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Gorgeous Spider Silk Textile Now on Display
By
Jen Carlson
Published Sep 23, 2009
Modified Sep 23, 2009
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Sep 23, 2009
Modified Sep 23, 2009
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This rare piece of textile on display (starting today) at the American Museum of Natural History was made by one million wild Golden Orb spiders from Madagascar (they can grow up to the size of a human hand)! At least, they produced the silk for it. Nothing quite like spider silk to keep you warm in the winter—Snuggie should get on that.
Some facts: It measures 11 feet by 4 feet and took four years to make using a painstaking technique developed more than 100 years ago. "This unique textile draws on the legacy of a French missionary, Jacob Paul Camboué, who worked with spiders in Madagascar in the 1880s and 1890s. Previously, the only known spider-silk textile of note was exhibited at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900, and it was subsequently lost."
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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