Press release

Gold threads ?

The ability to produce glittering fabrics from gold is likely to have come to Europe from the Orient. The first gold threads are supposed to have been made in Sicilian workshops as early as the year 1000. This was the so-called membrane gold. To produce this, gold was beaten out until it was extremely thin; this gold was then glued to intestinal skin.

Gold attained its highest real and symbolic value in the early Renaissance. At that time, the first bobbin lace patterns appeared. This technique of turning and crossing thread pairs was eminently suitable for gold spun yarns. The lace that was produced in this way was placed like necklaces on the shirts and doublets of high ranking burghers and the aristocracy. Later, at the time of the Baroque, wearing textiles made of gold and silver thread became very widespread, so that centers for the production of precious, metal threads emerged all over Europe.

How much gold do these threads in fact contain, or "all that glitters is not gold". This question was the starting point of this exhibition. Thanks to generous support by the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (EMPA), it was possible to conduct microscopic examinations and element analyses of various fine metal threads. These are two of about 4-5 methods of tackling the secret of these shining threads and possibly ascribing them to definite workshops. One of the highlights of the examinations was the trimming lace - 0.78m high and 3.66m long - of a white-linen alb worn by a Catholic priest at the time of the early Rococo. It is an extraordinary piece of work, which has no equal in the collections of other museums.

Marianne Gächter-Weber, Curator

A small brochure has been published for this exhibition

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, October 16, 1999 - February 27, 2000:

Couture! 1900-1940 selected from the Van Emmerik Collection

reported by Pat Griffiths

The collector Hans van Emmerik, born in 1952, derived his passion for costume from old family photographs and left-over materials connected with his maternal grandmother’s lingerie and children’s clothes business. He began by collecting robes chemises of the twenties, with their lavish bead, sequin and metal foil embroidery, eighteen of which are to be seen in this exhibition. It also includes other fashion items of the twenties and thirties, including work by the Wiener Werkstätte, Maria Monaci Gallenga and Jeanne Lanvin.