ancient Near East; the ancient site of Nina marks the southern limit of the state. Nearby Girsu, about 25 km northwest of Lagash, was the religious center of the Lagash state. Lagash's main temple was the E-Ninnu, dedicated to the god Ningirsu. From inscriptions found at Girsu such as the Gudea cylinders, it appears that Lagash was an important Sumerian city in the late 3rd millennium BC, it was at that time ruled by independent kings, Ur-Nanshe and his successors, who were engaged in contests with the Elamites on the east and the kings of Kienĝir and Kish on the north. Some of the earlier works from before the Akkadian conquest are extremely interesting, in particular Eanatum's Stele of the Vultures and Entemena's great silver vase ornamented with Ningirsu's sacred animal Anzu: a lion-headed eagle with wings outspread, grasping a lion in each talon.
With the Akkadian conquest Lagash lost its independence, its ruler or ensi becoming a vassal of Sargon of Akkad and his successors. After the collapse of Sargon's state, Lagash again thrived under its independent kings, Ur-Baba and Gudea, had extensive commercial communications with distant realms. According to his own records, Gudea brought cedars from the Amanus and Lebanon mountains in Syria, diorite from eastern Arabia and gold from central and southern Arabia, while his armies were engaged in battles with Elam on the east, his was the era of artistic development. We have a good idea of what Gudea looked like, since he placed in temples throughout his city numerous statues or idols depicting himself with lifelike realism. At the time of Gudea, the capital of Lagash was in Girsu; the kingdom covered an area of 1,600 square kilometres. It contained 17 larger cities, eight district capitals, numerous villages. According to one estimate, Lagash was the largest city in the world from c. 2075 to 2030 BC.
Soon after the time of Gudea, Lagash was absorbed into the Ur III state as one of its prime provinces. There is some information about the area during the Old Babylonian period. After that it seems to have lost its importance. In c. 2450 BC, Lagash and the neighbouring city of Umma fell out with each other after a border dispute. As described in Stele of the Vultures the current king of Lagash, inspired by the patron god of his city, set out with his army to defeat the nearby city. Initial details of the battle are unclear, but the Stele is able to portray a few vague details about the event. According to the Stele's engravings, when the two sides met each other in the field, Eannatum dismounted from his chariot and proceeded to lead his men on foot. After lowering their spears, the Lagash army advanced upon the army from Umma in a dense Phalanx. After a brief clash and his army had gained victory over the army of Umma. Despite having been struck in the eye by an arrow, the king of Lagash lived on to enjoy his army's victory.
This battle is one of the earliest organised battles known to historians. These dynasties are not found on the Sumerian King List, although one fragmentary supplement has been found in Sumerian, known as the rulers of Lagash, it recounts how after the flood mankind was having difficulty growing food for itself, being dependent on rainwater. At the end of the list is the statement "Written in the school", suggesting this was a scribal school production. A few of the names from the Lagash rulers listed below may be made out, including Ur-Nanshe, "Ane-tum", En-entar-zid, Ur-Ningirsu, Ur-Bau, Gudea. Lagash is one of the largest archaeological mounds in the region, measuring 3 by 1.5 km. Estimates of its area range from 400 to 600 hectares; the site is divided by the bed of a canal/river. The site was first excavated, for six weeks, by Robert Koldewey in 1887, it was inspected during a survey of the area by Thorkild Jacobsen and Fuad Safar in 1953, finding the first evidence of its identification as Lagash.
The major polity in the region of al-Hiba and Tello had been identified as ŠIR. BUR. LA. Tell Al-Hiba was again explored in five seasons of excavation between 1968 and 1976 by a team from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Institute of Fine Arts of New York University; the team was led by Vaughn E. Crawford, included Donald P. Hansen and Robert D. Biggs; the primary focus was the excavation of the temple Ibgal of Inanna and the temple Bagara of Ningirsu, as well as an associated administrative area. The team returned 12 years in 1990, for a final season of excavation led by D. P. Hansen; the work involved areas adjacent to an, as yet, unexcavated temple. The results of this season have not yet been published. Cities of the ancient Near East Short chronology timeline Robert D. Biggs, "Inscriptions from al-Hiba-Lagash: the first and second seasons", Bibliotheca Mesopotamica. 3, Undena Publications, 1976, ISBN 0-89003-018-9 E. Carter, "A surface survey of L
Hatmaking
Hatmaking or millinery is the design and sale of hats and head-wear. A person engaged in this trade is called a hatter. Millinery is sold to women and children, though some definitions limit the term to women's hats. Milliners female shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of garments for men and children, sold these garments in their millinery shop. More the term milliner has evolved to describe a person who designs, sells or trims hats for a female clientele; the origin of the term is the Middle English milener, meaning an inhabitant of the city of Milan or one who deals in items from Milan, known for its fashion and clothing. Many styles of headgear have been popular through history and worn for different functions and events, they worn to indicate social status. Styles include the top hat, hats worn as part of military uniforms, cowboy hat, cocktail hat. A great variety of objects are or were used as trimmings on women's fashionable hats: see Trim #See also. In former times use of colorful bird feathers and wings and tails and whole stuffed birds as hat trimmings led to the formation of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
Link to images and descriptions of hats trimmed with birdsThis link, with references to 1880s newspaper issues, describes as ornaments on fashionable hats, bird feathers, stuffed birds and other small animals, fruit, flowers and lace. It says that in 1889 in London and Paris, over 8,000 women were employed in millinery, in 1900 in New York, some 83,000 people women, it described a fashion for stuffed kittens' heads as hat ornaments in or around 1883 in Paris posed looking out from among foliage and feathers, to the point where some people were reported to breed kittens for the millinery trade. This is a partial list of people who have had a significant influence on millinery. International Hat Company, an American manufacturer credited with inventing one of America's most popular early 20th century harvest hats for field hands and workmen. Hawley Products Company, an American manufacturer credited with inventing the tropical shaped, pressed fiber sun helmet used from World War II through the Persian Gulf War.
John Cavanagh, an American hatter whose innovations included manufacturing regular and wide-oval fitting hats to enable customers to find better-fitting ready-to-wear hats. James Lock & Co. of London, is credited with the introduction of the bowler hat in 1849. John Batterson Stetson, credited with inventing the classic cowboy hat Giuseppe Borsalino, with the famous "Borsalino" Fedora hat. Anna Ben-Yusuf wrote The Art of one of the first reference books on millinery technique. Rose Bertin and modiste to Marie Antoinette, is described as the world's first celebrity fashion designer. Coco Chanel: Creator of the fashion house and creator of Chanel No.5. John Boyd was one of London's most respected milliners and is known for the famous pink tricorn hat worn by Diana, Princess of Wales. Lilly Daché was a famous American milliner of the mid-20th century. Frederick Fox was an Australian born milliner noted for his designs for the British Royal family. Mr. John was an American milliner considered by some to be the millinery equivalent of Dior in the 1940s and 1950s.
Stephen Jones of London, is considered one of the world's most radical and important milliners of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Simone Mirman was known for her designs for Elizabeth II and other members of the British Royal Family. Barbara Pauli was the leading fashion modiste in Sweden during the Gustavian era. Caroline Reboux was a renowned milliner of the early 20th centuries. David Shilling is a renowned milliner and designer based in Monaco. Justin Smith is an award-winning milliner creating bespoke and couture hats under the J Smith Esquire brand. Philip Treacy Irish-born award-winning milliner. Draper Haberdasher Hat Works Mad hatter disease Mad as a hatter Marchandes de modes All Sewn Up: Millinery, Dressmaking and Costume 18th Century millinery Popular Science, November 1941, "Pulling Hats Out Of Rabbits" article on modern mass production hat making Individuality in millinery, a 1923 book on hatmaking from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries Millinery guide
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other animals, including cashmere and mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, from hide and fur clothing from bison, angora from rabbits, other types of wool from camelids. Wool consists of protein together with a few percent lipids. In this regard it is chemically quite distinct from the more dominant textile, cellulose. Wool is produced by follicles; these follicles are located in the upper layer of the skin called the epidermis and push down into the second skin layer called the dermis as the wool fibers grow. Follicles can be classed as either secondary follicles. Primary follicles produce three types of fiber: kemp, medullated fibers, true wool fibers. Secondary follicles only produce true wool fibers. Medullated fibers share nearly identical characteristics to hair and are long but lack crimp and elasticity. Kemp fibers are coarse and shed out. Wool's scaling and crimp make it easier to spin the fleece by helping the individual fibers attach to each other, so they stay together.
Because of the crimp, wool fabrics have greater bulk than other textiles, they hold air, which causes the fabric to retain heat. Wool has a high specific thermal resistance, so it impedes heat transfer in general; this effect has benefited desert peoples, as Tuaregs use wool clothes for insulation. Felting of wool occurs upon hammering or other mechanical agitation as the microscopic barbs on the surface of wool fibers hook together. Wool has several qualities that distinguish it from hair/fur: it is crimped and elastic; the amount of crimp corresponds to the fineness of the wool fibers. A fine wool like Merino may have up to 100 crimps per inch, while coarser wool like karakul may have as few as one or two. In contrast, hair has little if any scale and no crimp, little ability to bind into yarn. On sheep, the hair part of the fleece is called kemp; the relative amounts of kemp to wool vary from breed to breed and make some fleeces more desirable for spinning, felting, or carding into batts for quilts or other insulating products, including the famous tweed cloth of Scotland.
Wool fibers absorb moisture, but are not hollow. Wool can absorb one-third of its own weight in water. Wool absorbs sound like many other fabrics, it is a creamy white color, although some breeds of sheep produce natural colors, such as black, brown and random mixes. Wool ignites at a higher temperature than some synthetic fibers, it has a lower rate of flame spread, a lower rate of heat release, a lower heat of combustion, does not melt or drip. Wool carpets are specified for high safety environments, such as trains and aircraft. Wool is specified for garments for firefighters and others in occupations where they are exposed to the likelihood of fire. Wool causes an allergic reaction in some people. Sheep shearing is the process. After shearing, the wool is separated into four main categories: fleece, broken and locks; the quality of fleeces is determined by a technique known as wool classing, whereby a qualified person, called a wool classer, groups wools of similar gradings together to maximize the return for the farmer or sheep owner.
In Australia before being auctioned, all Merino fleece wool is objectively measured for micron, staple length, staple strength, sometimes color and comfort factor. Wool straight off a sheep, known as "greasy wool" or "wool in the grease", contains a high level of valuable lanolin, as well as the sheep's dead skin and sweat residue, also contains pesticides and vegetable matter from the animal's environment. Before the wool can be used for commercial purposes, it must be scoured, a process of cleaning the greasy wool. Scouring may be as simple as a bath in warm water or as complicated as an industrial process using detergent and alkali in specialized equipment. In north west England, special potash pits were constructed to produce potash used in the manufacture of a soft soap for scouring locally produced white wool. In commercial wool, vegetable matter is removed by chemical carbonization. In less-processed wools, vegetable matter may be removed by hand and some of the lanolin left intact through the use of gentler detergents.
This semigrease wool can be worked into yarn and knitted into water-resistant mittens or sweaters, such as those of the Aran Island fishermen. Lanolin removed from wool is used in cosmetic products, such as hand creams. Raw wool has many impurities; the sheep's body yields many types of wool with differing strengths, length of staple and impurities. The raw wool is processed into'top'.'Worsted top' requires strong straight and parallel fibres. The quality of wool is determined by its fiber diameter, yield and staple strength. Fiber diameter is the single most important wool characteristic determining price. Merino wool is 3–5 inches in length and is fine; the finest and most valuable wool comes from Merino hoggets. Wool taken from sheep produced for meat is more coarse, has fibers 1.5 to 6 in in length. Damage or breaks in the wool can occur if the sheep is stressed whil
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