What is the history and origin of pina fiber?
Piña were woven into lustrous lace-like nipis fabrics usually decorated with intricate floral embroidery known as calado and sombrado. Piña fabric was a luxury export from the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period and gained favor among European aristocracy in the 18th and 19th centuries.
What is piña fabric made of?
pineapples
The Aklan piña cloth is woven from the finest mature leaves of native pineapples. Pineapple silk is considered the queen of Philippine fabrics and is considered the fabric of choice of the Philippine elite.
What is piña cloth weaving?
Piña is a handwoven Philippine textile produced mostly by the Aklanon in the province of Aklan in Western Visayas, Philippines. It is considered the finest of Philippine textiles mainly because of its delicacy and its natural creamy hue.
What is the oldest textile in the Philippines?
the Banton Burial Cloth
Preserved in the National Museum is the Banton Burial Cloth, actually a remnant of a blanket said to be the oldest existing cloth in the Philippines. It was found in a wood coffin in Banton, Romblon associated with Ming period blue and white ceramics.
How is piña cloth made?
Since piña is from a leaf, the leaf is cut first from the plant. Then the fiber is pulled or split away from the leaf. Most leaf fibers are long and somewhat stiff. Each strand of the Piña fiber is hand scraped and is knotted one by one to form a continuous filament to be hand-woven and then made into a Piña cloth.
Where is piña cloth produced?
Philippines
In the Philippines’ pineapple farming communities, the entire process may require as many as 30 people, from the time of harvesting to the knotting of the strands. The pineapple fibres are then fed into a loom to be woven, again by hand, into beautiful piña cloth (piña weaving).
Where do piña fabrics commonly used as a main material?
the Philippines
It is one of the most well-known traditional textiles used in the Philippines, and primarily used by Filipino aristocrats from as early as the 19th century when the country was a Spanish colony.
What is the characteristics of piña cloth?
Lightweight
SoftStiff
Piña/Characteristics
What is the oldest piece of textile in the Philippines where and how it was found?
Early history Among the artefacts was the Banton Cloth, a piece of a traditional burial cloth found in one of the wooden coffins. It is estimated to be 400 years old, making it the earliest known warp ikat (tie-resist dyeing) textile in the Philippines and Southeast Asia.
What is the place of origin of fabric?
Weaving apparently preceded spinning of yarn; woven fabrics probably originated from basket weaving. Cotton, silk, wool, and flax fibres were used as textile materials in ancient Egypt; cotton was used in India by 3000 bce; and silk production is mentioned in Chinese chronicles dating to about the same period.
What is the balance of piña fabric?
Answer: Piña fabric is characterized by being lightweight but stiff, with a sheer appearance and a smooth silk-like texture. In modern times, it is predominantly used in the making of barong tagalog, baro’t saya, and other traditional formal wear in the Philippines.
What is the history of fabric?
Fabric creation began in ancient times when primitive peoples used flax fibers, separated into strands and woven into simple fabrics colored with dyes extracted from plants. Innovators developed synthetic fabrics to overcome some of the inherent limitations of natural fibers.
Who is the oldest manufacturer of piña cloth in the Philippines?
Aklan is the main and the oldest manufacturer/weaver of piña cloth in the Philippines. But in recent years, Negros Oriental and Palawan started its own cultivation of pineapple plant of the Red Spanish variety from Aklan aside from conducting skills training program on fiber extraction and weaving.
What is Piña fabric made of?
The cloth is translucent, soft and fine with high luster. Piña fiber is often blended with cotton, abaca, silk, or polyester to create wonderful light, breezy fabrics. Since piña fabric is hand loomed by only a few weavers, it is very precious and scarce, which also makes it expensive.
What is Piña?
What is Piña? Piña, a fabric woven from fibers of the leaves of the Spanish Red Pineapple, was the quintessential item of luxury and elegance in 19th century Philippines and the finest of all Philippine fabrics.
What is Piña weaving in the Philippines?
The underlying process, piña weaving, has a much longer history in the Philippines, particularly in Aklan in the Western Visayas where native pineapple plants have been cultivated for their fibre for generations.