Taschen

Hello, Readers!

2011-07-30T16:32:00.001-04:00

After quite a long time, I'm embroidering again! Stay tuned for new updates on some rather old projects.

Hello, All

2010-11-19T11:13:00.002-05:00

As you have probably assumed, I've been rather busy this semester. I've noticed that my number of "followers" has steadily increased in spite of my inactivity; I promise, more content is on the way!

Until then, I hope everyone is well, and finds joy in their own hobbies, interests, and pursuits!

-TZ

Latticework purse - embroidery complete!

2010-08-26T12:07:00.003-04:00

120 hrs 50 min later, here's the complete embroidered rectangle that will become a purse sometime soon. There are 545 (count 'em!) eyelets. Also included in the picture is a sample for the suspension loop. The side-stitching will be worked in the crimson color as well. Looking forward to seeing this finished!

Latticework purse progress: 116 hrs

2010-08-23T11:21:00.002-04:00

No pictures today, just a quick update. I'm getting to the end of the surface embroidery; I'm guessing maybe 6 to 8 more hours to go on that. And then of course the side-stitching, and all the little tassels and other bits and pieces...

New brickstitch patterns for your enjoyment

2010-08-10T20:50:00.005-04:00

Redacted from the 14th C. altar frontal at the Cloisters Museum in NYC (which I recently re-visited). This time I've included photos of the original along with my patterns:

Cushions - almost finished

2010-08-10T18:49:00.002-04:00

Here are a pair of cushions that I'd been working on in my spare time. I call these 'functional experiments' because they were made quickly and relatively easily, using cheap materials (i.e. cotton thread), and not really meant to be portfolio pieces. Even if I did have a portfolio. Anyway, I had wanted to try out these patterns, and decided to make little cushions to rest my longsword upon. I will finish the seams like I do my purses. I haven't decided whether or not to add tassels to the corners yet.

If anyone wants to know, the sword is by Albion Swords, the Crecy.
The cushion under the tip of the sword you may recognize as being based on the Westphalian cushion (see images of original here). The other is based on an ecclesiastical stole. See some similar work at Marta's blog Acus et filium, particularly this post and this post. She does some lovely work!

A little bit of progress

2010-05-18T17:15:00.005-04:00

The blue latticework purse, at 91 hrs 40 minutes:

Work has been slow on this piece for a few reasons. The biggest culprit is all the little eyelets; not only are they time consuming, but all the embroidery is so tight that the needle often needs extra encouragement to pierce the holes in the ground fabric. I've broken at least a half-dozen needles so far. Modern needles, mind you. I shudder to think about how I'd fare using some hand-made needles.

One of the other reasons progress has been slow is due to this little side-project: I'd decided that, after my class on German counted work, I should really have some examples that use the 2/1 stitch slope (sometimes referred to as Gobelin stitch). The patterns are from Richard Wymarc's A Stitch Out Of Time (patterns 6 & 10 on that page). Both will become small cushions:

Yes, still alive

2010-05-16T21:27:00.000-04:00

Semester finished, so in the next week maybe I'll get some embroidery work done.

Meanwhile, enjoy some great photos at Racaire's blog here (16 May posting), which includes some great detail shots of two purses!

Teaching brick stitch

2010-03-16T13:58:00.004-04:00

These days I am only minimally active in the SCA, due in part to the fact that I am studying German longsword on Saturdays (when SCA events usually take place). Also, the fact that I am trying to raise the bar in my own "historical authenticity", something that certain segments of the rather vast SCA population choose to overlook (and I do feel awkward by my lack of clothing/accoutrement that meet this high standard that I'd prefer to achieve). I am, however, very fortunate to have a small group of amazing researchers and artisans in my local group who are a constant inspiration, even though their own times/places of interest is far removed from my own.

So when said small group of people asked me if I'd be interested in teaching a class on brick stitch, with which I've become rather familiar, I of course said that I would. So, I began coming up with some class materials, including a handout, a large-format visual aid, and naturally I brought along a lot of my own work so my 'students' so see some examples up close and personal.

The other thing I did, which—and I hate to seem immodest here—I thought was a rather clever idea, was hand out a student feedback form in the last few minutes, in which the participants good give me comments and criticisms about my class, my teaching method, whatever. But I liked having these little comments to work off of to improve the class whenever I teach it again. And also during the course of teaching, I noticed little things myself, for example an erroneous comment in my handout in which I misinterpreted an example of gobelin stitch for brick stitch.

Although I'm sure many of my readers already have at least a working knowledge of brick stitch, but once I have an updated version of my handout, perhaps I will post it up here (I say "perhaps" because I'm concerned about certain museums' images I've used without permission). Things I'm improving bit by bit include: editing and expanding on some of the historical info, adding a list of relevant books and articles besides the ones I directly cite, and adding some more images of extant pieces. I've already added tutorial graphics (as per one student's request), and added a few more embroidery patterns that they can work from.

Some other comments (which, happily, were all positive) included the wish for more time (and I agree, 1 hour was decent enough for the presentation aspect, but not really for the hands-on portion), and I did overhear one person telling another about how refreshing? it was to attend a needlework class taught by a man. I smiled at that :-)

Latticework purse: 72 hrs, 20 min

2010-02-17T10:49:00.003-05:00

Whole thing:

Corner detail:

Yes, still here!

2010-02-08T18:06:00.004-05:00

I author a few blogs, and posting is fairly infrequent on all of them. However, I always feel a bit guilty about going quiet on this one, since I know there are a decent amount of people who visit it. And while I'm on the subject, thank you all for visiting and commenting—knowing there are people out there with similar interests is a big part of what keeps me motivated!

A few things for today's post:

• I've made some progress on the latticework purse, but haven't taken any pictures recently. I'll get around to that before the week is out.

• I've been working on a mock-up for a 16th century frame purse—my first commission, for a friend of mine—but the pattern I've come up with need some serious re-working, because I'm not at all happy with it. Expect to hear more as this project develops.

• A while back, I came up with some patterns, not necessarily based on any extant pieces, but just getting some ideas on paper (or the computer screen, rather) for my next few projects. These are much simpler than the recent pattern redactions I've posted, and I wasn't originally planning on posting them.. but why not! Here they are:

• Speaking of patterns, I'm continually impressed with my friend Racaire's adaptation of one of my patterns. For those of you who aren't familiar with her and her work, here's her latest progress on that piece.

That's all I have to offer tonight :-)

Latticework purse progress

2009-10-24T14:40:00.004-04:00

This is after approximately 20 hours of work. Ground is 40ct linen.

Spider silk textile project

2009-09-27T21:46:00.001-04:00

A friend sent me an interesting article on a project involving a million spiders, and the resulting textile woven from their silk. Read that here: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/09/spider-silk/

An email from the ether..?

2009-09-03T17:16:00.002-04:00

This afternoon I received an email from a Dr. Anna Kyritsi about a 7-day "EU Grundtvig Workshop in Cyprus" on needlework and traditional 'female' art. It mentioned the possibility of a grant that would cover even the cost of travel. Naturally, I'm intrigued, and yet I have no idea how this email came to be in my inbox. It doesn't appear to have been forwarded by anyone whom I know, nor do I ever recall signing up for any such email notification. And it made it past my spam filter.

Do any of you fellow textile people know anything about this? The website is this: www.biolearning.eu

13th century brick stitch pattern, revised version

2009-09-01T20:14:00.004-04:00

As promised, here's the pattern I've come up with to account for the tantalizing gaps in KIK/IRPA object no. 43380. 49% squinting at the computer screen, 51% guesswork:

Warning: the image is pretty big. Probably bigger than it needed to be.

The grey areas are where the ground fabric seems to be consistently exposed. Much like the last pattern I posted, this could be due to caustic dyestuff eating away the threads, intentional picking out of thread (maybe it was gold!), left like that intentionally for a textured effect, or perhaps some other reason that I just can't think of yet. I have no data yet as to which reason is more likely.

Blue, white & gold purse finished!

2009-08-31T13:11:00.002-04:00

Based on a late 13th century Spanish reliquary purse; KIK/IRPA object no. 43380. I designed the pattern myself, based on the portion of the extant piece that was generally intact and unobscured. See Medieval Arts & Crafts for a slightly different interpretation. I am currently working on drafting the rest of the pattern, after lots of squinting at those archival photos and a healthy dose of guesswork. I'll post that pattern soon.

Materials for this purse: 32-ct ground (cotton, I think), light blue linen lining (just something I had laying around). Embroidery worked in Kreinik silk floss (1096, 2016, 5013 & 7172).

The drawstrings were worked with pairs of individual strands of the Kreinik floss in a broad lace of 5 loops; the suspension loop with single strands in a lace piol (braids #1 and #14 in Tak v Bowes.., respectively). While I'm very happy with the quality and fineness of the suspension loop—if I may say so myself!—I do think it's proportionally too small for this purse. However, since it took me around 8 hrs to make that length of braid, I wasn't about to scrap it and start again.

The gimp thread for the turkshead knots were also made from the Kreinik floss, plied and wound around a linen core. I'm not entirely happy with the result (at this point, I was just trying to be consistent by using the same type of threads for everything), but the resulting knots are passable for my first attempts. I may replace the first two I made at a later date, since I quickly got better at tying them, and they look noticeably worse than the rest (at least to me!)

The side-stitching, as you can see, was worked in two colors. I was very happy with the result, except for the fact that I should have doubled the threads in each tablet hole; the woven band ended up being slightly too narrow for adequate coverage of the seams and some "blank space" can be seen peeking through, as well as the warp-stitches. Live and learn..

Brickstitch purse with gold: finished!

2009-08-23T16:02:00.005-04:00

Based on the 14th century bag in the V&A Museum's collection, object 8313-1863

Embroidery pattern adapted from A Stitch Out of Time by T. J. Mitchell (aka Richard Wymarc).

Materials: 32-count linen ground, silk (unknown remnant) lining. Embroidery worked in Kreinik silk flosses (1119, 2015, 2017), DMC linen floss, and gold passing thread.

The drawstrings were worked with pairs of individual strands of the Kreinik floss in a broad lace of 5 loops; the suspension loop with individual strands in a lace bend round (braids #1 and #25 in Tak v Bowes Departed, respectively).

The side-stitching was woven with 16 2-hole cards threaded with individual strands of the Kreinik floss.

Side stitching on purses

2009-07-27T14:23:00.002-04:00

OK, someone a few posts back commented that they'd like to know how I finish my purses. I was taught by a friend of mine, Lois S., a method that's a cross between finger loop braiding and weaving. I was going to try to come up with sketch to illustrate the process, but I ran across a post on the Medieval Silkwork blog that has an illustration already. So, I'll just point you in that direction. If you can't read Dutch any better than I can, fear not, it's frightfully simple: As you switch the loops between fingers (and be consistent about which loop passes through the other... for example, bottom always passing through top), you're creating a shed. The weft — here, your needle and thread — spirals through the shed, than into the edge of the purse, then into the next shed, etc. Continue until it's finished.

As for the direction of the side-stitching: I don't know if anyone's researched this in depth or not. I've gotten into the habit of starting on the top corner, moving across the top edge, and down the side. This way, when I finish I can use the leftover 'warp' for a corner tassel. I can't tell you if this is an historically accurate way of doing it or not; I have neither seen nor done the research myself at this point. As always, comments and criticisms are always welcome :-)

The main problem I've found with the above method is due to the fact that it takes two people to work: one manipulating the loops, one stitching, and both trying to maintain a consistent tension. At the moment, I don't have anyone around to be that second person. So, I've been experimenting with a one-person method; replace the finger loop idea with a series of tablets, with only two threads per tablet, and alternating between Z and S orientation. Move the pack of tablets forward a half-turn for each pick.

With a bit of practice, and some luck, I managed to make it work!

See that blue thread holding on to the purse on the left? When the time comes to turn the corner and work down the side, I'll put another loop through the fabric under the corner, and then attach that to the anchor at the left. This way, you're always working in a straight line, which is obviously what the threads want to do anyway. Obeying the laws of physics is key to not going insane during a project like this..

A new pattern

2009-07-27T13:37:00.003-04:00

I've been intrigued by the late 13th c. reliquary bag IRPA obj. 21717 for some time now; between yesterday night and this morning I had nothing better to do, so I came up with a possible interpretation of the pattern, and also a small sample (below). What's interesting about this is that it seems to mix brick stitch (with which I've become quite familiar by now) and a kind of lattice motif made by — I assume — using an awl to spread apart the threads and stitching it open, essentially like a lacing hole on a garment. It also has portions where the ground fabric is visible. Unfortunately, I can't determine whether this was intentional or not; I suppose the stitching could have been destroyed by caustic dyes, or picked out (for example, to recycle gold thread). I've just gone with the notion that it was intended that way, and built my pattern to match that idea.

Here's the sample that I did on some scrap fabric (32-ct, I think) with cotton embroidery floss:
You may notice that the yellow-bordered latticework doesn't have vertical stitches. I hadn't originally put them into the pattern, but by the time I got to the white portions and the unbordered latticework (where the ground fabric can be seen) I decided that it did need those stitches on the top and bottom, otherwise it would look strange.

The website states that the purse is made of sheep's wool, silk (?), and gold. From just looking at the available pictures, I can't seem to determine where the gold is. I believe this is yet another purse referenced in Frieda Sorber's Tongeren Basiliek O-L-Vrouw Geboorte. I really must get myself a copy of that book.

I'd be interested to hear/see any ideas or alternate interpretations of this piece!

Purse update

2009-07-25T16:26:00.007-04:00

Well, although I got all my silk dyeing supplies together, that project got put on hold. The person helping me with that is out of town at the moment... but not to worry, I've used the time for the purses instead.

I've done a few finger loop braids for the drawstrings and suspension loops. My favorite so far is this one:

A Lace Piol (Tak v bowes.. #14)
I couldn't find my ruler, so I just used a quarter and .50€ piece for reference (they're about the same size). Because I used Kreinik silk for the embroidery of my three in-progress purses, I wanted to use it for all the detail work as well (for consistency's sake). I pulled apart the individual strands.. it took me about 8 hours to get a decent length. Definitely the finest and most time-consuming braid I've done.

The other thing I did was prepare the embroidered panels for being side-stitched; I put the lining in, and basted everything together to keep it from moving around during the final process.

In the last one, what I decided to do was put the suspension loop through the edge. It'll get run over by the side-stitching to be extra-secure.

Soon (hopefully Monday, but I don't want to make any promises) I'll write a post on the side-stitching process. While I was in Prague I used the two-person method, but there's an equally awkward way to finish it with only two hands.

Quiet, but not unproductive!

2009-07-03T18:31:00.002-04:00

Since getting settled back in my hometown (including finding employment and all that), I've had a chance to get back into my hobbies. I've been taking a bit of a break from the purses (I'll get back to them soon) to do a bit of dyeing and weaving.

I just got my order of cochineal in the mail today, and I already have a good amount of silk thread to dye. So stay tuned for pictures (hoping to do my dyeing sometime in the next week and a half).

Excuses, excuses..

2009-05-06T01:53:00.003-04:00

To my dear readers,

I know, I haven't posted anything in the last month. Life happens, as you all know. Currently I'm working on enjoying the remainder of my Czech adventure, since I'll be returning to the states in about 2 weeks. There, I'll be putting my nose to the grindstone to finish up undergrad - which I ungracefully abandoned two years ago. After that, who knows..?

This is by no means the end of Taschen (in fact I still have some pictures to share from Dresden, etc), but I'm just focusing on travel for now. Stay tuned, and thanks for reading!

How could I forget?!

2009-02-28T03:59:00.002-05:00

Last April, during a 2-week holiday in Switzerland (I really needed to get out of NY and away from my job, who could blame me?), I happened upon this velvet purse in the Historiches Museum in Lucerne:

Unfortunately, I don't have much information to share with you. It was described as a "purse of blue velvet lined with buckskin"; the acquisition number is 2E-2.04.01.

Surprisingly the museum director, a Dr. Heinz Horat, was kind enough to speak with me. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to produce much more information than what I already had (yes, he actually went and dug through paperwork for me). He explained that many of the museum's acquisitions were collected in the 19th century, during which time the building was an armoury. Thus, when it was turned into a museum, they were rich in artefacts but poor in documentation. Dr. Horat surmised that the purse dated from the 18th century.

Embroidery complete

2009-02-19T08:25:00.005-05:00

The brickstitch embroideries I've been working on are complete, and ready to be turned into purses. Here's what they look like so far (not to scale):

Wow.

2009-02-16T10:35:00.002-05:00

Living history and fiber geeks alike can all drool over this with me.

While looking around online for textiles to use for my purses, I stumbled across Malleries. They have some pieces of (and I'll have to take their word on this of course) 16th century Italian silk. Imagine using 400-year-old silk for your clothing and accessories, eh?

It comes at a price, though. This bit, reincarnated as a table runner, costs $2,800, and this bedhanging can be yours for only $6,400!

A selection of pictures from the Germanisches Nationalmuseum

2009-02-14T14:08:00.013-05:00

First, a trapezoidal purse. Well, not just any trapezoidal purse, but one I've seen black and white images (here, here, and here) of before, and now have finally seen in person:

Bestickte Tasche mit Liebesgott und Liebespaar (GNM # T 1213)
ca. 1301–1315
I'll definitely be talking more about this (and trapezoidal purses in general) in a forthcoming post, so I'll hold off commentary for now.

Some hunting purses. These were all amazing, particularly the second one down for its embroidery and beadwork, and the third one down for sheer size. Dimensions weren't given, and I'm not so hot about eyeballing size. But let's just say that normally when I think of "purse", I think of something dainty, or something small but utilitarian to strap to your belt. This thing reminded me more of a book-bag. Seriously, you could stuff one of your hunting dogs in this thing.

[top] Jagdtasche, sog. Schwedler (GNM # ???), ca. 1650 - 1699
[center] Jagdtasche, sog. Schwedler (GNM # W 3188), ca. 1600 - 1649
[bottom] Falknertasche (GNM # W 1576), 1728
Still not sure how to translate "Falknertasche", but possibly a falconer's bag? I'll ask my German teacher.

Next, an extant girdle pouch, and some artistic representations. Would you believe that the museum didn't have a little info plaque for this little leather beauty? Me neither. I'm pretty sure I circled the case a few times looking for one but all in vain. Better luck next time (yes, I really hope there's a next time).

[top] leather girdle bag; acq. # ???, date ???
[bottom] details from the Geißelung Christi (GNM # Gm 113a), ca. 1400 - 1410
Click here to see the whole painting.

A reliquary bag. I'd be very interested to try an make something like this, with the small metal plaques and pearls and metal thread everywhere. All my photos of this piece are a bit hazy, due to the glare off the glass. However, I'd like to point out the fact that, yes, there is a mirror placed underneath the purse, so you can see the reverse side. What a novel concept! Other museums, take note.

Reliquienbeutel (GNM # KG 562), ca. 993

Lastly, two paintings and a sculpture:

[left] Werkstatt des Hans Traut (?), Altar aus der Nürberger Augustinerkirche
(GNM # Gm 142-148), 1487
[middle] Meister der Lyversberger Passion, Die Anbetung der Könige
(GNM # Gm 989), ca. 1460
[right] Adam Kraft, Relief von der alten Stadtwaage
(GNM # PI 2849), ca. 1460 - 1509

There are plenty of other pictures I could put up here, but these were the highlights. More detailed commentary will have to wait for another day.

The calm before the storm..

2009-02-03T14:00:00.003-05:00

..the image storm that is. Went to Nürnberg this past weekend, and I have a ton of images - mainly from the Germanisches Nationalmuseum - to share here. Just need a bit of time to sort through them all, so stay tuned!

A webpage of interest..

2009-01-25T03:29:00.003-05:00

Hémiole's blog; mainly costume and accessories, of particular interest (to me at least) are her two interpretations of "netted" purses (aumônière "en filet"), found here and here. The site is in French (the reading of which, if nothing else, will give me some significantly missed practice..)

More fingerloops and a sketch

2009-01-03T16:45:00.008-05:00

First things first.. more fingerloops. From left to right we have: A Lace Dawns (#13); A Lace Bend Broad (#24), strange but interesting; A Grene Dorge (#38), which is the first fingerloop pattern I ever learned, taught by Lois Swales herself (a researcher of such things whom I know from Ithaca); and A Broad Lace Party (#23), which I really like but holy hell is it time-consuming.

In other news, a second trip to the St Agnes of Bohemia Convent yielded this sketch of Pleydenwurff's Beheading of St Barbara (first referred to in this post). I am no great artist, much less with a pencil and paper. But at least you can get the gist from this. Or I can. Hopefully you all can visit it in person, because this doesn't do it much justice:

Purse mock-up, part 2

2008-12-31T08:13:00.003-05:00

OK, here's the second half of the side stitching. The tension was much better this time around, although of course the sides of the mouth are slightly different lengths as a result.

I had two goals with the second half: experiment with adding a little ear to aid in opening the purse; and see what I could do about hiding the unfinished end from the first half. I cut off the knot and buried it between the fabric edges. This mostly worked, but was a little sloppy, as the corner was difficult enough on its own.

Another idea I had a while ago, which Rebecca reminded me of, was the fact that these ends could be turned into tassels or covered by knopps of some sort.

Purse mock-up, part 1

2008-12-30T09:30:00.007-05:00

Here's my first attempt at the seam stitching for my purses, and I have Rebecca to thank for the extra two hands. I feel pretty good about it, although I had some tensioning issues when I started resulting in some puckering. I am very happy about this one!

This was actually done yesterday. Rebecca and I finished the second half today. And I will post pictures of that tomorrow.

Fingerloop braids

2008-12-30T09:13:00.008-05:00

Working from Tak V Bowes Departed:

From left to right:
A Lace Bend Round (#25), A Broad Lace of 5 Loops (#1), A Broad Lace Chevron (#29), A Thin Lace of 5 Loops (#3), A Lace Endented (#18), A Lace Chain Broad (#27), An Endented Lace (#6), A Round Lace of 5 Loops (#2), A Lace Baston (#4)

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T14:12:00.008-05:00

I received my copy of Tak V Bowes Departed this morning! I may try out a braid or two shortly after posting :)

Happy holidays, everyone!

UPDATE (26 Dec): Since posting, I've practiced 'A Broad Lace of 5 Loops' (#1), 'A Condrak Lace Departed' (#10), 'A Thin Lace of 5 Loops' (#3), and 'A Broad Lace Party' (#23). I've found that the Condrak one is quite difficult in terms of tension control, but quite nice looking regardless. Not sure what I'd ever use it for, however.

A question for all you embroiderers

2008-12-12T09:06:00.008-05:00

I've only recently started using silk for my projects. I began buying silk floss from Kreinik (their Silk Mori), in part because it was available (in very limited amounts) in some local craft stores, and later because it was simple to order online. Aside from relative ease of acquisition, their colors seem to be consistent*, meaning that if I ever ran out of a color, I could just order more and not worry about later skeins being slightly "off".

I'm not ready for the jump yet, but I've been thinking about the future of my embroidery. That is, not using your typical (and obviously modern) spun/plied silk. As an example, compare one of the close-up pictures from my previous post with this, or any close-up picture of that German Altar Frontal in the Cloisters (go to Textiles from the Cloisters for some great close-ups).

So, here's my question: Where can one get silks like this? I'm assuming that I'll probably need to dye it myself, but I'd just like to know what's out there. Any suggestions?

*OK, in all honesty, this DID happen to me once. And for a "medieval" project, why bother complaining about it? Nothing wrong with a little inconsistency there.. I'll point this out when that project is done and I have pictures of it.

UPDATE [17 Dec]: Kathy Storm posted (Medieval Arts & Crafts) her opinions on several type of embroidery floss available. Helpful - and with a visual aid! Do check it out.

Some close-ups...

2008-12-02T16:16:00.003-05:00

...of the two embroidered purses I'm currently working on:

Bonus Image! This is me:

Progress is being made

2008-12-01T16:20:00.003-05:00

The picture isn't the best, but you can see that I have, indeed, been working!

Again, for those of you who may be new to reading -- is it egotistical of me to believe that more than a half-dozen people read this thing? :-) -- this is the pattern I redacted from IRPA Obj# 43380.

Back to work!

2008-11-14T07:08:00.002-05:00

My box o' stuff finally arrived in the mail. After what seemed to be an inordinately slow journey between New York and Prague, my embroidery supplies and I have been reunited.

Thanks, Mom.

In the interim

2008-10-12T09:34:00.003-04:00

I know I haven't posted much here since I arrived in Prague. This is due partially to work keeping me more than busy on the weekdays, partially to the absence of my embroidery supplies which are still in NY, and partially to not finding any more purse or purse-related resources since the last museum I posted about.

So I invite my readers to read my other blog, Tristán in Europe, in the meantime.

St Agnes of Bohemia, continued

2008-08-31T16:34:00.009-04:00

Quick post tonight, about the other noteable purse representations in the convent-cum-museum:

Epitaph with the Assumption and Donors by Hans Pleydenwurff (Nürnberg, ca. 1470): a slim rectangular leather purse, suspended from (and attached directly to) the belt via a pair of chains. Looks like the attachment points at the belt were shaped like spades, and the attachment points on the top face of the purse were shaped like spades. I think I'm reading too much into it already by identifying them as such and such shapes, but honestly.. that's what they looked like. There was also some sort of plaque in the middle of the flap.. something you'd assume, on a modern purse, would conceal a snap-closure behind it. Again, I'm reading into it from a much too modern a perspective. But, haven't not seen any extant examples of this type, I don't know else how to describe it.

Another tidbit about this piece of art, in general, was the paternoster carried by the donor's wife (?). I wish I had a picture for Chris Laning at Paternosters, although maybe nothing she's never seen before, there was a nice single marker bead (~~"ave"?~~ I think I meant gaud) that looked like a sphere of silver encrusted with tiny gems.

In another piece by Hans Pleydenwurff, the Beheading of St Barbara, there was a nice frame purse; black with a gold frame.. no tassles, but there were several knopfs that seemed to be decorated with pearls. No sketch of this can do it justice, I just really need to get permission to take a picture.

Lastly, St Christopher with the Infant Jesus (Sv Kryštof s Ježískem)... a wooden relief, by an unknown Bohemian artist ca. 1500-1510, with what Goubitz referrs to as a "harp frame" purse. When I'm reunited with my copy of the book I'll recheck this (otherwise back me up or correct me), but I seem to recall that he categorized this "type" soley on examples in art, since he had never seen an extant example. It is frustrating, because it's really difficult to figure out how they work without being able to hold one, or at least see one in the flesh.

P.S. Regarding the taxonomy Goubitz established: I love K. Larsdatter's site, particularly the purse page. However, I don't think I completely agree with some of the examples she's listed under the "harp frame" type. Of course, again due to the fact that these examples are all artistic representations, it can get a bit subjective. So that's just me :-)

That's all for now!

Ask, and ye shall recieve; Part II

2008-08-25T11:10:00.004-04:00

Here's a small - but not terrible - view of the Visitation scene from the St James Altarpiece (mentioned in the St Agnes of Bohemia post).

Ask, and ye shall recieve..

2008-08-25T03:02:00.005-04:00

..albeit in poor resolution.

Here's a picture of the Třeboň Altarpiece scene I mentioned in my last post. You can barely make out the buckled strap since the image is so grainy, but it's better than nothing. I will still attempt to get either a drawing, or a much better photograph posted before long.

A visit to the St Agnes of Bohemia Convent..

2008-08-24T09:39:00.014-04:00

..wherein resides an impressive collection of medieval art. There, I had the chance to see - quite possibly - more wood-and-polychrome Madonnas With Child than I would ever expect to find under one roof.

Fortunately for me (as, let's face it, M.W.C.s are not really my medieval cup o' tea) there were some pieces of art that had purses in them! Good thing I brought my little notebook. I wish that photography was allowed (even though I don't have my camera, I could steal someone else's next time.. but it's a moot point) so I could share some pictures, but alas. At the very least, I'll try to make some drawings based on my notes and in-museum sketches, but don't hold your breath.

First off, a nice clear example of a ring-frame purse in the Entombment (Kladení Krista do hrobu) scene of the Třeboň Altarpiece (Oltář třeboňský) by [surprise!] the Master of the Třeboň Altarpiece (Mistr Třeboňského oltáře), dated at around 1380-1385. The purse is worn by one of two men who are lowering Christ's body into the tomb, while the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene(?), and a few other haloed persons* watch. It's undecorated, and I can only assume that it would've been executed in leather. What drew me to it was the way it's attached to the man's belt (even though I can't really see a belt at all.. there's a fold in his tunic, I'll have to assume he's got a belt under there somewhere). Around a tertiary loop on the frame** is wound a small leather strap, complete with buckle. The strap also shows a few extra belt holes as well. Why? Is the ability to adjust your purse by a few centimeters closer or further from your midsection all that necessary? Could it be that the gentleman in question had only a leftover bit of belt/garter/etc strap to which he could fasten purse to belt, or was the strap "part" of the purse itself? I have no idea; all I know is I haven't yet seen many extant examples of fastening devices included with the purse.

In another painted panel, the Visitation (Navštívení Panny Marie) scene of the St James Altarpiece (Oltář svatojakubský) by the workshop of the Master of the Rajhrad Altarpiece (Mistr Rajhradského oltáře), dated around 1430, St Elizabeth is wearing a purse very similar in design to this French purse: LACMA obj. M.91.165. St Elizabeth's, however, has a main knopf/tassle on the base of the purse, and one on each of the two drawstrings (does that French purse have 3 drawstrings??). Also, I noticed that there was some sort of donut-shaped bead right about the opening. I was curious as to whether or not that was some sort of slider to help keep the purse closed (as if gravity weren't enough) or to keep prying fingers out (as if they couldn't simply cut the suspension loop and run off with the whole thing.. see Goubitz's Purses in Pieces). It could be something akin to the 'ears' seen on the French one (to aid in opening), but I'm not convinced. I'm not actually convinced that both those knopfs on the French purse are 'ears'.. there's something going on in the one in the background.

There were two more, but this post is getting a wee bit long, and believe it or not, I actually have some work to do :-( I'll discuss the other ones later, and hopefully have some sketches at some point too!

*OK, I have the details somewhere, just not with me at the moment. It's besides the point anyhow.
**I promise a diagram!

A frame purse tracked down

2008-08-18T15:38:00.003-04:00

When I started all this purse madness, I wasn't very diligent about keeping track of my sources.. at least online sources. This proved to be quite aggravating, because after a year or so of staring at a few images that I had taken from SOMEONE's webpage SOMEWHERE.. I essentially gave up and filed them under "Well I hope I run across it in a museum one day."

Fortunately, one such mystery was solved tonight, after browsing around the Historické kostýmy a střihy site.. which looks like it was just updated today(?).

It's this little beauty right here. There are a few other purses scattered about the extant accessories section, as well as some nice belts, shoes, gloves, and other tidbits.

P.S. I still haven't tracked down the mystery purse from my first post, anyone out there have any clues?

A side note

2008-08-15T06:51:00.004-04:00

While posting the pictures in the previous post, I noticed that the photobucket sub-folder containing all these images is called "15th C purse project". Whereas Timothy Mitchell (A Stitch Out of Time) describes this particular stitching technique as being fashionable in the late 14th and early 15th centuries, it wasn't really my intent to pidgeon-hole the examples I've shown so far to such a precise time. Not a big problem, but in retrospect it irks me. I'd change the name of the subfolder, except then I'd have to edit all the posts with pictures with their resulting new URLs. Not worth it. I just wanted to point it out - not precisely an error, but not entirely a lack of one. :-)

Since I can't work on my current projects...

2008-08-15T06:09:00.004-04:00

...I'll show off an old one. My first completed purse worked in the brick-stitch (sometimes referred to as opus teutonicum although I'm not entirely sure that's precise.. any comments here?)

Worked in 6-strand cotton embroidery floss on 28-ct cotton evenweave, no seam on the bottom. The heraldic elements were adapted from the arms I display at living history events (e.g. SCA), and only appear on one side of the purse (which I consider the "front" side). The lining is white silk brocade that I had lying aroud.

Self-critizism:
- Not going to get into the cotton vs silk/linen issue here, as it was my 1st attempt and I was/am a poor student :-)
- As far as construction is concerned, I made this before I fully understood the more historically common treatments of the seams (e.g. the "Gobelien stitch".. not sure if I spelled that correctly).
- I understand now that tassle heads were rarely (if ever) left uncovered.
- With the above comment in mind, my treatement of the attachement between drawstrings and tassles could've been a bit more thought-out..
- Lacks a suspension cord.

Some things I learned from this:
- Why the suspension loop is a good idea. (Because if you suspend it from the drawstrings, you will anger yourself every time you try to fish something out of it.)
- How to assimilate designs to 'fit' the style: better to lose some of the 'realism' of the design (e.g. my heraldic trebucht) in order to achieve a consistent look to the piece. It's easier for me to intuit this than to put it into writing. At least for now.

Here's a view of the back:

Other things I'm working on

2008-07-28T19:29:00.001-04:00

Here's a finished piece of embroidery to be turned into a very small reliquary purse. The pattern, simple as it is, is in fact documentable (although perhaps not the colors) to the late 14th century German (Lower Saxony?) wallhanging that's on display at the Cloisters. Silk over cotton (I know, the cotton's not really appropriate, but in the end no one will see it). UPDATE: Here's a decent image of the whole piece, but not very detailed.

Beneath that is something a little more recognizable, based on (not stitch for stich, but the general pattern and approx. dimensions) one of the V&A Museum's purses, no. 8313-1863. This one I've done silk and linen on linen. I will include the gold thread eventually. For the pattern I have T. J. Mitchell's A Stitch out of Time to thank. Except for the portions underneath where the gold thread will go. That part I had to make up, so I'll take responsibility for that probably not being "right".

Unfortunately, I won't get a chance to work on these for a while – but that's only because I'm moving to the Czech Republic and it doesn't fit in my luggage. But it'll get sent out there at some point, and once I'm established and have a bit of time, I'll get back to it!

Pattern Redaction, part 2

2008-07-28T18:22:00.001-04:00

So this is the pattern that I adapted from the extant piece in my previous post. Not much there yet, but I really like how it's coming out.

Pattern redaction, part 1

2008-06-28T10:43:00.000-04:00

I'll say this again: Difficult up close, even harder using photographs, and migraine-inducing when using digital images (at least when the image resolution is so small that it's hard to distinguish between pixels and stitches).

There are a few areas that are obscured in the photo (this is IRPA Obj# 43380) but I have the main motif worked out. I've adapted it to be repetitive, so that I can use it on its own, but at some point I hope to work out the whole thing. May need to wait until I can visit it in person though.

Here's my redaction thus far (colours are not meant to be exact):

A new old book for me!

2008-06-28T10:32:00.001-04:00

Got my hands on a copy Boudet and Gomond's La Passementerie. Now it is time to brush up on my français.

Just because I haven't been posting...

2008-06-27T10:19:00.000-04:00

...doesn't mean I'm not working!

- I've finally made myself some silk gimp (made two attempts).
- Attempted a Turk's Head knot with one length of gimp, although it turned out to not be long enough to make a substantial knot.
- Embroidery continues.
- Occasionally working on redacting embroidery patterns from a few extant pieces (although this is made extra difficult by the fact that the only sources I have are digital versions of conservators' photos..).

In the near future I hope to be doing a trial run of the - for lack of better terminology - woven purse seams (as per L.S.'s research).

I will post pictures of some of these things as soon as I'm able.. for the one or two people who read this blog ;-)

More good pictures

2008-06-17T12:45:00.000-04:00

Another good one from the Royal Institute for the Study and Conservation of Belgium's Artistic Heritage webpage: An embroidered trapezoidal ring-framed purse (object 40752). Check out all the additional images; there are pictures of the individual pieces of textile (did they deconstruct it?!) and also a shot of the drawstring mouth (usually hidden under the flap). A close-up of the embroidery is included as well. All good pictures; just wish they were larger.

The internet IS still useful!

2008-06-13T11:21:00.000-04:00

Royal Institute for the Study and Conservation of Belgium's Artistic Heritage

Object search for beurs reveals many many interesting finds, particularly this gem: Object 10359

The photographer (bless him!) took a picture of the side of the piece:

Take a look at the frontal pictures, particularly the drawstrings. I wonder if those large turks-head knops are not in fact part of the drawstring, but there to aid opening the bag.. in which case the drawstrings appear to pass through a hole in the center of each.

Go out and buy...

2008-06-13T11:15:00.002-04:00

...Olaf Goubitz's Purses in Pieces: Archaeological Finds of Late Medieval and 16th-century Leather Purses, Pouches, Bags and Cases in the Netherlands.

Have you seen me?

2008-05-28T12:32:00.000-04:00

I found this image a few years ago somewhere online. I can't remember what site, or how I found myself there. Thus I have no data for this object. If you have any idea what museum/collection this purse is in, please please PLEASE let me know! Thanks!