Tom Condé

Eternal rest grant unto Tom, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Conde Trading came about as a way to help me, and my son, afford to attend rendezvous and re-enactments. I am and always will be a participant at these events first and a seller second. The love of trying to re-create the time period, and the people who are also trying to do the same, is what drives me. It doesn't matter at what level of research and authenticity you are comfortable, as long as you remember the goal is to do without the modern as much as possible, not as much as is convenient. The idea is to do the best we can and have fun doing it.

Copy and photos from Tom's web site here.

Tom Conde Sash

This sash is from one at the Rochester Museum & Science Center in Roch., NY It is believed to date from before 1750. Woven from small black yarn with the beads on heavy thread rather than strands of yarn. A very interesting piece because the zigzag at the edges goes to the outside strand. This is rarely if ever seen on other pieces. Sash body is 3" wide like the original and 36" long. It has 30" fringes.

Copy and photo supplied by Tom Conde at Conde Trading.

The Twined Bags of the Great Lakes Tribes by Tom Conde

The techniques used in making these bags are the same as those used to produce the textiles found in pottery impressions from the Middle Mississippian culture, AD 600 - 1600. Some scholars believe that these techniques may have been in use before 5000 BC. Originally produced using plant fibers and animal hair, these types of textiles are mentioned by writers with DeSoto in the mid 1500's and du Pratz in the mid 1700's. Marquette and Hennipin mention various fabricated articles among the tribes they visited in the late 1600's. Both the "plain" utilitarian bags for hulling and washing corn and for storage, and the bags with figures of animals and spirit beings or geometric patterns worked into them, have been collected in significant numbers from the Great Lakes tribes and their nearby prairie neighbors. Although the collections are predominantly of articles from the latter half of the 19th century, some scholars place the figured bags as early as the mid-18th century. These open-twined bags were made mostly of plant fibers and animal hair but European cordages and wool yarns begin to show up by the mid 1700's. At about the same time another type bag begins to appear where the figures are even more stylized than on the open-twined bags. These bags are done in a compact-twining technique, where the wefts have no spacing between them and the patterns are created with the weft rather than the warp strands. The bags appear to always be woven upside down. Starting at the bottom and working down to the top, finishing with the opening edge of the bag. The most common method is by hanging the warps over a stick and then twining around and around to make a seamless bag. The figures are worked upside down so that when the bag is finished they will appear right side up.

These bags range in size from 3 or 4 inches up to over 2 feet wide. Regardless of size it appears that, unlike the fingerwoven bags made of yarn with beaded designs, none of these bags were made with straps for carrying on one's person. The bags with figures from the natural and spirit worlds are usually different on each side, in keeping with the beliefs of upper and lower levels of the world ruled by different spirits, with the earth in the middle.

Copy and photos supplied by Tom Conde at Conde Trading

Tom Conde Sashes

Photo supplied by Tom Conde.

Tom Conde Sash

Double Zigzag with Centerline

Photo supplied by Tom Conde.

Milwaukee Collar by Tom Conde

Photo supplied by Tom Conde.

Tom Conde Bag

24" x 16". Tom's version of a bag at the Detroit Institute of Art.

More of Tom's work can be seen at Conde Trading.

Photos by Tom Conde.

Twined Bag by Tom Conde

A simple twined bag of a type used for storage and for hulling corn. Made of hemp cordage. 11"W by 9.5"H with a braided opening edge. The edges on these bags were usually very substantial and often braided like this one or had the warp strands gathered in bunches and wrapped. Sometimes dyed strands were included to create stripes and often patterns or "texture" were created by manipulating the warps strands as in this bag.

Photos by Jan Riser.

Tom Conde Sash

Photos by Jan Riser.

Tom Conde Winnabago Bag

This bag is approx 17" wide and 15" tall, from a late 19th century Winnabago bag in the American Museum of Natural History.

This is what happens when you have a lots of string laying around and lots of pictures of cool stuff to make with it. T.C.

Top two photos by Tom Conde with additional photos by Jan Riser.

Art DeCamp Horn with Tom Conde Strap

An engraved early Philadelphia horn with British seal, stand of arms, compass design and a sterling silver band along with a really nice woven strap by Tom Conde.

Photo supplied by Art DeCamp.

Contemporary Makers: Tom Conde, Fingerweaving

In this fast paced world of instant gratification it’s rare to find people who take the time to create pieces from a distant past. Pieces done in a way that would be very familiar to someone living in the 18th century. Tom Conde is just such a person. Tom is a devoted reenanctor and accomplished artist. He knows well how his pieces will be used by reenactors and how they were used in the past by the first people of North America. He is well aware of the effort that Native artisans put into each and every piece. When at an event Tom becomes an 18th century man.

Tom does not offer a huge selection of items, instead he prefers to do the absolute finest work available within his range. He uses only the best raw materials that are carefully chosen to represent as closely as possible the original materials used so long ago. His sensibilities are closely aligned with the Native American.

He is always available to offer advice or share his knowledge. Tom’s work can be viewed at a number of events around the nation as well as at his website Conde Trading.

Q: Have you always been interested in history?
A: As a child, my love for history drove me to read everything I could get my hands on about colonial and American history. Later in life that interest led me to the 18th and early 19th century events called rendezvous and re-enacting and my introduction to the art I now produce.

Q: How did Conde Trading come about?
A: Conde Trading came about as a way to help me, and my son, afford to attend rendezvous and re-enactment. I am and always will be a participant at these events first and a seller second.

Q: What is the driving force behind your work?
A: The love of trying to re-create the time period, and the people who are also trying to do the same, is what drives me. It doesn't matter at what level of research and authenticity you are comfortable, as long as you remember the goal is to do without the modern as much as possible, not as much as is convenient. The idea is to do the best we can and have fun doing it.

Q: What intrigues you about fingerweaving?
A: Finger weaving, to me, is more than just history; it is an art. I am an artist by my own hand. When I became interested in finger weaving, I had never seen a piece of work. Had never laid eyes on a bag, sash, or tumpline. I taught myself this art with the aid of two publications. From these and many questions and endless hours of research, the products I now produce were born.

Q: Can you give us a brief history of fingerweaving?
A: Fingerweaving seems to have no definite beginning. It's origins are lost in time but it has existed for thousands of years. Fingerwoven pieces were used to make impressions on clay pottery. These weavings were often done by a method called “twining.” The work more commonly thought of as fingerweaving, the items I make in wool yarns, are representative of the items that begin to appear in collections around the middle of the 1700's. Although beautiful in their design, these items were not just for show. Fingerweaving produced functional items for daily work. Sashes, bags, garters, straps for bags and powderhorns, tumplines (burden straps for carrying and dragging loads), garters and other items were useful tools.

Q: What about the colors used?
A: Some pieces were dyed using a technique called "resist" dying. Resist dying is the art of dying material and using something to block the dye from penetrating certain predetermined areas of the material being dyed. This creates an un-dyed place on the piece, forming designs of contrasting color. On other pieces these lighter, or different colored areas seem to have been achieved by “reducing” or “bleaching” the main color. By asking people who specialize in natural dying I was able, over a period of several years of experimentation, to reproduce what I believe to be the methods used in dying items made in the 18th century.

Q: Its obvious that you take a great deal of pride in your work.
A: I take great pride in my work. Not because I am self-taught, but because I am reproducing a piece of history from a time in our nation that intrigues me. I take enormous joy in discussing my work and its era with the public. Although mine is a very small selection, my goal is to provide the best goods and raw materials we can find for the participants of these events. If I do not have what you need, then I will try to tell you where you can find what you want, rather than try to sell you what I have that comes close

Photos by Tom Conde (top two and bottom).
Photo of the 4 tumplines was taken by Rick Lambert.

Article previously published in the Broadside a publication of the Contemporary Longrifle Association.

Tom Conde

The rope is made from hemp cordage. Approximately 25 feet long. An 8-strand box braid. Natural dyed porcupine quills are used for the wrapping. Hand rolled brass cones and natural dyed deer hair tassels.

This is a prisoner collar. The design is adapted from an 18th century moosehair embroidery of one in the Milwaukee Public Museum. Center band twined from hemp cordage. Ropes are 8 strand box braid ending with natural dyed quill wrapping and hand rolled brasscones with natural dyed deer hair tassels. T.C.

Photos supplied by Tom Conde.

Tom Conde War Club

Photo supplied by Tom Conde.

Tom Conde Dog War Club

Tom Conde War Clubs

More samples of Tom's work can be seen at his web site.

Tom Conde Fingerwoven Straps

More examples of Tom's work can be seen at his web site.