Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c26.13

c26.13

To make geometrical patterns, the necessary warp threads are picked up (Pl. VI., 1) with a narrow lath or weaver's sword (sema leḷḷa), and a wider lath is then inserted and turned up sideways so as to form a ‘shed’ for the passage of the shuttle. Before the sword is pulled out again, slips of cane are passed between the separated warp threads behind the heddles; there they accumulate and preserve the pattern, as seen on Pl. XXIX., 1, making it easy to pick up the threads again when the pattern is repeated or reversed.