Plate No. 014 · pattern

Herringbone

Herringbone is a broken-twill pattern of short diagonal rows that reverse direction in adjacent columns, forming a continuous run of V shapes. It is produced by reversing the direction of a two-and-two twill at set intervals across the warp, and the abrupt reversal is what gives it the staggered, fishbone look. The structure is ancient, appearing in textiles and in Roman masonry laid in the same opus spicatum arrangement.