The TRC in Leiden is very pleased and proud to announce the publication on 14th January 2021 of its second volume of the Bloomsbury World Encyclopedia of Embroidery. This volume covers the embroidery from Central Asia, the Iranian Plateau (Iran and Afghanistan), and the Indian subcontinent (including India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives).
The hardback volume includes 488 pages and has 465 colour and 36 b/w illustrations. ISBN: 9781350017245. The book, both its hardcover and its digital editions, can be ordered from Bloomsbury, London. Friends and followers of the TRC can have a discount of 40%. Please click here for the Bloomsbury flyer.
The present volume is edited by Gillian and Willem Vogelsang, with contributions and assistance by a number of specialists, foremost by Caroline Stone and John Gillow, both from Cambridge (UK). Others include Shernaz Cama (New Delhi), Marian Chanduray (London), Zufi Deo, Swat Valley Guild (Pakistan), Jasleen Dhamija (New Delhi), Nirajan Kafle (Leiden University), Anne Morrell (Manchester), Khair Muhammad Khairzada (Kabul), Siddharth S. Saxena (Cambridge University) and his family in Lucknow (India), notably his parents and his sister, Sugandha Shanker, Asghar Seyed Gohrab (Leiden University), Esmeralda Zee-Hilal (a friend of the TRC) and Laxmi Naik (Surya’s Garden, Karnataka). And all of the weavers, printers, embroiderers, dealers, and people in general who took time to talk with us about their crafts, activities and thoughts on embroideries in general. The work was furthermore supported by numerous TRC volunteers and friends. We also want to mention Geraldine Billingham of Bloomsbury, who is supporting the Encyclopaedia with enthusiasm and many wise words. Martin Hense and Joost Kolkman produced many of the drawings and photographs.
The volume is dedicated to Mariet Portheine-Ter Kuile, a close friend and avid supporter of the Textile Research Centre. Without her continual support the textile life of Leiden would have been very different.
The volume is based for a large part on the extensive textile and dress collection of the TRC, as well as other important collections, such as those in the British Museum (London), the Cooper-Hewitt Museum (New York), and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York).
We are sure that the volume will prove to be yet another prime source for the study of textiles and dress, and embroidery in particular. The first volume of the series, The Encyclopedia of Embroidery from the Arab World came out with Bloomsbury in 2016 and was awarded, among other official recognitions, the 2017 Dartmouth Medal of the American Library Association and named a Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year 2017.
We cannot promise the present volume will receive the same awards, but who knows!
