Detail of
tablecloth with coat of arms Mäder-Ramsauer,
1590, Historic Museum Basle
Detail of
tablecloth with symbol of evangelist John
16th c., Textilemuseum St.Gallen, Inv.No 20011
| ANNE WANNER'S Textiles in History / publications |
| Linen
Embroideries from the Region of Lake Constance published in: CIETA-Bulletin No 68, 1990, p. 107 - 110, by Anne Wanner-JeanRichard |
| page 2 of 3 back - next |
| Golden age of linen embroidery |
| The years between
1550 and 1650 are generally considered to be a golden age
of linen embroidery. It seems that there must be
a special reason for this. Most of the pieces were not
made by professional embroiderers and very often they
seem more like folk art to us. In my opinion this group
differs from the first and not only in date. Three points
should be emphasized: a) technique and
materials: the linen yarns in the late 16th
century are white, brown and sometimes blue. Very seldom
outlines are worked by coloured silks. The fabric is
mostly white, but a reddish variant can also be found.
This ground remains largely visible, and it is
characteristic of this type that only the design motifs
are embroidered. The format is quite large, around 150 x
150 cm. Very often two or three pieces are sewn together.
The seam can sometimes be seen clearly and it is often
embroidered. b) Swiss coats of arms: It is mostly
in this group of embroideries of the 16th and 17th
centuries where coats of arms can be found. The
table-cloth in the convent of Mehrerau near Bregenz
(Austria) (6) bears a coat of arms and
an inscription: Lorentz von Beroldingen, der Ziit
Statthalte 1598, Frouw Elisabeth Arnold T". We
know that the von Beroldingen were a family from central
Switzerland (Canton of Uri) and they were landowners in
the eastern part of Switzerland. Fortunately some more
facts of this family are known. |
Lorentz, who is named on the
piece, could have been an uncle of Maria Victoria. She
lived in the convent of Tänikon and was its abbess from
1677 to 1687. The convent was abolished in 1848 (7)
and we know that some nuns took works of art with them to
a new convent close to Bregenz. So the table-cloth went
with an abbess to the convent and was preserved there.
Another linen embroidery, totday in the Textile Museum of
St Gallen, bears the coat of arms of a family from
southern Germany, and the date of 1585. It is the coat of
arms of the Bolt family, who lived in Villingen (Black
Forest, Germany). This piece shows that linen embroidery
and the representation of coats of arms was not limited
to Switzerland. c) the great variation in quality is the striking thing in this group. This can be noted in several examples. The cloth with the four Angels, privately owned is richly decorated; the flowers on the ground can be classified botanically. Compared to this, Samson and Dalilah, in the Textile Museum of St Gallen look very naive, more like a child's drawing. But still the meaning of the scene is quite clear. The representation of scenes from the Old Testament is typical of the 16th century. There were certainly talented embroideresses in almost all convents. In many cases women or girls with little practice embroidered in a very naive way. Mostly it was not done from their own imagination; their model was often an engraving or an illustration from the Bible. Notes: |
Detail of
tablecloth with coat of arms Mäder-Ramsauer, |
Detail of
tablecloth with symbol of evangelist John |
Mary, (12 x 10
cm) from Life of Mary, |
Phoenix (54 x 44
cm, detail from hanging, |
| Upper Rhine | Golden Age | Books |
| content | Last revised 6 August, 2004 |
