Before we look at a unique medieval embroidery from the Middle Rhine Area, I have an important announcement regarding my Medieval Goldwork Course. Since I announced the re-run of the course, I have received emails from people asking if it is okay to book the course but not attend (all of) the Zoom lessons. Initially, the course was set up with a live component in a time when we were all stuck at home. Now that our lives have become very busy again, this format no longer seems to fit most prospective students. I have therefore started to re-vamp the course into a self-paced online course, which ..read more

Before we start the tutorial proper, just a quick remark about my embroidery workshops in Germany. The Glentleiten workshop had to be cancelled as I have been invited to attend another craft festival, this time in Istanbul, Turkiye. So far, only one person had signed up. The workshop in Halberstadt is also in danger of cancellation due to very few sign-ups. Please consider coming! It is an excellent opportunity to stitch in historical surroundings and inside the world's largest permanently exhibited collection of medieval textiles. When I was in Uzbekistan, I bought a small piece of gold embr ..read more

We were presented with a captivating book on Uzbek Gold Embroidery at the start of the International Festival of Gold Embroidery in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. This exquisite book, adorned with chapters on the rich history of gold embroidery, the vibrant community of gold embroiderers in Bukhara, materials, tools, techniques, and a catalogue of both historic and contemporary masterpieces, is a treasure trove for any embroidery enthusiast. Approximately half of the book is dedicated to stunning pictures of gold embroidery. Regrettably, only the chapters on the history of gold embroidery, the organisat ..read more

Before I let you know what I think of the catalogue accompanying the latest textile exhibition of Museum Catharijneconvent, I have some lovely announcements. Firstly, I have been re-invited to join the International Festival of Goldwork and Jewelery in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. Two years ago, I sadly couldn't honour the invitation as I was very sick with Covid. So, fingers crossed that I stay healthy this time! Secondly, I have been notified by the Royal Dutch National Library that they will yearly archive a copy of my website and make it available in their collection. That's pretty cool too, I thi ..read more

My recreation of the 'Angel Choir' is finished. It is based on a chasuble cross fragment kept at the Bayerische Nationalmuseum in Munich. The fragment is part of a much larger group of embroideries showing the life of Mary and Jesus. There is evidence that these mass-produced embroideries were made with the help of printing blocks. The design drawings were printed onto the embroidery linen. They prove that some embroiderers immediately incorporated the newest technology (printing) into their workshop workflow. The resulting embroideries are very standardised and have a lovely primitive feel. T ..read more

Not sure how many of you studied last week's pictures of the Schlosser set of vestments in great detail. If you did, you might have spotted the same oddities as I did. For starters, there's the 'enhancement' of the faces with oil paint. Not an unusual practice. The skill needed to work these super fine silken stitches to render the faces was something that the restorers of these late-medieval embroideries could no longer do from about the 17th century onwards. Another thing which you might have spotted was the cutting up of orphreys. Some were made less wide (breast pieces of the dalmatics) an ..read more

One of the highlights of my museum tour at the end of November last year, was the Dommuseum Frankfurt. It has nine medieval embroidered vestments on permanent display. Well worth a visit! At the beginning of the year, I showed you a green chasuble with embroideries from the mid-14th century and the second quarter 15th century made in Cologne. This time, I will introduce you to the Schlosser vestment set with embroideries made in both the Netherlands and Cologne. Both were made around AD 1475 (last quarter of the 15th century). The or nue, or shaded gold, used on the figures is very beautiful ..read more

Asking for beer at 9:30h in the morning raised a few eyebrows next door at the abbey. Assuring Friar Markus that it was needed for an embroidery experiment did not improve things much. But it was the truth. What had happened? During my talk for MEDATS, I asked the audience for help with the madder conundrum. Whilst oil will do the trick, the greasy halo is very unsightly. Afterwards, I was contacted by Deborah Fox, who had done some dyeing experiments herself and she suggested alcohol. Ale was omnipresent in the Middle Ages as most water was too polluted to drink. I had always dismissed this o ..read more

When we looked at the embroidered chasuble from Fritzlar with the Virgo inter Virgines iconography last week, I was sure that I would be able to find many Doppelgänger. I had seen this iconography many times before and I was quite sure that these pieces were all very similar. Nope. They are not. As soon as you start to look at these pieces in more detail you will find that they are all different. Either in the placement of the individual figures and/or in the embroidery techniques used. Now what does this mean? On the one hand, these pieces are readily recognisable as a group and on the other ..read more

Late last year, I visited the Domschatz of Fritzlar. This is a small museum with several embroidered medieval textiles on display, which you can photograph as long as you don't use flash. The textiles are extremely well-lit and very close to the display case's glass. This means that you can examine them very well! The small town of Fritzlar itself is well worth a visit as it has these quintessential charming German medieval townhouses. Today, we will examine one of the embroidered chasubles on display. It was made in the late 15th century in Central Germany. Depending on the defenition, this c ..read more