So You Think You Know Your Tartans

December 23, 2020 1:07 PM

I have been given 4.5 metres of tartan fabric for Christmas. Can anyone tell me what tartan it is? If it's not an official clan tartan (which it almost certainly isn't), which clan's tartan does it most resemble? My apologies that the colours in the linked photo are not terribly accurate -- when seen in person, the green is a dark forest green, and the red is very dark, more like a burgundy.
posted by orange swan to Grab Bag (8 answers total)

It looks like Princess Mary.
posted by LNM at 1:30 PM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]

Looks like LNM has it - for all your future tartan searching needs, I give you The Tartan Register search - you can search by eg. colour.
posted by penguin pie at 1:33 PM on December 23, 2020 [4 favorites]

(on preview: looks like LNM has it, but I'll post these links for anyone else looking to identify a tartan)

There are a lot of tartans, so in the event no-one here can identify it for you, here are some resources that might help.

This visual tartan index may well be enough.

You can also search the official register of tartans.

If all else fails, you can ask the Tartans Authority to identify it for you, although they charge a fee of £10 (about $13.50) for requests.
posted by underclocked at 1:37 PM on December 23, 2020 [5 favorites]

Here are the official threadcounts for the two Princess Mary variants that the register knows about:

• Princess Mary: G88B6K16Y4K4W4K4G18R10K4R4W4, with colours G=005020MOD GREEN;B=2C4084BLUE;K=101010BLACK;Y=E8C000YELLOW;W=E0E0E0WHITE;R=DC0000RED
• Princess Mary #2: G96G8FSB8K12GO4K4DW4K4G16DR8K4DR8DW4, with colours FSB=2474E8FS BLUE;K=101010BLACK;GO=BC8C00DARK GOLD;DW=B8B8B8OFF WHITE;G=006818GREEN;DR=880000DARK RED;

with a key to the threadcount is here.

That tartan will be registered, even if it's not a clan. The Register actively seeks out patterns to register.
posted by scruss at 4:07 PM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]

Also, it may be comforting to know that the very idea of "official clan tartans" is a completely invented thing from the 19th century. The essay by Hugh Trevor-Roper in The Invention of Tradition (Cambridge UP, 1983) is good on this.
posted by unreadyhero at 10:34 PM on December 23, 2020 [4 favorites]

(You may be interested to know that you can design your own tartan and get it registered - there are also companies that will help you with the process from design to registration and production of samples - here is one from Kinloch Anderson for example. When I spoke to them a couple of years ago, they were saying that you would have to order about 60 metres of whatever design you wanted, minimum)
posted by rongorongo at 3:52 AM on December 24, 2020 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: There is a line of blue in the Princess Mary tartan that isn't in my fabric, but otherwise yes, it is really close resemblance, so that's what I'll go with.

Thanks everyone, and I'm really impressed by the comprehensive list of resources you added to this thread.
posted by orange swan at 6:35 PM on December 24, 2020

there are also companies that will help you with the process from design to registration and production of samples - here is one from Kinloch Anderson for example.

Oh, that's interesting - I live not too far from Kinloch Anderson, have been in there once, but sometimes wonder why they have a massive warehouse in Leith rather than a 'proper' shop front. I'd forgotten that they're actually manufacturing the stuff! It's funny going into the warehouse - one minute you're looking at an uninspiring warehouse on Commercial Street, the next you're in a tasteful tartan showroom with hints of hunting lodge (excuse the Sarah Cox in that pic).
posted by penguin pie at 7:22 AM on December 26, 2020