WEAVING INDUSTRY

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Cachet: The cachet on this cover shows women working at a large wooden loom, rendered entirely in sepia tones as a detailed line drawing. Two figures sit at the frame, their traditional dress and headwraps captured in fine cross-hatched detail, while the loom itself dominates the composition with its angled wooden supports. The caption "Weaving a Mohair Rug" appears beneath the illustration in plain black type, with the series marking "1.9" and a small logo in the lower corner. Four stamps fill the top right corner in a block, each illustrated by A H Barrett and captioned "weaving industry", tracing the process from the Angora goat itself through to the finished woven rug. Two Umtata postmarks, each built around a spinning wheel design, cancel the stamps.

Info card

TRANSKEI WEAVING INDUSTRY Weaving was first introduced into Transkei at the turn of the century and as early as 1904 a thriving weaving school had become established at St Cuthberts' Mission, Tsolo. Transkeian girls took readily to this new skill and St Cuthberts, together with other weaving schools that came into being subsequently, provided the first skilled workers for an industry that has become most successful and prosperous with the passage of time. When visiting one of these weaving establishments, one becomes conscious of an air of contented industry permeating the long rooms filled with looms where colourful designs are woven with deft fingers. Women and girls bedecked in gay aprons sit in small groups in and out of doors, sorting, carding, brushing, spinning or weaving. Others stir huge three-legged pots containing the dyes and hang out skeins of enchanting colours, the first stage of the metamorphosis from mohair and sheep's wool to colourful fabrics and designs for bedspreads, curtains, wall hangings, cushion covers and skirts, etc. to fulfil orders that come from near and afar. DIE WEEFBEDRYF VAN TRANSKEI Wewery is met die eeuwending vir die eerste keer in Transkei bekend gestel en reeds in 1904 was daar 'n florerende weefskool by die St Cuthbertssendingstasie by Tsolo. Transkeise meisies het hierdie nuwe bedrewenheid geredelik aangeleer en by St Cuthberts, asook by die ander weefskole wat daarna ontstaan het, is die eerste geskoolde werkers gelewer vir 'n bedryf wat mettertyd uiters suksesvol en winsgewend geword het. Wanneer 'n mens by een van die weeffabrieke besoek aflê, word 'n mens bewus van die tevrede bedrywigheid in die lang vertrekke vol weframe waar kleurvolle ontwerpe deur vlugge vingers geweef word. Vroue en meisies in vrolike voorskote sit in klein groepies binne en buite en sorteer, kaard, borsel, spin of weef. Ander roer groot driepootpotte met kleursel en hang stringe met pragtige kleure uit wat die eerste stap is in die metamorfose van bokhaar en skaapwol tot kleurvolle materiaal en ontwerpe vir dekens, gordyne, muurbehangsels, kussingoortreksels en rompe, ens. om aan bestellings van heinde en ver te voldoen.

Additional information

This cover is postmarked on 9 June 1978 in Umtata. It carries a set of four Transkei stamps illustrated by A H Barrett, tracing the mohair weaving process from the Angora goat through spinning and dyeing to the finished woven rug. The industry itself traces back to the turn of the century, when a weaving school established at St Cuthbert's Mission in Tsolo as early as 1904 trained the first generation of skilled workers who helped build it into a lasting local trade.

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