Embroidery – Medieval Clothing Research

Gold couching embroidery: stitch focus video

Nic Embroidery, Textile Techniques August 21, 2021August 21, 2021goldwork embroidery 0 Comment

Dr Alexandra Malkin, textile archaeologist and professional embroiderer, shows the detailed progress of couching the gold halo of her Cuthbert Maniple.

Photos of embroidered mitre (1514) taken in 2019 in the Residenzschloss Dresden

Nic Embroidery, Museums August 17, 2021August 17, 2021historical textiles, medieval paraments 0 Comment

c.1400 embroidered silk chasuble (paraments)

Nic Embroidery, Museums May 25, 2016June 29, 201915th century, chasuble, close-up details, ecclesiastical textiles, embroidery, gold embroidery, paraments, silk embroidery 0 Comment

Photos taken in December 2015 in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg.

Chasuble, formerly in St Mary’s church (Gdanks) now in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg.
Italian silk damask, lining Portuguese silk lampas, silk and gold metal embroidery Prague c.1400.

Flickr set:

c.1200 gold embroidered mitre (Bavarian National Museum)

Nic Embroidery, Museums May 11, 201612th century, goldwork embroidery, medieval paraments, mitre 0 Comment

English embroidery (gold couching on samit weave silk) from c.1200. The mitre depicts the stoning of St. Stephen and the murder of Thomas Becket.

Silk 12th century, Asia Minor or Byzanz. Embroidery England. From monastery Seligenthal in Landshut, now at the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum in Landshut. Photos taken in December 2015.

1200-50 embroidered tablecloth (Zürich): Embroidery Designs and Patterns

Nic Embroidery, Fieldtrip, Museums July 7, 2015July 7, 201513th century, design patterns, historical embroidery, Landesmuseum Zürich, Switzerland, whitework 0 Comment

The following was put together after my fieldtrip to the Landesmuseum Zürich (Switzerland) in June 2015. All photos were taken by myself, and all pattern drawings were made by me.

Description of Object
Online museum catalogue description:
Tischdecke. Im Mittelteil reiche Flechtbandornamentik, 26 Ovale bildend. Umschrift. Stielstich auf Leinwand, Kettenstich, Gobelinstich, Hexenstich, Flechtstich. 1200 – 1250. Herkunft: Schweiz, Ostschweiz. Masse: Höhe 111 cm, Breite 684 cm. (LM-16405)

Translation:
Tablecloth. 26 circles . Linen thread on linen cloth. Stitches used: stem stitch, chain stitch, (open chain stitch), (heavy chain stitch?), gobelin stitch, herringbone stitch, interlacing stitch, (buttonhole stitch). Provenance: Switzerland, East Switzerland. Dimensions: height 111 cm, width 684 cm.
The stitch names in brackets are my own interpretations of the embroidery, having compared the original stitching to modern samples.

Document and blog post
They contain 9 close-up photos of different circles, and 3 of bird & beast motifs. It also contains 8 design drawings, 7 of which are drawings of the designs seen in the photos (as indicated) and the 8th was drawn from the tablecloth while in the museum, but I had not been able to take a good photo of the circle.

Download the PDF document: 1200-50 linen tablecloth embroidery designs
High resolution versions of the images in this document, including the design patterns may be downloaded from this post. All images open up as high resolution.

Design pattern information
The patterns are my interpretation of the originals i.e. they are not a slavish copy but rather a ‘technical drawing’ that makes every effort to remain true to the geometrical nature of the original embroidery designs. I created the design patterns using a pair of compasses, triangle and ruler, as well as freehand drawing.

Embroidery stitches
The following close-ups show the embroidery stitches used on the tablecloth and my interpretations of them in brackets (see above Description of Object).

chain stitch (heavy chain stitch)
open chain stitch
stem stitch
gobelin stitch
interlacing stitch
(eyelet) buttonhole stitch

(heavy?) chain stitch	chain stitch	gobelin stitch
stem stitch	(eyelet) buttonhole stitch	open chain stitch
interlacing stitch	stitches: (heavy) chain, open chain, interlacing	stitches: gobelin, stem, chain, open chain, interlacing