By Alamanda de La
Roca
History
The use of pouches, bags, or purses was common
in the middle ages. Certainly by the Thirteenth and Fourteenth centuries
representation of pouches in art are numerous 1 being worn by both
men and women. Pouches could be found in many different varieties, including
girdle purses, which are hung from the belt by two loops, framed purses, and
square or round bottomed pouches 2. Examples of the variety of
different pouches can be seen in Figure 1.
Figure 1. A variety of
Fourteenth century pouches. a. Detail
from Romance of Alexander circa 1338-44.The man can be seen wearing a girdle purse, while the woman can be seen
weraring a rectangular drawstring pouch.Fol 204r b. Detail from the Manese
Codex showing a merchant selling pouches.
Aumônières, or alms purses, are
a particular type of emboidered pouch that was popular in the Fourteenth
century. Often, alms purses were
embroidered with elaborate scenes 1 reminicent of illuminations
found in contemporary manuscripts.
Embelishment on alms purses was not limited to figural depictions, but
were also embroidered in geometric shapes 1.
One particular form of
geometric embroidery was popular in the late Fourteenth and early Fifteenth
centuries in central Germany
3 is a form of counted embroidery called “brick stitch” due to the
offset stitches, which resemble brick masonry. Brick stitch patterns typically
use repeated geometric shapes, such as the flyfot, crosshatches, and frets 3
Heraldic and zoomorphic (animal and human) figures can also be found, but they
are styalized to fit the almost “pixelated” stitches and are not the more
realistic embroidery found in the French alms purses.
Medieval Construction
There are several extant pouches that have been found which utilize the brick stitch style of embroidery. Examination of the extant purses (Figure 2; the most extensive examination was performed by Mitchell) reveals details of the construction techniques used in the Middle Ages 3,4
Figure 2. Brick stitch embroidered pouches. a and b from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London UK (Patterns A and C respectively from Mitchell) c from Maastricht 4
The foundation material for
the pouches is an even weave fabric (usually linen) ranging from 20 to 37
threads per inch 3,4 , although examples of brick stitch have been
found with up to as many as 72 threads per inch3. The embroidery itself is worked in silk
thread, with a type of metal material (called “gilt strip” by the Victoria & Albert
Museum) that may also be
used 3,4. Where information
on the lining of the pouches is available, the lining is red silk 3,4. However, it is not unreasonable to suppose that
pouches may have also been lined with more common linen. The pouches were made
of either one piece folded along the side or bottom and closed with decorative
stitching on two sides 3 or two pieces closed up the sides and along
the bottom 4. Seams could also be closed with bands of tablet
weaving, as was done with other alms purses of the time 1,4. Pouches
were closed using drawstrings, and most likely had a separate cord used to hang
the pouch from a belt 1,3. Finally, tassles and turk’s head knots
are common embellishments found not only on the brick stitch pouches, but on
the French alms purses as well1,3.
My Project
Pattern: I
designed the pouch using a pattern from an extant pouch (Pattern H from
Mitchell; Figure 3 and Appendix A). The
original pouch was a fragment measuring approximately 4 inches by 3 inches, and
was embroidered using silk thread and gilt strip. The medieval design features a latice made of
knots which frames various heraldic motifs3. Unfortunately, the fragment is too damaged to
determine the original colors. In order to customize the pouch, I altered the
patten in the following ways: Instead of the heraldic lions of the original
pouch, I used the bear rampant which is the central motif of the device of the
recipient of the pouch. I alternated
this with an eight pointed star motif found on an altar piece done in the style
of Opus Teutonicum5. In the smaller frames, I used monochromatic
patterns to highlight the versatility of the technique and the variety of
textures that can be achieved. Finally, I chose to use metalic thread to give
the pouch a more luxurious feel. As
mentioned above, metalic material (gilt strip) was used often in the pouches of
the time 1,3, and an extant embroidered pouch used metalic.
Figure 3. a. A fragment of a
reliquary bag from the V&A museum. The fragment measures approximately 4
inches by 3 inches. b. A modern rendition of the medieval pattern, featuring
heraldic elements from the artisan’s device. (Mitchell) material extensively as part
of the pattern along with silk threads( Figure 2c. The sections of bare
background cloth inbetween the arms of the blue flyflot originally contained
metalic material4).
Embroidery: I used a linen needlepoint fabric with 28 threads per inch as the base for my embroidery. The embroidery was done using Devere Yarns silk embroidery floss in white (#01), Laurel green (#221) and mid-sky blue (#30). The floss was a 1200 Denier loose twist continuous filament silk floss.The metalic thread I used was DMC metalic floss, which is a polyester thead wrapped around a cotton core. To be more authentic, a metal thread should be used. However, my budget did not stretch to metal threads. The imitaion metalic thread offered me the flexibility to use it as I would a regular floss. The embroidery was started by laying down the knotwork (Figure 4a), then outlining the knots in white and adding the heraldic motifs and filling in the green background(Figure 4b and 4c).Last, I added the blue textured patterns (Figure 4d) All patterning was done strictly by counting threads, with no pattern being traced onto the base fabric.
Figure 4. Embroidering the
pouch a. The knotwork was laid down in
gold metalic thread. b. The hearaldic motifs of the bear and star were
embroidered in white silk. c. The green field was then filled in. d. The
smaller fields were filled with textured patterns in blue silk.
Lining:
Because I did not have any red silk fabric, I chose a blue linen for the lining
of the pouch. The lining was sewn by
hand to the right side of the embroidery at the two long sides and one of the
tops using silk thread (Figure 5a)., trimmed, and turned so that the seam
allowances are on the inside The remainder of the lining was attached to the
embroidery by a whip stitch after turning. Prior to stitching the lining, the
threads to be used for the decorative edging were inserted so that they were
sewn to the pouch when the lining was sewn.
Figure 5. Finishing the pouch. a. The lining is sewn to the right side of the embroidery. b. The sides of the pouch were sewn together using a whip stitch, then a decorative 4 strand braid was added to cover the seam.This is illustrated using a pouch made previously
Finishing the pouch: To finish the pouch, the
embroidery was folded in half. At this point, there are two options for
attaching the sides together: using tablet weaving (either applied after the
sides are sewn or by incorporating into the sides of the pouch as the band is
woven1,3,4) or by using some type of decorative, braided stitch3,6. As I am not a weaver, I opted for the
decorative braid. Mitchell describes the
stitch and mentions that he has been able to recreate it using two needles
threaded with different colors3, but an alternative method is
outlined on the website “Medieval Silkwork” that they are calling “loop
braiding”6. In this method, loops
of two different colored threads are passed through each other, and the threads are held down by thread which
goes through the two sides of the seam (like a whip stitch). However, in the
process of finishing another pouch, I discovered that it is easier and more
secure to sew the sides together, and then apply an already completed
decorative 4-strand braid to the seam (Figure 5b). This gives a result that is
the same as the loop braiding method, with the added benefit of another set of
stitches. I created the carying cord by continuing the braid on either side,
and knotting them together. Finally, I
added a drawstring made from three strands of the green silk embroidery floss.
References: 1) Mc Gann, Tasha Kelly. Aumônières, otherwise known as alms purses: Embellished textile purses in the European 14th century. http://www.cottesimple.com/alms_purse/alms_purse_history.html 2) Larsdatter, Karen. Medieval & Renaissance Material Culture: Pouches and Purses. http://www.larsdatter.com/pouches.htm 3) Mitchell, Timothy J (Master Richard Wymarc). A Stitch Out of Time: 14th and 15th Century German Counted Thread Embroidery http://www.wymarc.com/asoot/german/ stitch_article/stitchArticle.php 4) Medieval Silkwork Silk Pouch http://www.paperflowergirl.com/patroon2web.pdf 5) Opus Teutonicum. Historical Needlework Resources http://medieval.webcon.net.au/technique_opus_teutonicum.html 6)Medieval Silkwork: Finishing the seams of 14th/15th century pouches. http://m-silkwork.blogspot.com/2007/04/finishing-seams-of-14th15th-century_29.html |
