Blog

Tin model of a frame loom from Mali, used for the traditional narrow-width bands of cloth (TRC 2023.1212).

(6th August 2023) We recently visited Prof Rogier Bedaux, a long time friend, supporter and indeed an original Board member of the TRC. The reason for the trip was simple, volume 3 of the Bloomsbury World Encyclopedia of Embroidery, which is about Sub-saharan African embroidery, is dedicated to him! This is a small way of thanking him for all his help over the years.

Cowboy cloth doll, USA, 1937. TRC 2017.3276The TRC has some cotton dolls with real history in its collection. They are from the US, dated to the 1930s , and were preprinted on feed sacks. After the sugar or flour sack was emptied, thrifty housewives would sew the front and backs of the sacks together, stuff the doll, and have a new toy for their children.

You can see examples like Miss Supreme (TRC 2018.009) or Rodkey’s Rag Darling (TRC 2017.3232), or Dusty the cowboy (TRC 2017.3276) (who happens to be my favourite; now on loan to the Museum of Fashion & Textiles in London).

But the artist and citizen historian Rita Maasdamme (1944-2016) brought the art of making cloth dolls to a whole other level. Born in Aruba, Maasdamme started making dolls under her Surinamese mother’s tutelage when she was nine.

During our recent trip to London, Willem and I tried to pack in various textile and dress exhibitions that are currently presented in the British capital. We also wanted to see how these exhibitions present textiles and dress (getting ideas and inspiration for the TRC), and, admittedly, the venue of the exhibitions was also intriguing. Anyhow, we decided to pack three very different dress exhibitions in one day.

King Charles III in full attire at his coronation. By Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office - From Twitter account of Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=131676676

Kerchief produced to commemorate the coronation of Edward VIII in 1937. The coronation never took place. TRC 2015.0405).Willem and I were in London for several days in order to deliver some TRC Collection textiles that are on loan for an upcoming exhibition called 'The Fabric of Democracy: Propaganda Textiles from the French Revolution to Brexit', which will be held at the Fashion + Textile Museum, London. It opens on 29 September 2023 and runs until 3 March 2024.

The exhibition is curated by Amber Butchart, a fashion historian and long-term friend of the TRC. The exhibition looks at textiles as a means of spreading and propagating various forms of public and domestic propaganda.

We are used to the large posters of China and Russia, but what about the caps, t-shirts and household items that are about spreading specific ideas?

One of the most enjoyable days for me during the TRC’s Intensive Textile course has always been dye day. Dozens and dozens of glass jars are lined up on a long table, reflecting a rainbow of colours, which participants get to play –oh, sorry, I meant to write practice—dyeing different fabrics with.

The history of dyes and mordants is fascinating, as is the whole process of dyeing. The quality of the water used, the temperature it's boiled, the type of pan used (copper or iron or steel)—any variation in any of this can change the hue. I have to marvel at how our ancestors discovered the different dye qualities of so many plants, leaves, roots, barks, nuts, insects and molluscs.

“Guernica de la Ecologia” by Claudy Jongstra. Photograph by Shelley Anderson.

Bamberg Cathedral, 2 July 2023. Photograph by Willem Vogelsang.On our way to Czechia, last Sunday 2nd July, Willem and I passed the beautiful medieval city of Bamberg. We came to this place in June 2016 (see a blog of 11 June 2016), and we simply wanted to visit the Bamberg Diocesan Museum again and see its amazing collection of medieval garments, such as  the Star Mantle of Emperor Heinrich II and the Byzantine Gunthertuch.

We also needed some extra information for the fourth volume of the World Encyclopedia of Embroidery (covering Western Europe and Scandinavia), which we plan to send to the publishers in manuscript form later this summer. We decided to stay in Bamberg for a day and really take the time to have a close look at the textiles.

As we said in our 2016 blog, the museum is located next to the Bamberg Cathedral and is home to two significant collections of elite, medieval textiles and garments, both dating to the 11th century, as well as numerous other textiles and garments dating as late as the 19th century. Many of these garments and textiles are embroidered, and they present a marvellous picture of mid-medieval needlework.

Author standing in front of Fulda cathedral, 2 July 2023. Photograph by Willem Vogelsang.A few months ago we were contacted by Liz Kelcey about a collection of Czech, Hungarian and Romanian outfits that she and her husband had acquired over the years.

Sadly, John died recently and Liz is now sorting out their house and its contents in Czechia.

She heard about the TRC here in Leiden, the Netherlands, and about our work in building up an extensive collection of European regional dress and offered twenty outfits as a donation.

The one snag? We had to pick them up in some manner.

We have just had a very busy and interesting few days at the TRC! We hosted a group from Britain who were in the Netherlands to visit the Kunstmuseum, The Hague, the Lakenhal in Leiden as well as the Leidse Deken, where the weaving of blankets in Leiden is being re-introduced, and they also came to the TRC, twice!

Woven sample of striped camletee from the Norwich area, England, 18th century. Camletee was a worsted cloth exported in large quantities to the Netherlands (TRC 2021.3328).

The British group included Mary Schoeser (textile historian and author), Michael and An Nix (textile historian and author), Meg Andrews (antique textile and costume dealer), Pat Frost (Christie's Auction Costume and Textile department consultant), Bridget Long (university lecturer and former Quilters Guild director), Keren Protheroe (Liberty's archivist), Anna Buruma - curator at the Central St Martins Museum & Study Collection, and Frank Gardiner (former film costumier and textile historian), all of whom are joined together by a deep knowledge and love of textiles and dress in all their many forms.