In Sympathy

Purrfect Thread Keepers from Lili-Rose in Albi, France

Lili-Rose in Albi, France sent me images of her hand-painted threadkeepers and frankly I couldn't keep them to myself - so here you are. They are the neatest accessories and would make perfect gifts for the holiday season. And there are no language problems if you are not a Francophone, the website is in English. Just click here to visit.

Actually Albi is on my list of places to revisit in 2012. Home to the Albigenses, famous for their total suppression and annihilation in the Albigensian Crusades of the 13th century, details of which you can read in the superbly written Montaillou by Emmanuel La Roy Ladurie.

And Albi is a UNESCO World Heritage site with the most astonishing brick-built Cathedral - which, as coincidence would have it, was a great inspiration to Sir Edward Maufe, architect of our cathedral in Guildford. And as coincidence would further have it - I had lunch with his two grand-daughters just today. We were talking more about the work of Edward's wife, Lady Maufe, who founded the Broderers' Guild of Guildford Cathedral and was responsible for the design of many of the textiles in use in the Cathedral. Lady Maufe was also a director of Heal's the London furnishing and design store on Tottenham Court Road. And as coincidence would continue, the Maufe family, were originally Muff of Brown, Muff of Bradford, the store to shop, sometimes called the Harrods of the North, when I was a child. So we had a great deal to share and lunch was long and delightful. Now I need a good threadkeeper to hang this long yarn on!

Oya - A Source for Venetian Lace?

For a long time now I have, on and off, been studying early portraits to examine costume and textile details - it is a long but absorbing and interesting story. Tonight I'd like to share with you a little which dates back to the end of the 60's when I was studying early architecture in Torcello. I don't know if you have ever been to Torcello, but for me it was the magical starting point of my studies. Abandoned, its palazzi and stones removed to nearby Venice when the island went into decline whether on account of malaria or some other cause, the island seems to convey all that was Venice before it was propelled centre stage. Now there is just the sound of birds in trees and the chug of occasional launches ferrying people to the very decent restaurant there. Enter the 8th century Santa Maria Assunta, built when the islands in the Veneto marshes were subjects of the Church in the East at Constantinople (present day Istanbul) and experience a timeless world. There in the apse are the composed figures of Mary and the Christ child, moving in their stillness, worked upon golden mosaic. I was always too busy sketching the iconostasis to pay really close attention to Mary's robes. Until a few years ago. Then I saw the interesting detail which resembled a fringe of sorts on the boder of her robes. It reminded me of Turkish Oya embroideries I had seen. Was this textile decoration, hanging free of the main fabric of the robe, a precursor of, or inspiration for the needle-made decorations which centuries later would be celebrated as Venetian lace? - the Venetian ponto in aere (punto in aria) or bridges in the air? What do you think?

Well Done Wendy - and Thank You!

I have just had an email from Wendy who has solved the puzzle surrounding the sampler in Das Stickmuster Museum in Celle which Naomi posed yesterday. The Fossate family is not Fossate - but Fosgate. This is a salutory lesson in deciphering some sampler lettering as frequently the letter G resembles S. Wendy writes that Robert Fosgate was the son of Joel Fosgate and Naomi Gilbert. Robert married Hannah Sawyer. The families are from the USA and coincidently, given the resting place of the sampler is now in Germany, Robert Fosgate hailed from Berlin, Worcester, Massachusetts. Robert and Hannah's son Oliver served in the army during the Civil War. The source of this information is the LDS database. Well done and thank you, Wendy. And thanks also to Elena who quite correctly pointed out that although Fossate is an Italian name, the family could still be British. (In fact my wedding ring came from Fattorini's, a Yorkshire and British jeweller.)