Early 19th century embroidery. TRC CollectionWe have just had a little 'wow' moment at the TRC. As so often happens here, someone has popped in with some potential donations for the collection. We love these moments as we are never sure what will appear. Well, this time it was a small embroidered box, with four embroidered ovals inside. One of the ovals had the word bruid ('bride') and another bruidegom ('bridegroom') embroidered on to them. It turns out they were used in a marriage in 1827! And then re-used for a wedding in 1903.

What exactly they were used for is not certain, but the size of the ovals does suggest that they might have been used for wedding rings. The embroidery is worked in floss silk and silk chemille thread, with applied, 3-dimensional flowers in very fine silk; all stitched onto a satin silk ground. The box lid is also decorated in the same manner, although sadly it is now in a much poorer condition. What memories and stories are stored in these pieces!

Gillian Vogelsang, 11 November 2014