Fleece bales

[anevilgiraffe]

I’m trying to get a load of trade goods sorted for the market hall and have rediscovered a load of what I always assumed were bales of freshly sheared fleece. They have what looks like an irregular wrapping with the fleece visible on the corners.

No recollection of where they came from, but does my assumption sound right? If so is the ‘wrapping’ just the interior of the cut fleece or just a hessian sack? Google is very keen on modern fleece bales.

EDIT: looks like they are Ainsty. https://www.ainstycastings.co.uk/product/trade-goods-a-mixed-x12/
Still not 100% on what they are though..

[snitcythedog]

They look like pressed wool bales.  If you google historical wool press, you will find some contemporary images. 

[anevilgiraffe]

Thanks. Those seem to show fully wrapped bales though. Were bales more post industrial then? They’re painted two different ways on the Ainsty site, one all the same colour, another with more of a sack colour for the wrapping. I’m just not sure what they are to paint them 

[snitcythedog]

Not sure about what color materials that wool packs used to cover the bales.  I suspect that it would not have been dyed as that would have added cost into the process.  From what I can find they use to make the packaging out of jute which makes sense as it is a relatively lightweight cheap material.