Blog

One of the things we enjoy at the TRC is linking an object to a person (or persons) and telling a little of their backgrounds. In the case of a recent donation there are two stories, a technical one about a piece of cloth, and the history of the people who once owned it. Both have a Leiden element.

Mantle piece cover made from mohair (trijp), the Netherlands, 20th century (TRC 2023.1928).

A few days ago Els Bonte, a long term friend and TRC volunteer (and born and bred in Leiden) who regularly donates items, came to the TRC with a length of dark brown velvet (TRC 2023.1928), decorated with a small geometric pattern in various shades of brown. It had been used by her grandparents, Arie Vijlbrief (1879-1970) and Engelina Magdalena de Jong (1878-1967), who were both born and brought up in Leiden (see below). The cloth was used as a mantle piece cover in their home at the Magdalena Moonsstraat, Leiden.

The cloth has a mohair pile on a cotton, plain weave ground. Mohair velvet was and still is used mainly for upholstery and comes in various qualities, from finely and compactly woven forms to loosely woven examples. In the Netherlands this type of velvet is generally known as velours d’Utrecht, Utrecht velours or Utrechter Plüsch, after the Dutch city of Utrecht that has been associated with the production, distribution and sale of velvet since at least the late seventeenth century.

Piece of mohair velvet, as used for the chairs in the House of Parliament, the Hague, the Netherlands (TRC 2018.2514).

Winter is coming and I am thinking of blankets, and the warmth and comfort that woollen blankets provide. Blankets such as the beautiful hand woven red, black and white Dine (or Navajo) tapestry blanket (TRC 2022.1719) from the late 20th century, or the Nepali felted woollen blanket (TRC 2019.0543) from the TRC's Susi Dunsmore collection, that ingeniously folds into a hooded cape for rainy weather.

Late 20th century Navajo tapestry blanket, USA (TRC 2022.1719).

Last Thursday (28th September 2023) the TRC’s latest exhibition was officially opened. Gillian Vogelsang (director) welcomed everyone and was followed by the curator, Augusta de Gunzbourg. She explained the ideas behind the exhibition and how it was built up and added extra details about various outfits and garments.

Yvonne van Delft (left), wethouder Cultuur Gemeente Leiden, and Augusta de Gunzbourg (right), curator of the exhibition. Photograph by Maria Linkogle.

Augusta de Gunzbourg tells about 1920s fashion. Photograph by Maria Linkogle.

The recent London Fashion Week (15-19 September 2023) included various young designers that caught the attention of the press. One of them was Kazna Asker from Sheffield, who has a Yemeni background and whose parents migrated to Britain many years ago.

Last week the BBC published an article about her work called: "London Fashion Week: The British Muslim designer trying to be the future."

For the last few weeks mammoths have been at the forefront of interest at the TRC!

Initially this was due to a kind donation of some mammoth hair (TRC 2023.1510) in May 2022 by Erica Prus, who had earlier attended the TRC five-day intensive textile course. She had bought the hair online and it came with a certificate of authenticity, but was it actually mammoth hair or not, how can you tell?

Plastic bag with mammoth hair (TRC 2023.1510).

So we contacted friends at the Nederlands Forensisch Instituut (NFI), The Hague, asking if they could help. Was the hair genuine or not? It was a win-win for us, if genuine, how interesting, if a fake, how interesting!

For the NFI, however, it was of another, more immediate interest. One of the lesser known results of climate change is the increased availability of mammoth products, especially bone and ivory, from the melting permafrost in Siberia and Alaska. More and more complete bodies of mammoths are being revealed. This is becoming a problem for customs, police and other related institutes, because since 1989 there has been a global ban on the importation and use of elephant ivory, but mammoth ivory, due to the extinction of mammoths thousands of years ago, is legal. But how do you tell them apart?

From Monday, 2 October, the TRC presents a new exhibition that focuses on what people were wearing in the 1920s at various times of the day and on different occasions. We will show Western fashion from the 1920s, mostly for women, for daily, afternoon and evening wear, but there will also be underwear and pyjamas, sports wear, and a ceremonial outfit for a parliamentarian.

TRC exhibition "The 1920s from head to toe: Fashion from 100 years ago". From Monday 2 October 2023. Photograph by author.

Printed silk sample, 1920s (TRC 2023.1471).Some weeks ago we published a blog about the preparations of the upcoming TRC exhibition: The 1920s from head to toe, which is about 1920s fashion. It looks at daily, afternoon, evening and sportswear, as well as accessories such as hats, bags and shoes. All of the items come from the TRC’s collection of textiles and dress. The blog indicated that we are still actively looking for prints, images and photographs dating from the period to make the garments come ‘alive’.

As a result, we have just been given by the Dool family a collection of 23 printed silk textiles that date from the 1920s (TRC 2013.1469 - TRC 2023.1477). We are working on how to include these pieces in the exhibition. The textiles were left by Diane Joubert, wife of the artist Rein Dool. She originated from the Caribbean. She was an artist and deeply involved with textiles and featured in a recent TRC blog about some Frieda Kahlo style clothing.

Here at the TRC we are busy working on our next big exhibition: about 1920s fashion in the Western world! The emphasis lies on women’s clothing and outfits, but we have not forgotten men’s wear, and we are including various men's outfits including an official uniform for a Dutch politician, as well as evening wear. All the items are based on garments and accessories in the TRC Collection.

 Exhibition in progress: The 1920s from head to toe