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An article in The Times of today, 18 April, again draws attention to the Turin Shroud, allegedly the shroud in which Jesus was buried. The film director David Rolfe offers one million dollar to the British Museum when it can present evidence that the Shroud is a 'fake'.

David Rolfe, alongside a scan of the shroud, believes the fact the face is clearer in photo negatives raises questions about when it was created. Jeff Moore.

Many years ago I was asked by Ian Wilson, author of The Turin Shroud: The Burial Cloth of Jesus Christ?, a 1979 bestseller, to become a member of the British Turin Shroud Committee (BTSC) on the recommendation of Elisabeth Crowfoot, a renowned textile archaeologist.

Over the years the TRC in Leiden has acquired a large collection of textiles and dress from Afghanistan. Most of it was obtained during my frequent visits to the country between 1978 and 2011. Attention in the West is currently, and understandably, directed towards the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, but the situation in Afghanistan, after some forty years of civil war, is equally horrific. The TRC hopes that its Afghanistan holdings will continue to testify to the rich culture of the country, and to the perseverance of its people in trying to build a peaceful society, free from outside interference.

Colin Mackenzie in his Afghan dress, after 1843. by James Sant. Courtesy National Army Museum, London, NAM. 1961-10-61-1.

In 2010 the TRC mounted a special exhibition about Afghan dress, which is now available to other suitable venues (Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.). There is also an online exhibition, which can be enjoyed by clicking here. Many of the textiles were used for, and incorporated in Vol. 2 of the World Encyclopedia of Embroidery: Embroidery rom Central Asia, the Iranian Plateau and the Indian Subcontinent, which was published in 2021.

Looking at Afghan dress, and going through Afghan history, I frequently come across weird ‘occurrences’, which the reader may regard as trivial, but which I find fascinating and reflecting directly on the fascinating world of dress.

One of these ‘occurrences’ started with a shower curtain which you can buy for some fifty dollars from Fine Art America. It carries the depiction of a stern looking, obviously European gentleman in Afghan dress. I don’t remember why I came to look at this curtain, but when I did I immediately recognised the gentleman: It is Colin Mackenzie, one of those indomitable British warriors that strode the world in the 19th century, convinced of British superiority and British obligations towards civilizing the rest of the world.

He was one of the captives that survived the disastrous Retreat from Kabul in the winter of 1842 when at the end of the First Anglo-Afghan War the British suffered a disastrous defeat. Some 16,000 soldiers and camp followers were killed, died of their wounds or the cold, or were enslaved. Many of the officers and their family, some 80 in total, were taken hostage, among whom Colin Mackenzie.

Thrift shops sometimes house real treasures among a lot of rubbish. Recently the TRC acquired a pin cushion from one of these places in Leiden (TRC 2022.0320), which dates from 1850. Pins are inserted into the cushion and they spell the word welkom and the date, among hearts, flowers and other ornaments.

Pin cushion with the dates of 1850 (front) and 1890 (back), the Netherlands (TRC 2022.0320).

Over the last few days the initial sorting, tagging and numbering of the Arizona collection has been taking place! The larger boxes with complete Albanian outfits have been opened and these marvelous items hung up on racks. The American quilts, part of the same donation, have brought forth cooing noises from Beverley Bennett, who is in charge of the TRC’s collection of quilts. Although one item did confuse some volunteers (including myself): a patchwork skirt in Christmas materials with a narrow waist. It turned out to be a Christmas tree skirt, i.e. a covering for around the lower part of a Christmas tree to hide the trunk and stand. Of course, what else…..?

Saturday saw another important step in building up the TRC’s European collection. When the Amsel Collection from Paris, with many Hungarian and Romanian garments, was first unpacked at the TRC a few weeks ago we had several ‘walk-in‘ visitors, one a Romanian Dutch couple, and a few hours later a Hungarian couple. We discussed with both of them our need for further information about objects, confirmation of provenance, and the need for the stories behind. And on Saturday (2 April) there was the first of several meetings.

Discussing Romanian emboideries with a group of specialists, 2 April 2022 (photograph Maria Linkogle).

Japanese fine glass beads are highly valued by fashion designers, artists and crafts enthusiasts worldwide. These minute beads are generally called ‘seed beads’ and were an important feature of 20th century Japanese fashion, being used for beaded bags made from the seed beads in a wide variety of colours.

The first Japanese company to produce beaded bags was Lumy Hashimoto in Osaka. Around 1920 their quality bags became popular among young women in high society who dressed in Western clothes - they were called ‘modern girls’ (moga). Beaded bags were also exported to the US and other countries. The older examples of Hashimoto bags were made using imported beads and decorated with patterns in the Art Deco style. This company kept producing beaded bags to go with both Western clothes and kimono until 2016, when they closed their business.

Art Deco style bag by Lumy Hashimoto, Osaka. 1960s-1970s (TRC 2021.0632).

Ikat cloth from East Sumba, Indonesia, 1980-2000 (TRC 2022.0893).The last few days saw the TRC staff cataloguing the last of the Amsel Collection from Paris. It includes some 500 items that come from various groups living in Romania and Hungary, as well as various other countries. 

In addition, a few weeks ago we were given over sixty Indonesian textiles by the Zant family in Amsterdam. They travelled throughout Indonesia between 1970-2005 and bought numerous ikats and other textiles. These well-documented pieces can be found via the TRC Database. The Zant textiles will be used to make an online reference collection for Indonesian ikats. This week several more ikats, plus two ikat looms will be picked up from the Zant family. A number of these ikats will be displayed in our forthcoming exhibition on ikats from around the world.

And then yesterday, Tuesday 29th, some even more interesting and diverse things were happening! The morning was spent setting up a false wall in the TRC Gallery to hide the extra racks needed for the Arizona collection that was due to arrive at any moment and which we have been looking forward to for months.

We have just put on line in the TRC Database an Iraqi festive outfit (TRC 2022.0914a-f) made by Suzan Sukari in Qaraqosh in northern Iraq, so we thought you might be interested in more details about the items, especially the charuga, why we decided to order the garments and what happened to it and other garments en route to the TRC! Detail of charuga, northern Iraq, 2021/2022. The Syriac text is embroidered at the top (TRC 2022.0914d).

Looking at appliqués from Cairo, at the Sunday afternoon talk, 27 March. Photograph: Beverley Bennett.We have just had the second Sunday Textile Talk at the TRC Leiden! These are a series of informal lectures and talks that are planned for the last Sunday of every month and which will be used to take a look at the diversity of world textiles and dress. 

The first Textile Talk took place on the 27th February 2022 and was about the history and types of lace caps worn in the Rijnland region of the Netherlands during the 19th and early 20th century. The textile talk today included a Powerpoint presentation and was about a very different subject, namely the appliqué panels made in the Street of the Tent Makers in the Khan al-Khalili, Cairo, Egypt.

Appliqués have been produced in Egypt since at least the time of the famous Egyptian pharaoh, Tutankhamun, who died in c.1323 BC. His tomb had numerous examples of textiles and garments, including items decorated with embroidery and appliqué.

The production of appliqué (direct and inlay forms) became widespread in the medieval Egypt and were even depicted in illustrated manuscripts of the period.