Blog

Lots of ideas have been floating around in the TRC workroom over the last few months about how to make available more research and analysis data and materials at the TRC (as briefly discussed in an earlier blog).

One of the ideas that is being enthusiastically discussed is the making of a fibre sample collection, to help with the identification of the many types of textiles in the TRC Collection (currently at about 50,000 items from around the world). But what should we include, how to organise it and indeed, how to finance it?

Students at the TRC sorting and studying fibres for the sample collection. Photograph by author.

This TRC blog was written by Catherine Nesmith, an educator and project manager based in Canada. She holds a PhD in Geography from Cambridge University, and is currently doing a Master's degree in Museum Education at the University of British Columbia. Textiles are a passion. She attended a workshop at the TRC in February 2025.

***

Textiles are an element of many museum collections. They represent the materiality of humanity and offer a window into understanding different cultures. This paper will address two areas of best practice for the effective use of textiles in museum education.

Fig. 1. A colourful panel of handmade mola embroidery depicting two birds holding a fish in their talons on a red background. Panama, late 20th century (TRC 2021.1910).

The first section argues that textiles can be an important cultural bridge and a key element in building collaboration between museums and communities, while supporting institutional decolonization goals. The second section focuses on object-based learning as a teaching pedagogy for textiles, recognizing the value of haptic learning, and the importance of incorporating reflective practice, and scaffolding. The paper concludes with a look at future directions and implications for museum education.

The TRC is starting a series of blogs with the title Collection Highlights. For this week, we are featuring a late 18th-century chintz ensemble (TRC 2007.0731a and TRC 2007.0731b). The outfit in is two parts; a bodice and a skirt. The fabric is made out of a white cloth with a block-printed and hand-painted design of flowers, leaves and butterflies in red, blue and brown.

 Skirt section of a woman's dress. The Netherlands, 18th century. Remodelled in the 1930s TRC 2007.0731a)

We have just been recording a small group of needles and needle cases that in 2023 were donated to the TRC, along with many other objects, by Hennie Stevan-Bathoorn and Sjoerd Stevan, owners of the former Museum voor Naaldkunst, Winschoten, the Netherlands.

The current group that is being catalogued includes some remarkable objects with unexpected associations. They are four, round metal needle cases of a type that I had never seen before. It turns out they were made by one particular firm in London, but the decoration and colour of the cases depended on the company that ordered them. The containers include a series of tubes filled with needles.

Round red metal case containing needles. The packaging has the name ALFRED SHRIMPTON & SONS, REDDITCH. The circular lid has a small hole for the needles. UK, 1890-1900. TRC 2025.0672).

Fig. 1. Plain weave with selvedge to the right.Why bother about selvedges? Who cares? These are just a few of the comments I heard when I said that the TRC has a reference box for all sorts of selvedges.

To be short: Selvedges are important. They are an essential part of a piece of woven cloth. Below there are some thoughts of Alice van Duijnen, the TRC’s indefatigable weaving and knitting specialist.

Fig. 2. Brown hessian cloth with selvedge to the right, with a narrow purple selvedge stripe and double warps (TRC 2023.0849b).Selvedge is the term for the two self-finishing sides of a normal piece of woven fabric. It is the edge where the weft threads return in the opposite direction into the warps of the weave (Fig. 1). A 'normal' piece of hand woven cloth has two selvedges and two borders.

A selvedge occurs 'naturally'. But it also prevents the cloth from unraveling and fraying along two of its sides. It may have extra strengthening or embellishment. A sample in the TRC collection (Fig. 2. TRC 2023.0849b) has a coloured thread, for embellishment, and doubled warp threads for strengthening).

The TRC has just received its first Roman fibulae! It is a gift from Sytske Wijnsma in Wormer, who has also donated in the past a large collection of books, textiles and clothing. These bronze fastenings were typically used for securing a variety of outfits and later transitioned into the more decorative brooch. Many cultures used similar fastenings, before and after the Romans. However, Roman fibulae are the most famous.

Fig. 1. Roman-period, 'trumpet'-type bronze fibula (TRC 2025.0464).A variety of shapes and decorations were used to signal various social factors, such as profession, military rank or marital status. The donation consists of three fibulae, each at first glance very similar but with a little research and a closer look during the cataloguing process I realised that they are very different from one another.

Still, all three are bronze, bow fibulae (as opposed to plate and penannular types). Note that the terminology is not standardised, and below I refer mostly to terms used in the NumisWiki website, which is a useful source regarding terminology and typology. The context of these finds is unclear, but by assigning them a particular typology and time period they are useful for archaeological references.

Fig. 1. The first fibula (TRC 2025.0464) matches descriptions of a ‘trumpet’ typology which dates to 75-175 AD, the earliest of the three. These are distinguished by their wide spring pin, high arch and flared base.

Shelves in the TRC Library.At the moment I am writing this, we have a library at TRC consisting of 6282 books. This is not including the books from new donations that have come in and are yet to be registered, or the immense magazine collection we still have in the depot; we are getting these ready to be registered.

Since December 2022 I have been the librarian of the Textile Research Centre. My main focus has since then been to get through the backlog of the hundreds of books that are donated yearly.

Every Monday I spend most of my time cataloguing new books and placing them in the library. In 2024 I have managed to get through most of the backlog and started putting away the newer donations. In 2024 this amounted to some 1200 books.

Besides registering the backlog and new books, I have also spent my time in 2024 on researching how to restore books, mainly torn pages or loosened spines. The reason for this is that during the course of 2024, we have received a considerable number of books from the mid- and late 1800s. Most have been in excellent state, but some have seen their fair amount of use. Since it’s unlikely that we will receive duplicates of these books.

Another ‘quiet’ week at the TRC Leiden! We have been involved in giving the 5-day Intensive Textile Course, which as many of you will know, is a basic and yes, intense, introduction to textiles.

In just a short time, a wide variety of subjects are discussed and actually practised, ranging from fibre identification to what is embroidery via weaving (including velvet making), not to mention natural dyeing, resist-dyeing, leather and printing….. a tiring week but fun to be immersed in textiles for a short period of time.

Fig. 1. Sample of Siberian, woolly mammoth hair (Mammuthus primigenius) (TRC 2023.1510).The course wants to help people to understand and be able to ‘read’ a textile and its practical, social, economic and cultural significances. For a participant's impression of the December 2024 version, click here.

This week’s course participants included museum curators, academics, commercial world people, students, as well as people who are ‘simply’ interested in textiles. It was noticeable that they all ended up at the café around the corner, some with a beer, celebrating the week (or was it their survival?) and making new textile friends.

A highlight moment? It must be when we discussed a sample of Siberian mammoth hair from the TRC collection (Fig. 1). The fibres had been analysed, DNA’ed and dated by the National Forensic Institute in a joint project with the TRC.