Hand-Operated Jacquard Looms

Manifacture

The Jacquard Looms

Our ancient hand-operated looms give form to precious figured, looped- and cut-pile and ciselé velvets and brocades woven with silks, gold and silver, in the classical patterns handed down by textile tradition, as new creations designed to client specifications. These designs are translated into finished fabrics with the creativity of our designers, the rigor of our historians, and the expertise of our weavers. One of our strong points is the ability of our master weavers – and skilled technicians – to conserve and breathe new life into these ancient, fascinating ‘machines’ and to adapt them to any need as it arises.

Boston Jacquard Loom

for the velvets

This loom was given its name after it was used to produce the ‘Palio II’ velvet for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum of Boston in 2004. It can be warped with up to 6,400 single threads.

Istrice Jacquard Loom

for the velvets

This loom is famous for having produced the ‘Istrice’ velvet for the Sienese contrada of the same name.

Samurai Jacquard Loom

for the brocades

The Samurai loom has turned out many precious works, including fabrics for the famous Baguette bags by Fendi. The loom takes its name from the ‘Samurai’ brocade woven to an 18th-century design.

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Serenissima Loom

for solid-colour and polychrome velvets

The ‘Serenissima' loom was in pieces, disassembled, for many years. In early 1990 it was re-inaugurated following a lengthy reconstruction effort by the Foundation’s expert weaving technicians. It is one of the few still-extant looms on which it is possible to weave an extremely rare tri-colour velvet – called the ‘Serenissima’, a sample of which is now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York – using a total of more than 12,000 threads for the ground and pile warps combined. The creelalone can contain 3,072 bobbins. Currently, this loom is being used – with the appropriate technical modifications – to produce a solid-colour velvet which will be used on the walls of the royal apartments at the Royal Palace of Dresden.

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Tintoretto Loom

for the solid-colour velvets

This is the ‘youngest’ of the looms used in production. It was purpose-built to weave – together with the Serenissima loom – the more than 300 metres of solid-colour velvet required by the Royal Place of Dresden project.

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Wilanów Jacquard Loom

for the ciselé velvets

The Wilanów loom is called thus after the project targeting historical reconstruction of the wall coverings of the king’s bedchamber in Warsaw’s Wilanów Palace.

Takemura Loom

for experimental damasks and brocades

The Takemura is the only one of our looms that interfaces with a computer. It is used, in fact, for trying out the designs and patterns produced by the CAD design workshop – in digital format – which allow what is basically a Jacquard machine to acquire the data it needs digitally, and not from cards as is the case for all our other looms.

Teaching Looms

The teaching workshop room – included within the manufacturing area so that it may benefit from the technical support our weavers can provide – contains five looms and is a sort of mini-manufactory of hand-woven fabrics. Each student is assigned a loom for study purposes and for mastering technique.

On request, our looms may be rented for weaving personal pieces at our premises.

Student's Teaching Looms

The Jacquard Looms

Boston Jacquard Loom

Boston Jacquard Loom

for the velvets

Istrice Jacquard Loom

Istrice Jacquard Loom

for the velvets

Samurai Jacquard Loom

Samurai Jacquard Loom

for the brocades

Serenissima Loom

Serenissima Loom

for solid-colour and polychrome velvets

Tintoretto Loom

Tintoretto Loom

for the solid-colour velvets

Wilanów Jacquard Loom

Wilanów Jacquard Loom

for the ciselé velvets

Takemura Loom

Takemura Loom

for experimental damasks and brocades

Teaching Looms

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