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Cardboard box that contained the early 19th century bridal treasure (TRC 2014.1060e).The TRC Collection houses many fascinating and historic objects with a real human interest, and some of these items become even more intriguing when they are linked to specific people.

Recently we had another look at a small cardboard box (TRC 2014.1060e), 16 x 11 x 7.5 cm in size, and made in the shape of a Classical sarcophagus (typical for the late 18th - early 19th century).

Its lid is covered with ivory-coloured satin cloth that is decorated with fine, chiffon flowers and seeds, and with embroidered leaves and stems in chenille thread and floss silk. The box and its contents were briefly described in a TRC blog of 11 November 2014, ‘Little treasure box’.

Lid of cardboard box that contained the bridal treasure, photographed from above (TRC 2014.1060e).

A little while ago I saw an Indian photograph of some Sikh soldiers wearing what appeared, at first glance, to be face masks on their chins. Then came the thought, of course, they are not face masks but beard bags.

After trying, on several occasions, to leave the idea of beard bags to one side it soon became apparent that the concept was stubbornly going to refuse to go away and over the last few days I searched on the internet and in the TRC Library for beard bags.

I must confess: A new world opened up to me! And here I apologise to our (male) readers who have beards and know about beard care, but I had no idea that the maintenance of a beard was so complex. I strongly suspect that a significant number of the TRC Blog and Facebook readers will have also be similarly ignorant. There are many comments by men about the time spent by women on their hair, but it is very clear that some men are equally attentive to their beards! Their beard bags are an essential part of their dress and identity, and as such of great interest to the TRC. We realised that examples should be included in the TRC Collection!

Cotton, combined face mask (corona) and beard bag with elasticated ear loops and a design of skulls. Spain (TRC 2022.0208).

Chinese tiger hat (TRC 2021.2029).February 1st 2022 marks the Chinese New Year under the Zodiac sign of the Tiger. On this occasion, we thought we would share with you our collection of Chinese tiger hats (虎头帽 - Hu Tou Mao), as they are both representative of this year’s lucky animal, the tiger, and are commonly worn for New Year festivities.

These Chinese tiger hats are traditionally worn by young children (especially boys) for important celebrations and festivals, such as birthdays or New Year festivities.They can also be worn along with tiger-shaped, embroidered shoes.

Popular in both northern and southern parts of the country. they are worn by several ethnic groups (Han, Miao, Dong among others).

Ancient Greek baked-clay spool (TRC 2014.0797).In 2014 a small collection of 15 ancient Greek textile tools was donated to the TRC. The gift included 11 baked-clay loom weights; two spindle whorls (TRC 2014.0802 and TRC 2014.0803); and a spool (TRC 2014.0797) and a fragment of a spool (TRC 2014.0798). They came from different archaeological sites in Greece and ranged in date, from the Archaic (circa 750-480 BCE) to the Classical (479-323 BCE), and perhaps Roman Period (30 BCE-180 CE).

Baked clay or stone loom weights (they can also be found made of bone or metal) were used on a specific type of loom: the warp-weighted loom. They helped ensure an even tension in weaving. Loom weights are common finds at many archaeological sites, all over the world. They might even be considered the common cold of archaeological objects. But I cannot describe the thrill that went through me when I got to examine these pyramid-shaped artefacts, when putting together a digital and online exhibition for the TRC. To hold in my hands something that had been used 2,500 years ago, no matter how ubiquitous it might have been, was tremendously exciting

A white felt hat from the Svan in northwestern Georgia, early 21st century (TRC 2015.0344).The three traditional hats from Georgia in the Caucasus, now in the TRC collection, namely TRC 1998.0027, TRC 1998.0028 and TRC 2015.0344, come in three colours; white, black, and brown. Each of these hats has clear features associated with the styles of the ethnic group of the Svans, or Svani.

The hats from the Svaneti region, in the northwest of Georgia, are made by felting. Felting is the technique of fusing protein fibres, typically sheep’s wool, to create a non-woven fabric. The Svan people tend to press their felted wool into a curved wooden block in order to shape their unique headwear.

The hats are typically hard and rigid: a product of the vast amount of wool compressed firmly into shape. They are fused into a near solid, curved form which is then further supported by cords, which extend from the pinnacle down its sides. Svan hats can feel scratchy to those that don’t wear them every day, however people are known to keep their own specific hats for years or more! So we can imagine that the hats, like shoes, mould to the wearer's individual head.

Georg Stark is a German, UNESCO-recognised block printer and indigo dyer who promoted the historic craft of textile indigo dyeing in Germany and beyond. The TRC has recently started exploring another subject within the large field of textiles studies. We want to focus on the craftsmen and craftswomen who actually do or did the work and made a difference. We are looking for people who are willing to contribute with a blog. Please let us know whether you can help.

Most textile studies tend to focus on specific techniques, local characteristics, materials that are being used, the tools, the dyes, the uses of the textiles, the garments that are being made, the ornamentation, the household goods and ornamental cloths, and their trade and movement all across the world.

Far less attention is being paid to the people who actually did the work, the men, women and sometimes the children who spun the fibres, dyed the threads, wove the textiles, embroidered and painted them, and sewed them into garments and other objects. Who were these people, who often spent many years learning their craft? Many worked in dusty workshops, in relative anonymity and with very little compensation. Others gained enormous prestige and were employed in royal households. Many of them made a difference. Who were they?

Turkey is famous for the production of oya, which is a form of lace that is often found on the edges of women’s headscarves. Oya has been produced in Turkey for at least 400 years and is probably much older. Its production and use (with a variety of different names) can be found throughout the eastern Mediterranean and indeed all over the former Ottoman Empire.

An oya-maker's library, showing a selection of oya edgings that she could make, for customers to choose from. Turkey, 2008/2009 (TRC 2009.0291).

The TRC depot in Leiden houses many treasures. The treasures I am most in awe of are the archaeological textiles. Sometimes they do not look like much, being scraps rather than a complete garment, but they can have an incredible history and often point to milestones in human technology. And stories of lost cities and cultures.

Silk cloth fragment from Xinjiang, probably Niya, dug up by Aurel Stein. The sample may date to the 2nd century AD (TRC 2000.0009).

I am thinking especially of a cluster of small silk fragments excavated in the early 20th century by the famous archaeologist and geographer Sir Marc Aurel Stein (1862-1943), and around 1945 given by Sir Mortimer Wheeler, the then director of the Indian Archaeological Service, to Robert Charleston, who was an officer in the British army in India, but in later life the curator of glass in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Charleston gave them to Gillian Vogelsang, now director of the TRC, in 1985.  

The fragments (TRC 2000.0009, 2000.0010, 2000.0011 and 2000.0012) are all warp-faced compound weaves, with designs that include zig-zags, paired dots and what may be dragons; TRC 2000.0009 also includes some traces of woven Chinese characters. The fragments are all dated to the second century CE, and are believed to have been excavated from the lost city of Loulan.

Loulan was an oasis settlement along the southern desert route of the Silk Road. It was part of the Kroraina Kingdom, which flourished from circa 200 CE to 400 CE. In 1897, when Stein asked the British Government of India for funding for his first expedition, the area was called Chinese Turkestan. Today it’s known as Xinjiang ("New Frontier'), the westernmost part of China.