Fragments and panels

Fragments and panels

The Oseberg ship burial is located near Tønsberg in the district of Vestfold, Norway. It was excavated in 1904-1905. The burial has been dated to AD 834. The excavated ship and many of the burial goods are on display in the Viking Ship Museum at Bygdøy just west of Oslo.

The Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland, Ohio, houses a panel that was probably meant for a pair of woman's trousers. The fragment measures 51 x 51 cm and is made with silk thread embroidery. The embroidery consists of diagonal bands in the Naqsh tradition.

The collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland, Ohio, includes a piece of fabric that was probably meant for a pair of woman's trousers. The fragment measures 65 x 51 cm and is made of a cotton ground material with silk thread embroidery in outline stitch. The embroidery consists of diagonal bands in the Naqsh tradition.

The kurgans of Pazyryk, in the Altai mountains of southern Siberia, yielded the burials of noblemen who had been buried there in the fourth and third centuries BC. The tombs included many textiles, including Chinese silks with embroideries. The first of the barrows (kurgans) was excavated in 1929; others were studied between 1947 and 1949 by Sergei Ivanovich Rudenko.

In the mid-twentieth century, excavations were carried out in the basilica of Saint Denis, the grave church of the Merovingian kings of the Franks. In this church, now in a suburb of Paris, a large number of sarcophagi were discovered. No. 49, discovered in 1959, yielded, so it appeared, the remains of Queen Arnegundis (Aregund, Aregunda, Arnegund, Aregonda, Arnegonda), the wife of the Frankish king, Clotaire I.

The collection of the Textile Research Centre in Leiden holds a sample (41 x 20 cm) of cotton cloth with a printed design of stylised birds and flowers. What is remarkable is that the spaces between the individual floral and bird designs are filled with a vermicelli design of thick, beige cords that were couched to the ground material. The sample dates to the 1930's and probably derives from France.

The collection of the Textile Research Centre in Leiden holds a sample (76 x 13 cm) of cotton cloth with a printed design of stylised birds and flowers. It has the spaces between the individual floral and bird designs filled with a vermicelli design of thick cords that are couched to the ground material. The sample dates to the 1930's and probably derives from France.

The British Museum in London houses an embroidered but unfinished border for a sleeveless, ankle-length woman's dress (foundi) from Attica, Greece. It dates to the period 1925-1950 and is made of cotton with silk thread embroidery. The grey markings for the embroidery are still visible. The motif is traditional to the region, and called a pomegranate, an upside-down omega or a vase with flowers.

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam houses a linen strip of embroidered lace that dates to the late sixteenth century and derives from Italy. The scalopped edge is made of punto in aria needle lace. The strip is 60 cm long.

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam houses a small stroke of buratto embroidery that dates to the sixteenth century. It measures 26 x 13 cm. The floral motifs are darned in blue, green, yellow, beige and pink on a warp ground with an even-twined weft. The origin of the stroke is unknown.

Sutton Hoo, in East Anglia, England, is the site of two sixth and seventh century burial places, one of which contained an undisturbed ship burial, which was excavated in 1939. The burial chamber in the ship included many textile fragments, possibly from blankets, cloaks or hangings. The hem of a pillow cover was decorated with a strip reminiscent of the decoration of the woollen cushion from Mammen in Denmark.

The tomb of Walter de Gray, Archbishop of York from 1215-1255, and one of those present at the signing of the Magna Carta in June 1215, is located in the south transept of York Minster.

Valsgärde is the name of a farm just north of Gammla Uppsala, the ancient centre of the Swedish kings. The place is famous for its burial site, with graves dating from the sixth (the earliest ship burial) until the eleventh centuries. The site was excavated between 1928 and 1952, and its finds have been compared to other ship burials, including that of Sutton Hoo.

Worchester Cathedral in England owns some medieval embroidery fragments, including a fragment from the burial shroud of King John (1166-1216), made of Chinese silk with a geometric design and decorated with gold thread embroidery in underside couching. It was removed from King John's tomb in the Cathedral in 1797. The embroidery depicts an animal (a leopard?). The outline of the animal is highlighted with chain stitch.

Page 3 of 3