Museu do Oriente, Lisbon.Saturday, 14th December, 2019, Gillian Vogelsang wrote:

Today was spent walking around Lisbon (as well as catching various trams and buses), looking at the sights as well as searching for embroidery.

We spent a long time trying to get to the Museu do Oriente, it really is not easy to get there, separated as it is from the rest of Lisbon by a busy road and railway line. Whoever thought of establishing such a museum in such an inaccessible place?

But it was well worth visiting, as they have an amazing permanent exhibition about Chinese Opera with a vast array of garments and outfits. There was also a temporary exhibition about ikat textiles from Timor, Indonesia, which come from a private, Dutch collection.

We then went on in search of two shops we had been informed would have examples of Portuguese embroidery (details and examples being needed for Vol. 3 of the encyclopedia of hand embroidery the TRC is involved in writing). Sadly, however, both shops had closed down.

So should you know of anyone who would be willing to donate examples of Portuguese embroidery, and in particular, Vianna do Castelo, Guimaraes, Castelo Branco, Madeira, or Azores embroidery, as well as Arraiolos needlework floor coverings, can you please let me know (Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.)?