Monday, September 28, 2009

Spider Wranglers Weave One-Of-A-Kind Tapestry

by CHRISTOPHER JOYCE

This week in New York, the American Museum of Natural History unveiled something never before seen: an 11-by-4-foot tapestry made completely of spider silk.

Weavers in Madagascar took four years to make it, and the museum says there's no other like it in the world.

A stunning golden tapestry woven from spider silk is unveiled at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City after four years of work — and the help of more than 1 million spiders.

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Photo by R. Mickens/AMNH

It's now in a glass case at the museum. The color is a radiant gold — the natural color of the golden orb-weaving spider, from the Nephilagenus, one that's found in several parts of the world.

Simon Peers, a textile maker who lives in Madagascar, conceived the project. Weaving spider silk is not traditional there; a French missionary dreamed it up over a century ago but failed at it. The only known spider silk tapestry was shown in Paris in 1900 but then disappeared. Click here to read the rest at npr

PHOTO ABOVE: by Simon Peers and Nicholas Godley

Two Nephila madagascariensis spiders that were used to create the golden tapestry.

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