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As part of the TRC’s work on the history, techniques, designs and uses of textiles, we are working quietly and steadily on making the TRC and Leiden an international centre for the study and teaching of embroidery in all its multiple forms. We currently have nearly 5,000 examples of embroidery from all over the world. 

Fig.1. Fragment of linen with an embroidered design worked in wool, probably from a child's tunic Egypt, 5th-6th century AD (TRC 2000.0014).

Fig. 2. Fragment of linen with an embroidered design worked in purple, orange and blue wool, probably from a child's tunic. Egypt, 5th-6th century AD (TRC 2000.0015).

Het TRC is een onafhankelijke stichting die wordt verzorgd door vrijwilligers. Steun ons door uw donatie over te maken op: (IBAN) NL39 INGB 0002 9823 59, ten name van: Stichting Textile Research Centre. BIC-code is: INGBNL2A. Omdat de TRC een erkende ANBI (Culturele Instelling) is, is uw gift, als u in Nederland belasting betaalt, tot 125% fiscaal aftrekbaar.

U kunt ook, als u de iDEAL-app op uw computer/IPhone heeft, via onderstaande iDEAL-knop het bedrag invullen dat u wilt doneren:

Johanna Elizabeth van NieropIn early November 2022 the TRC was approached by Henk van Nierop about a small group of lace samples (TRC 2022.3134 – TRC 2022.3155) and a lace notebook (TRC 2022.3156) that had been collected by his aunt, Johanna van Nierop.

It turns out his aunt’s lace story was much more complicated and interesting than we initially thought. The following blog is by Henk van Nierop.

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Johanna Elisabeth van Nierop (nicknamed 'Zus' in the family) was born in Amsterdam on November 16, 1882, the youngest of six children. Her father, Frederik Salomon van Nierop, was a wealthy lawyer and banker ¬– he was the founder (in 1871) and director of the Amsterdamsche Bank – as well as a liberal member of the Amsterdam municipal council, the Provincial States of Noord-Holland, and the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Netherlands' Parliament.

• Agenda
• TRC on-line tentoonstellingen
• Catalogus van de TRC verzameling
• Borduurpatronen
• TRC blogs 
  • 21 april: Unseen Talent—Women of the Amsterdam School
  • 19 april: Orenburg lace knitting: Workshop 3 June
  • 11 maart: Update 11 maart. TRC's move to Boerhaavelaan 6
  • 31 maart: Visitors from Taiwan
  • 26 maart: Presentatie van de Atlas van de Borduurkunst
  • 22 maart: Preserving Yemeni Traditional Embroidery Heritage through Practical Skills and Documenting
  • 13 maart: Paraguay’s spider web lace
  • 11 febr: A friend's appeal for financial assistance to the TRC
  • 3 febr: The new TRC home has Interior walls covered with cloth, offering unexpected teaching opportunities
  • 1 febr: Silk Ribbons and Red Caps: Political Textiles
  • 23 jan 2026: Çatalhöyük – The oldest textiles at the TRC
  • 16 jan 2026: The Atlas of World Embroidery
  • 10 jan 2026: Kohl: The eyes have it
  • 20 dec: Lost and Found: the Boreray Sheep Story
  • 14 dec: Another unglamorous request for help
  • 7 dec: A Ukrainian kikimora at the TRC
  • 15 nov: Some fascinating spectacles from the TRC collection.
  • 9 nov: A further update about the TRC's move to the Boerhaavelaan
  • 5 nov: A splendid kaftan from Morocco
  • 2 nov: The TRC and a textile garden
  • 17 okt: TRC Leiden – a brief update
  • 10 okt: Khayamiya textiles from Egypt
  • 17 sept: TRC, Open Monumentendag, en Boerhaavelaan 6
  • 10 sept: TRC Intensive Textile Course, August 2025 edition. Some thoughts of one of the participants
  • 7 sept: Losa mats from Congo
  • 3 sept: Nearly there: The keys to new premises for the TRC in Leiden
  • 3 sept: Exploring the faunal imagery of Qing dynasty embroidery in the TRC collection, by Mayte Van den Broeck, TRC volunteer
  • 17 aug: Afghanistan in southern France, by Willem Vogelsang
  • 4 aug: Textiles in the Vasa museum, Stockholm, by Emilie Lambert, TRC volunteer and Facultu of Archaeology, Leiden University
  • 30 juli: 360-photography, by Augusta de Gunzbourg, TRC curator
  • 30 juli: Bindi stickers: A small dot with great meaning, by Roos Kila, intern at the TRC, Amsterdam Free University
  • 28 juli: Historical buttons revisited, by Emilie Lambert, TRC volunteer, Leiden University (Archaeology)
  • 14 juli: Nut buttons
  • 2 juli: Turkish collection update
  • 29 juni: Surprise visit by Indonesian weaver
  • 20 juni: Saddle rugs from Tibet
  • 9 juni: Large and intriguing donation of 19th and 20th century Turkish garments
  • 1 juni: Identifying Yugoslavian garments: A joint enterprise
  • 29 mei: Setting up a fibre archive at the TRC: A new and exciting challenge for the students
  • 26 mei: Teaching With Textiles: Best Practices for Culturally Responsive Museum Education
  • 10 mei: Collection Highlights: An 18th century chintz ensemble turned into a 1930s fancy dress
  • 5 mei: Selvedges: A small TRC reference collection
  • 20 april: The TRC's first Roman fibulae!
  • 15 april: TRC Librarian writes about her work
  • 13 april: A week in the life of the TRC: From mammoth hair to Georgian tunics
  • 31 maart: About haori and furoshiki: Japanese textiles at the TRC
  • 29 maart: A donation of embroidered garments from northern Greece and former Yugoslavia
  • 26 maart: Two textile conferences: Göttingen and Warsaw
  • 16 maart: TRC Collection database: More technical information being added
  • 8 maart: A day in the life of a TRC intern
  • 3 maart: Embroidery and the TRC Leiden
  • 1 maart: An exciting year as a volunteer at the Textile Research Centre in Leiden
  • 24 febr. The hand knitted socks and gloves from Sanquhar, Scotland
  • 21 febr: A mid-19th century family portrait from Afghanistan, and other drawings
  • 21 febr: A mid-19th century family portrait from Afghanistan, and other drawings
  • 8 febr: A participant's impression of the Intensive Textile Course at the TRC, Leiden, 9-13 December 2024
  • 18 jan: The Art of Pillow-Making in Historical Palestine: A Story of Beauty, Memory, and Displacement
  • 11 jan: Reclaiming Power: Stitch Witch. An exhibition by Dutch artist Lara Schnitger.
  • 9 jan 2025: A brief textile trip to Paris
  • 21 dec: The TRC, Leiden University, and future plans
  • 18 dec: Bloomsbury's World Encyclopedia of Embroidery. Vol. IV: Embroidery from Scandinavia and Western Europe
  • 8 dec: Chemisettes: An old, and new form of sustainable clothing
  • 4 dec: Vlisco from Helmond at the TRC in Leiden
  • 25 nov: Arabic texts on the TRC’s khayamiya collection from the Street of the Tentmakers, Cairo, Egypt
  • 11 nov: What is this?
  • 9 nov: The advantages of damage: A discussion with curator Pim Arts of the recent donation to the TRC of a collection of liturgical vestments.
  • 2 nov: Reflections on the first month of my internship at the TRC
  • 21 okt: Donation of a pair of sixteenth century strapwork (rolwerk) appliqué panels
  • 14 okt: Opening of TRC mini exhibition: 'Verbinding' (Connection)
  • 5 okt: Stitching and shisha: A masterful workshop at the TRC
  • 1 okt: Sudan, Warsaw, Paris, and ...the TRC in Leiden
  • 19 sept: Leiden Anthropology students visit the Textile Research Centre
  • 17 sept: Luddites at the TRC?
  • 15 sept: Indifference to …… textiles
  • 9 sept: An intriguing, early darning sampler – hot of the press
  • 8 sept: A Chinese minority in Leiden
  • 6 sept: Aprons!
  • 1 sept: The art of drag
  • 20 aug: Steel and skateboarding: Saris Today. An exhibition in the Wereldmuseum, Amsterdam
  • 11 aug: Early Middle Eastern textiles for the tourist market
  • 9 aug: An Ottoman Turkish embroidered apron
  • 8 aug: Silkworm breeding and silk production in 19th century Kandahar, Afghanistan
  • 5 aug: An Indian, Banjara embroidered patchwork