Paisley, 68 High Street, Museum, Art Gallery And Library, 1st Floor Gallery, Jaquard Loom

This 20th century Jaquard device on the plain loom in Paisley Museum was made by John T Hardaker (jaquard and loom makers), Bowling, Bradford, England, now based in Mumbai, India.

The Jacquard is a piece of apparatus which is added to a power or hand loom. This allows complex patterns to be woven, including damask, lace and brocade. Originally invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard (first demonstrated 1801), it continues to be widely used both on hand and power looms. In Scotland, for example, it could be found in concentrations in the Irvine Valley, Ayrshire (lace) and Fife (damask) before the textile industries in these areas ceased.

The device uses punch cards which either keep back or allow the heddle carrying the weft thread to weave the pattern into the warp thread. Cut or punched cards were laced together to form the repeat pattern for the Jaquard device attached to a loom. These cards produced elaborate patterns in multiple colours. The pattern for the cloth is contained in the Jaquard cards and one card at a time is presented to the needles. Where the holes are in the cards the needles goes through and where there are blanks the needles are held back. When the card moves towards the needles, it selects the hooks which are to be raised and which ones are to be left down. Every time the weaver presses down the treddle a new card is presented automatically to the needles. This selects a different set of threads to be raised. Each time the threads are raised like that the weaver throws the shuttle through the shed to weave the cloth.

Information from HES Survey and Recording Section, Heritage Directorate (MMD), 1 February 2017.