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Jordan Conference and visit to Tiraz!

25th – 31st March 2014

Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, director of the TRC, has just come back from a textile conference in Amman, Jordan, organised by the Centre for Textile Research, Copenhagen and the Jordan Museum, Amman. For a copy of her report click here.

There was also an opportunity to see the Tiraz, the new home of the Widad Kawar collection, which is involved in displaying, recording and preserving various aspects of Palestinian history and material culture. Although the Centre is not yet open to the general public, when it does later in 2014 it should be regarded as a must for any textile lover.

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Expedition Silk Road

Hermitage Museum, Amsterdam

Expedition Silk Road features 250 objects--murals, gold, glass and silk--in a new exhibit at the Hermitage Museum, Amsterdam. Some amazing textiles are on display, including linen doll's clothing from the 8th-9th century; Buddhist banners from the same period; silk and fur kaftans, and a 2000-year-old pair of baggy silk trousers www.hermitage.nl from a burial mound in Northern Mongolia. "Expedition Silk Road" is open until 5 September. For more information see www.hermitage.nl (Shelley)

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Textile Moments in Prague, Czech Republic

I have just come back from a three day visit to Prague and thought you might be interested in the following collections:

Prague Castle Museum: I was in the museum of the history of Prague Castle and found that there is an amazing collection of medieval textiles and garments that have come from various local graves. The textiles include many silk pieces of various origins, including Spain, Italy, Byzantium and the Middle East. There was one piece that was clearly derived from a Sassanian original with paired birds and a pearl border. Some of the silks and garments are difficult to see, but if you are in Prague the museum is well worth a visit.

Treasury of the Holy Cross: near to the museum of Prague Castle there is the Treasury of the Holy Cross, part of the St. Vitas Cathedral. The treasury includes a number of medieval textiles and garments including a pearl ornamented crown, mitre, and four amazing panels for a dalmatica. In addition, there is a chasuble, stola and maniple made out of decoratively woven straw and further embellished with straw embroidery (couching). Well worth seeing.

Museum of Decorative Arts: Another place to visit in Prague is the (Uměleckoprůmyslové muzeum v Prazeor; Museum of Decorative Arts), which is on the other side of the river to the castle and cathedral. The museum has a large permanent exhibition about textiles and urban dress, called the History of Fibre: Textiles and Fashion. Down the centre of the room is a fashion parade of indoor and outdoor garments spanning the late nineteenth to the latter half of the twentieth century. These are displayed so that you can see the front and back of the garments. Down the sides of the room are chests of drawers full of textiles – based on embroidered, lace, printed, and woven types, and so forth. There is a mezzanine floor with a collection of embroidered and woven ecclesiastical garments and dresses for the Virgin Mary and various female saints.

Gillian Vogelsang, 6 April 2014

The TRC recently received a most unexpected, but very welcome gift from the famous textile printing company of Vlisco, Helmond, the Netherlands (TRC 2013.0317). It is a long length of cloth decorated with four panels depicting Crown Prince Willem Alexander, the Prince of Orange, and his wife, Princess Maxima. The design has been especially designed to celebrate the forthcoming royal investiture of Willem Alexander as the new King of the Netherlands, on 30^thApril 2013.

Vlisco wax cloth commemorating the investiture of King Willem Alexander of the Netherlands, 30th April 2013 (TRC 013.0317).

The firm of Vlisco was established in 1846 and has since been producing textiles, often imitating batik, for the Dutch East Indies and Indonesia, and from 1876 the firm has also produced fabrics  for the West and Central African markets.

The design of the Willem Alexander textile follows the style of printing, called “wax hollandais”, which was developed by Vlisco over the last 167 years and which is especially geared towards West and Central African taste.  The cloth is part of a very long African tradition whereby historic and important events are celebrated by the creation of commemorative designs on cloth.  This particular design, however, is not for sale, but was especially printed by Vlisco to be used as a gift for a select group of Vlisco contacts. The TRC is very proud to have been included among this select group.

Gillian Vogelsang, 21 April 2013

Feestrok celebrating the liberation of The Netherlands in May 1945 (TRC 2011.0001a).On the first day back after the Christmas and New Year break we received an anonymous donation of a very special garment. It is a feestrok ("festival skirt") or bevrijdingsrok ("liberation skirt") from 1948, which was made, together with many other comparable skirts, to celebrate the liberation of The Netherlands in May 1945.

The idea of the feestrok has its origins in 1943, when Mrs. Mies Boissevain-Van Lennep (1896-1965), a member of the Dutch resistance, was imprisoned by the German occupying forces. She was secretly sent a scarf (lappendasje) made up of small pieces of cloth taken from the clothing of family and friends.

Upon her safe return, and following the end of the war in 1945, Mies Boissevain-Van Lennep, together with a group of other women, decided to create a garment that represented: "Unity in diversity" (eenheid in veelheid); "New from old" (nieuw uit oud); "Reconstruction from destruction" (opbouw uit afbraak); "One garment makes unity" (één dracht maakt eendracht).