TENT - Spoked Wheel Pavilions

[Tanya Guptill]

Fellow tentmakers:

Per our recent discussion regarding spoked-wheel design pavilions, I am
forwarding part of an email Dr. Peter Alford-Andrews sent me today,
detailing history and possible origins of this design.  I am curious if
what the good Professor is detailing is not the same as what can be seen
at  http://www.teleport.com/~tguptill/xfigure5.htm and
http://www.teleport.com/~tguptill/xfigure1.htm
http://www.teleport.com/~tguptill/xfigure11.htm

This is not identical to the spoked wheel design we see at SCA events,
but is a possible origin.  As I am constructing one of these
wheel-topped tents after I complete the Norse one I am currently doing,
I was interested in Dr Andrew's comments.

Mira


Dear Tanya (2)
   Having had a quick look at your wagon-wheel file, I can offer the
following, which i have already mentioned to Wyley this morning.
   A hybrid type emerged in Iran from the thirteenth century onwards, in
which the roof wheel of a trellis tent (yurt) was incorporated at the
apex
of a bell tent. This, in the Iranian climate, has the distinct advantage
of allowing good ventilation at the top, and was presumably due to the
observation that trellis tents were cooler. The wheel was provided with
a
square cover which could be flipped back to make the opening. This
arrangement is evident from about 1310 at the earliest, becoming common
under the Turkmen and Timurid dynasties, and perhaps especially so under
the Safavids in the sixteenth century. The wheel was supported on a
centre
pole in these cases. In some circumstances the tent walls were left off,
and the roof pitched alone. This became common practice for audience
tents, and a further development occured when some gores of the roof
were
omitted at the front to allow full view of the ruler enthroned inside. I
call these split bell canopies. There are illustrations and plenty of
details in the forthcoming book.
   As the Ottomans also appear to have used this hybrid type, probably
borrowed from their rivals the Safavids, it could have reached Europe
through them in the sixteenth century. Round, spoked ventilators were
used
in some mediaeval buildings in England, so there was already a
precedent.
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