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Embroidery Statutes by Guillaume de Hangest, Paris

Coat of arms of the Hangest family. Coat of arms of the Hangest family.

In 1303, the then Provost of Paris, Guillaume de Hangest, signed specific statutes for the corporation of the embroiderers and embroideresses in Paris. They are the first of this type ever drafted in western Europe. One of the rules says that gold work should be worked with silk thread. Another rule forbids embroiderers to work with candlelight, since their work would simply be inferior to that worked by daylight.

Apprenticeships lasted for at least eight years. Work on Sundays and other religious feast days was also forbidden, and so was a visit by a guild member to someone who was not.

Source: STANILAND, Kay (1991). Embroiderers, London: British Museum Press, pp. 13-14.

Digital source of illustration (retrieved 5th February 2017).

WV

 

Last modified on Thursday, 25 May 2017 18:46