Searching for Hempen Treasures

Abstract The identification of hemp fiber textiles in markets, museums and private collections offers many challenges. This article presents a protocol for identifying hemp textiles by simple observational techniques and discusses some of the confusions that can arise during textile fiber identification. Determining factors include written and oral information, gross characteristics (best assayed by touching and feeling the textile) and fine characteristics (best observed by viewing the yarns and individual fibers under magnification). Suggestions are offered to assist collectors and researchers in their fieldwork. The limits of qualitative observations, as well as present-day and future analytical methods of fiber identification, are also discussed. The majority of the information presented here draws on the author's fieldwork with traditional hemp clothing from Eastern Europe and the Far East. All photos are of Asian hemp fabrics.