Vicky,
What a great question!
I was so fascinated by this I couldn't help doing some research. I just
might give this question in a library class!
It was a bit painful, just as you experienced, using arts databases. But
there is one FiberArts article below that may be useful--- can't tell from
the cite.
Then I got on Google and made some headway! The patron will need to follow
up and delve in a bit more to verify the info, but I hope it helps for a
start.
Keep in touch and let me know if you find out anything else!
Also note: The silk being produced in Madagascar may be a reference to
DuPont (ew) who's using DNA technology by extracting liquid (don't know
term) from the orb weaving spider and injecting? it into goats wherein a
substance can be then extracted from the goat's milk to help create a
synthetic fiber that mimics the comparative strength of the orb's web. I
got a lot of references to this "experiment" when I was searching some
general and science databases and the web.
Best,
Mo.......................
1.Google search: +cobwebs +painting
This site shows an actual image of a painting on cobwebs done by a woman,
Mada Morison, in New Zealand! and gives a sentence on the history of the
technique
Contact Details:
6 Ashfield Place
CHRISTCHURCH 8004
[log in to unmask]
Notes:
Painting on spiderwebs, an art form that developed in 15th Century Bavaria.
Mada has been exhibited world wide. She is the only N.Z. artist using this
medium.
Her work has been videoed and televised. The booklet 'She Paints on
Cobwebs' has been compiled out lining her story.
2. Google search: cobwebs and something else (fabric?)
Gossomer Middle English condensation of goose summer, used in England and
Scotland for the unseasonably warm autumn weather that in North America is
called Indian summer. In England, gossamer was also a fine, filmy material
made of the cobwebs spun by tiny spiders, especially in the fall. In
Swedish, the filament was called sommartrad, "summer thread," which
resembles goose down. Legend has it that this ethereal substance of God's
summer was a trail left by the Virgin Mary when she ascended into heaven.
<http://saint-esprit.freeservers.com/forgotten.html>
excertped from Forgotten English Knowledge Cards?
© Jeffrey Kacirk
Published by Pomegranate, Box 6099, Rohnert Park, CA 94927
ISBN 0-7649-0608-9
3. Art Abstracts search spider webs
Palmer, Jacqueline M. Title: Spiders: masters of natural textiles.
Source: Fiberarts v. 14 (Sept./Oct. '87) p. 33-4 Journal Code: Fiberarts
Additional Info: United States Standard No: ISSN: 0164-324X Details: il.
Language: English SUBJECT(S) Descriptor: Spider webs. (Art Abstracts)
--On Thursday, June 26, 2003 5:13 PM +1000 Vicki Marsh
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I turned up a blank when trying to search for information so ran it by one
> of our painting conservators and received the following reply, hope it
> helps:
>
> "I am not familiar with this practice so I asked around. The textile
> conservators informed me that there were spider farms in Madagascar to
> produce a thread (similar to silk) for weaving into fabric. Objects
> conservators mentioned the practice of indiginous peoples in New Guinea
> and South America who collect spider webs to make a felted fabric. No one
> can remember their sources for this information. One of the object
> conservators mentioned that fabric made from spiders webs cannot be
> washed."
>
> Vicki Marsh
> Reference Librarian
> National Gallery of Australia
> GPO Box 1150
> Canberra ACT 2601
> Tel: + 61 2 6240 6535
> Fax: + 61 2 6273 2155
> www.nga.gov.au
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Nicole Jackson [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Thursday, 26 June 2003 1:42 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [ARLIS-L] cobwebs query
>
>
> Please would you place the following query on the
> discussion list:
>
> Dear colleagues
>
> A painting student at the University of Auckland School
> of Fine Arts came to the desk to see if the Fine Arts
> Library had any information about the technique used in
> Victorian times in England of gathering cobwebs and
> making them up into a canvas to paint on. She has been
> using cobwebs to achieved effects in her own work and
> was intrigued to be told that some 19th century artists
> in England used them to form a canvas. Could anyone
> suggest a book that might include something about the
> technique, or even suggest a search term we could use
> with BHA or Art Abstracts.
>
> Nicole Jackson
> [log in to unmask]
>
> Fine Arts Library Te Herenga Toi
> University of Auckland
> Private Bag 92019
> Auckland, New Zealand
>
> Ph. 64 9 3737 599 ext. 88078
> Fax: 64 9 3737 041
>
> __________________________________________________________________
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>
> National Gallery of Australia
> Winner 2002-03 Australian Tourism Award.
>
> 'Sari To Sarong' opens 11 July 2003.
>
> See http://nga.gov.au/SariToSarong for details.
>
> The National Gallery of Australia is a Federal Government Agency.
>
> __________________________________________________________________
> Mail submissions to [log in to unmask]
> For information about joining ARLIS/NA see:
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>
Mo Dawley
Art and Drama Librarian
[log in to unmask]
412-268-6625
http://www.library.cmu.edu/bySubject/Art
http://www.library.cmu.edu/bySubject/Drama
http://www.greenarts.org
__________________________________________________________________
Mail submissions to [log in to unmask]
For information about joining ARLIS/NA see:
http://www.arlisna.org//membership.html
Send administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc)
to [log in to unmask]
ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance:
http://lsv.uky.edu/archives/arlis-l.html
Questions may be addressed to list owner (Kerri Scannell) at: [log in to unmask]
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