Last week, I promised you a more detailed blog post on the gold threads that are regularly found in archaeological excavations. In Germany, Dr. Ina Schneebauer-Meißner wrote her 2010 diploma thesis titled “Untersuchungen an Goldtextilien des frühen Mittelalters” (= Investigations of gold textiles from the early Middle Ages). You can Read more
When and where did the use of gold threads in embroidery start? The discovery of gold threads in archaeological excavations could help answer that question. However, gold threads are also often used in (tablet) weaving. So, gold threads in an excavation equal the presence of goldwork embroidery is a bit Read more
In August 2017, my husband and I visited the Diocesan Museum in Brixen and the Stadtmuseum Klausen, both in Northern Italy. These museums have spectacular collections of historical embroidery with several pieces on display. You can read more on that specific road trip in this blog post. What caught my Read more
Planning a new embroidery course is always quite exciting. For starters, rummaging through beautiful materials to find the perfect combinations to create the project is a real treat. But it is also quite nerve-racking. After all, creating a new medieval goldwork project, writing instructions, and taping videos takes a lot Read more
My last blog post on the Cappa leonis in Aachen sparked quite a discussion amongst scholars and practitioners of needlelace embroidery. As most of it was sent via private email, I am going to summarise its contents in this additional blog post. By the way, I had to restrict the Read more
In today’s blog, we will examine the so-called Cappa leonis held in the Cathedral Treasury of Aachen, Germany. A perfect example of more is more. It was likely used as the coronation mantle for Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, crowned in AD 1349 in Aachen and Charles V, Holy Roman Read more
Back in 2020, when we were all cooped up inside, I taught an 8-part series on Zoom called the Imperial Goldwork Course. The series was based on the book “Lehrcurs der Goldstickerei” published in 1902 by Amelie von Saint-George. I have now uploaded the original PDFs and the recorded Zoom Read more
Today, I am sharing a free medieval embroidery pattern with you. Late last year, I visited the Treasury of the basilica of St Servatius in Maastricht, the Netherlands. Among the display cases with medieval textiles sat this very damaged alms purse. Colours faded and threads fallen out. When I studied Read more
The Cathedral Museum of Pisa, Italy, holds an Opus ciprense embroidery in the form of a large antependium. We’ve already visited this museum to study the cope of Gelasius II. What makes this 14th-century antependium so special is that it is one of only three pieces of surviving Opus ciprense: Read more
Literature research on the Opus florentinum embroideries shown in last week’s blog post led to another related piece of gorgeous medieval embroidery. According to the reference, the designs on last week’s chasuble were related to those seen on an antependium now kept at Santa Maria Novella in Florence, Italy. Luckily Read more