In Situ (Jun 2023)
Les toiles de Bretagne : une histoire à réinvestir
Abstract
From the fifteenth century to the eighteenth, the manufacture and trade in canvas and sailcloth was the basis of intense economic activity.in Brittany. The flax seeds were imported from the Baltic ports and distributed by boat along the north coast of the peninsula to be cultivated on the fertile soils of the hinterland. The flax fibres were then produced in the region and the weaving into finished canvas and sailcloth was organised by merchants who then exported the products, via the Brittany ports, to Flanders, England and Spain; from Spain they could be shipped to the Spanish colonies in the new world. Brittany thus found itself at the heart of European and transatlantic networks, becoming one of the world’s leading cloth producing provinces. This activity had a lasting impact on the region’s economy, its demographic development and its artistic and intellectual life. The dynamics of this textile activity have been clearly identified and have given rise to much historical research, but there are still areas of uncertainty that remain to be explored. This article does not pretend to cover all the aspects of the field, but sets out to offer a starting point for further research, based on the evidence of the material heritage bequeathed to us today.The success of Brittany cloth was founded, without question, on the surveillance and control of the fabrication processes, hemmed in by regulations which, for each type of cloth, defined the nature and the quality of the fibres to be used and the dimensions and finish of the pieces. Bureaux de marque, trade mark offices, were established in the large towns and ports. The merchants dominated the trade and local life. Assembled in powerful guilds, they were often responsible for major public works in the parishes they administered. Within towns and villages, and in the countryside, their houses and workshops, along with those of the weavers, bear witness to the organisation of the trade and give indications as to its chronological evolution.Modest structures such as ponds or reservoirs for retting, heckling shops, kanndis (small buildings for bleaching the fibres), washing houses and ovens have only recently been surveyed as heritage and suggest that our understanding of the geographical distribution of the manufacturing activity should be considered anew, taking a broader look and integrating a history of hemp production alongside flax. The methodology of the General Inventory service is particularly well adapted to provide responses to these interrogations, especially when the methods involve participatory contributions from local communities, as they do in Brittany. This is the direction for the new inventory enquiry being set up today.
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