CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION

ARMENIAN RUGS SOCIETY

THE ARMENIAN RUGS SOCIETY IS A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION FOUNDED IN WASHINGTON D.C. IN 1980,
DEDICATED TO THE IDENTIFICATION, PRESERVATION, AND DISSEMINATION OF KNOWLEDGE OF ARMENIAN RUGS.

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CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION

The Sunland-Tujunga Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library recently played host to a three-part lecture series presented by renowned carpet expert and President of the Armenian Rugs Society Board of Directors, Hratch Kozibeyokian.

The lectures took place once a month at the Library during April, May, and June 2019 in tandem with an on-going exhibition of Armenian rugs, textiles and artifacts provided by Mr. Kozibeyokian.

The first of the three-part series took place on April 27, 2019 featured an introduction to Armenian rugs and textiles, as well as the themes native to Armenian woven arts. The second lecture which took place on May 25, 2019, was entitled,"Armenia as a Cradle of Civilization" included a discussion of both Armenian textile arts and Armenian cultural development. The third and final lecture in the series took place on June 22, 2019 to a full-house audience and its topic was "Woven Arts of Armenia: 1820 - to the Present."

LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY LECTURE SERIES, TUJUNGA, CA

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The Armenian Rugs Society not only nurtures the discovery and cultivation of Armenian rugs and artifacts among academics and lay people, but continues supporting Armenian woven arts and its artisans world-wide through its
ADOPT-A-LOOM
initiative, workshops, and symposia that aim to engender support for indigenous traditions by building a culturally aware global community.

Be a vibrant part of this noble effort and join with us to bring healing creativity though this ancient art form to a modern world in dire need of its curative energy...

Please make your tax deductible, charitable donations to the Armenian Rugs Society, today, and help keep a centuries old global heritage treasure alive...

From the Annals of the Woven Arts:

The Development of the Needle

The earliest known sewing needles were developed in Aurignacia, dating back to 28,000 B.C. Hand-crafted and made from bone, these needles had split heads instead of an "eye" which gripped the thread to be sewn (often raffia, gut, or sinew).

Sewing needles were hand-made from bone, over 17,000 years ago by Western Europeans and Central Asians and were primarily used for sewing skins and furs.

The first needles with "eyes" emerged around 17500 B.C. with an "eye" at one end and a tapering point at the other. These were usually fashioned from bone and antler.

As humans acquired skills in working metal materials, needles began to be fabricated from metal (Bronze Age approximately 7000 BCE), particularly copper, first in Armenia, circa 7000 B.C.E.

In 2500, B.C. Bronze needles were born and spurred the following developmental timeline:

1195 B.C. - Secret of hardening iron reaches Europe from India.

500 B.C . - The drawing plate is used for producing wire.

60 A.D. - Phrygier is credited with discovering embroidery.

1200 A.D. - The needle is advertised for the first time in China.

1496 - Leonardo da Vinci constructs a machine to point sewing needles.

1615 - Aachen shows the way by making needles from fine, pure steel.

1730 - Stephan Beissel founds a needle factory in Aachen, Germany.

In 1755, the first ever patent is awarded for a needle with an "eye." A German named Weisenthal thought that he had found the prerequisite for machine sewing in his development of a two-point needle. This needle form was also used later on by Madersperger and others and is still in use today.

In 1790, an Englishman named Thomas Saint applied for a patent for a machine to sew shoes. The needle used in this machine was called a hook needle or protruding needle, similar to today’s crochet needle. Hook needles are still used in some single-chain, drop-stitch embroidery (Cornely), saddle-stitching, and linking machines. Both types of needle, however, were of little importance for the further development of the sewing machine needle.

Around 1800, Balthasar Krems, from Mayen, Germany, used a needle, with the "eye" moved close to the point for the first time. One should, particularly, appreciate this invention because one feature that looks so simple to us today, was a sensation at that time. This "eye-point needle" paved the way for the mechanization of sewing world-wide.

In 1811, Abel & Michael Morall were the first to construct a device for the pressing of needle "eyes."

In the second half of the 18th century, Aachen, Iserlohn, and Schwabach developed into centers of the German needle industry. In the early 1900s, the Aachen region took over the leading role in regional comparison due to new production and sales methods.

And, in 1851 the Schmetz family founded a needle factory in Herzogenrath near Aachen.

--from Hratch Kozibeyokian

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