Jacketless? Wear a Sampler!

It obvious that jackets require considerable work, not to mention a degree of tailoring expertise. (Perhaps someone is keeping count of how many stitcher hours went into recreating the Plimoth Plantation Jacket? It would be interesting to know.) For most of us, making our own jacket might possibly be a project too far. However, do not abandon all hope of wearing your work. Look at these marvellous dress yokes from the Netherlands - you could stitch something like these next week.....The first two images are from the excellent Verheggen-Penders Collection based in Dieteren in the Netherlands which is now available as a CD collection. Dated 1790 with the double initials IR on the front and IAR on the reverse, it shares many attributes with a sampler of the same period, including recording the date. The yoke is has a sprigged border within which is a very formal and symmetrical composition with a dominant vase and flower arrangement as its central feature.

The second example (3rd image) is from the Netherlands Open Air Museum in Arnhem. This yoke is a later example, dated 1825, and has many beautiful motifs. You can see the reverse reflected in a mirror in the exhibition stand, and perhaps you can just make out the wonderful ship position up at shoulder level. The museum at Arnhem is full of wonderful treasure and you will need a whole day (at least!) to enjoy its treasures.

There is a wall in the museum where collectors can post details of items wanted for their collections - Erica Uten, Liliane Grauls, Mariette Verheggen and I posted for millionaires......not for ouselves, of course, oh no, no, no, but to support excellent museum collections and exhibitions everywhere. It was a sad day indeed to discover that due to economic circumstances the wonderful exhibition planned for the Plimoth Jacket had to be cancelled, and that is just one instance of how marginal the survival of some museums, particularly lesser well-known ones, has become. What can you do to support your local museum?