The following books are among the works recently acquired by the TRC Library, and which are being discussed by the TRC’s group of readers. This group is made up of specialists and students who are particularly interested in textiles and dress.
The books below reflect a wide range of interests and have been given a recommendation as to whom the book might appeal to.
If publishers are interested in having their books in the TRC Annotated List of Books, could they please contact the TRC at Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.
Previous annotated lists of books:
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British Museum FABRIC FOLIOS series
In 2001 the British Museum started a series of booklets (about 88 pages) about different aspects of ethnographical textiles and dress. The booklets (where available) cost between £10-14 each. The titles so far appearing in this series include:
- Embroidery from Afghanistan, by Sheila Paine, 2006
- Embroidery from India and Pakistan, by Sheila Paine, 2001
- Embroidery from Palestine, by Shelagh Weir, 2006
- Miao Textiles from China, by Gina Corrigan, 2001
- Printed and Dyed Textiles from Africa, by John Gillow, 2001
- Silk in Africa, by Chris Spring and Julie Hudson, 2002
- Textiles form the Andes, by Penelope DRANSART and Helen WOLFE, 2011
- Textiles from Guatemala, by Ann Hecht, 2001
- Textiles from Mexico, by Chloe SAYER, 2002
Recommendation: Each of these booklets is written by a specialist in the field, often a member of the British Museum staff. They booklets are fully illustrated in colour with a short text explaining and describing the various forms. The booklets are a good introduction to the various subjects and are worthwhile for school libraries, as well as anyone interested in the diversity of textiles as a source of inspiration for their own work.
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English Embroideries, Mary M. BROOKS, Oxford: Ashmolean Handbooks, Ashmolean Museum, 2004. ISBN 1-85444-192-2. Fully illustrated in colour, glossary, stitch definitions, short bibliography. Price: £12.99.
The title of this booklet is a little misleading as it is actually about the Ashmolean Museum’s collection of 17th century English embroideries, rather than a general book on English embroidery. The booklet includes a range of items, notably small embroidered panels, an elaborately decorated box, headcoverings, clothing accessories, samplers and a more unusual item, a frog-shaped purse. There is an introduction that looks in some detail at the technical aspects of 17th embroidery (materials, threads, stitches), and in greater detail at the designs. In particular attention is paid to the printed sources of various biblical and classical scenes.
The embroideries are illustrated in full colour, often with detailed photographs that show technical details.
Recommendation: this booklet will appeal to lovers of embroidery as well as people interested in the lives of (wealthier) women in the 17th century.
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Hands and Hearts: Weavings from Jordan, by Khalil NAOURI, Private publication, Amman, Jordan, 2013; 240 pages, fully illustrated in colour, text in Arabic and English; 3 maps indicating the tribal districts within Jordan. Short glossary and bibliography. Price: about USD 50.
Contact information: www.weavingsfromjordan.com
The author, Khalil Naori, is a Jordanian designer obsessed with colour, who has been interested in traditional Bedouin kalims and woven textiles for many years. For over a decade he has been actively travelling around Jordan recording and collecting locally made flat weave textiles. It is his aim to make his extensive collection available to the general public and this book is one step towards this goal.
The book has a short introduction about documentation, Bedouin spinning, dyeing and weaving, and the need to record and preserve this form of Jordanian heritage. This aspect of the book is its short coming, as the reader is left wanting more detailed information. However, the colour illustrations counter balance this situation.
The book depicts 150 items, such as kalims (mafrash), village rugs (fijjeh), bags (mizwadeh and idl), sleeping bags (ghafra), saddlebags (khurjj), tent dividers (saha), animal trappings, and so forth. There are numerous close up details, especially of particular motifs. The Arabic terms for each type of object is given, as well as information about where a particular piece comes from, its size, details about its weave and any characteristic features. In addition there are numerous 'setting' images, especially of the various types of sheep to be found in Jordan. All the illustrations are of a professional level.
Recommendation: The book is recommended for people interested in identifying and collecting Bedouin flat weaves, but it should not be regarded as an academic study. The author's obvious love and understanding of these pieces come through, resulting in a book that presents a record of Jordanian Bedouin flat weaves in a visually pleasurable manner.
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Money in My Pocket: Weaving an Impact Assessment of the Bani Hamida Project with the Women, by Sue JONES, Amman, private publication (with the British Council), 2005. Illustrated in colour and black and white; pp. 100. Price: please contact the author.
Contact details: Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.
An unusual acquisition for the TRC library, but worthwhile. It is an impact assessment concerning the work of an NGO between 1985 and 2002. The project was based at the village of Makawir (Jebel Bani Hamida) about 75 km south of Amman in the region of Mount Nebo. In the 1970s a group of Bani Hamida nomads decided to make a permanent home on the site of their summer pasturelands. Among the Bani Hamida group there were a number of women who were skilled weavers of a thick material often used for tents and bags.
There are many NGO’s working throughout the world bringing together women and crafts (often textiles), but few organisations bring out such a critical report. Both the positive and the negative aspects of the project are discussed.
Recommendation: a though provoking document for anyone working within the NGO /textile field.
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Oral History in the Visual Arts, (eds) Linda SANDINO and Matthew PARTINGTON, London: Bloomsbury, 2013. ISBN: 978-0-8578-5198-7. Softback (hardback also available), pp. 212, colour and b/white illustrations, index. Bibliography at the end of each article. Price: £55.
Eighteen articles that reflect the use of interviewing techniques to understand various aspects of the visual and performing arts. The book is based on a series of papers given at a conference held at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London in 2010. The articles are divided into three sections (I) Arts practices, (II) Histories and (III) Identities. There are a wide range of subjects included in the book, such as interviews of craftspeople from various countries (such as Liza Kirwin, “Speaking of Craft,” pp. 85-94, and John Clarke, “Oral history work with Tibetan and Nepalese metalworkers,” pp. 105-112); documentary recollections of art historians (Liz Bruchet: “Voices in Art History,” pp. 77-84); the role of textiles in the lives of various groups (Ann Cvetkovich, “The craft of conversation: Oral history and lesbian feminist art practice” pp. 125-134, and Shehnaz Suterwalla, “From punk to the hijab: women’s embodied dress as performative resistance, 1970s to the present,” pp. 161-170), as well as engineers building a museum (Anne Ritchie, “The museum as a work of art,” pp. 93-103), and related discussions. There are also various theoretical discussions concerning the use of oral history in general.
Recommendation: A good introduction to various subjects relating to the function and use of oral history from the 20th and early 21st centuries. Some of the unnecessary jargon used in various articles is a little overwhelming at times, especially in a book about methods of communication, but worthwhile reading.
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Svatovítský poklad: Katalog stálé výstavy v kapli sv. Kříže na Pražském hradě, (ed) Ivana KYZOUROVÁ, Prague: Vydal Správa Pražského hradu, 2012. ISBN 978-80-86161-26-6. Fully illustrated in colour, bibliography, pp. 179. Price: about €25.
A fully illustrated catalogue to the collection in the Treasury of the Holy Cross, the Saint Vitus Cathedral, Prague. Many of the items recorded are relics and reliquaries, but there are some interesting medieval textiles on display, including a 14th century knitted glove (cat. 10), and some panels from the front of a dalmatica that are decorated using applied natural pearls, with details in coloured floss silk (14th -15th centuries; cat. 71). There is a similarly dated and decorated mitre on display as well (cat. 83). One intriguing group of objects are a set of Catholic liturgical vestments, notably a chasuble, stola and maniple (cat. 84), made of elaborately woven straw, with floral motifs outlined with couched straw threads and petals with coloured straw details. These items date to the early 17th century. All of these pieces, and other textiles, are illustrated in the catalogue in colour and in some cases with close-ups.
Recommendation: this book will be of interest to anyone working with medieval textiles and techniques, as well as those studying religious vestments. The main problem for many readers is that the text is in Czech with no English summary, but the illustrations do make up for this.
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Textile Terminologies in the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean from the Third to the First Millennia BC, (eds) Cécile MICHEL and Marie-Louise NOSCH, Oxford: Oxbow books, 2010. ISBN: 978-1-84217-975-8. Hardback, pp. 444, black and white illustrations and line drawings, bibliography at the end of each article. Price: £48.
A series of 22 articles reflecting different aspects of textiles and terminology reflecting the problems of relating words to textiles, textile production items and clothing. Most of the articles are in English, and three are in French.
Some of the articles such as that by Eva Andersson Strand, look at modern day textile terminology (“The basics of textile tools and textile technology: From fibre to fabric,” pp. 10-22), while other items look at Sargonic Mesopotamian information (Jana Jones, pp. 81-109), or textiles in the Royal Archives of Ebla (Maria Giovanna Biga, pp 146-172). The range of subjects is actually wider than the title indicates, as there is also an article on Vedic, Avestan and Indoiranian textile terminology (Miguel Ángel Andrés-Toledo, pp. 430-444).
Recommendation: this book is intended for an academic audience involved in the archaeology, texts, identification and history of early textiles and textile production. It is a must for any library dealing with the social and economic history of the Eastern Mediterranean and Ancient Near East.
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Wartime Fashion: From Haute Couture to Homemade, 1939-1945, by Geraldine HOWELL. London: Berg, 2012. ISBN 978-0857850713. Softback, a few black/white photographs, pp. 250, index. Price: £19.99.
Textiles and war seem an incongruous combination, but keeping both its military and its civilian population clothed was a major British government concern during the Second World War (1939-1945). Pre-war fashion in Britain was designed for the wealthy by names including Elsa Schiaparelli and mediated for the middle-classes and working poor by clothing chains like Marks and Spencer. The very poor relied on exploitive clothing clubs (to buy clothes on instalment plans) or charity. The war raised awareness of inequality in dress between classes (for example, during the mass evacuation of children from London to safer areas throughout the country) and the danger inequality posed to the war effort. Ensuring a fair distribution of clothing became a priority with clothes rationing in 1941. Styles changed drastically as women joined the military or engaged in essential war-related work. Home sewers and knitters were also mobilized to “mend and make do” as raw materials such as cotton and wool became scarce.
Recommendation: Readers interested in dress history, or in a more gendered or class analysis of the UK’s home front during the Second World War, will find this book well worth their time.
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Designing Accessories: Exploring the Design and Construction of Bags, Shoes, Hats and Jewellery , by John LAU. London: AVA Publishing SA, 2012. ISBN 9782940411313. Soft back, fully illustrated in colour, short bibliography, pp. 200. Price: US$ 34.50.
This is a fascinating quick introduction to designing accessories. The basics of both the design process (from research and idea generation to presentation and marketing) and construction are included, with a very short history of the accessory and the key names of the construction parts. There are chapters on creative product development, construction techniques, materials, finishes and smaller accessories, such as eyewear, scarves, ties, gloves and wristwatches. The interviews with up-and-coming designers on developing a range and working with the design industry are both practical and inspiring. Sustainability is emphasized throughout the book, and the chapter on working with ethics is particularly interesting. The lavish colour photographs on each page and the clear language make the book a delight to read. The book includes a glossary and a list of shops and suppliers.
Recommendation: The book will appeal to readers interested in becoming fashion designers (or making accessories for themselves), to experienced designers and to anyone interested in fashion.
