The chaos that greeted me this morning…

I have begun this new year in a muddle… So I thought I’d step back from the chaos that has come to represent my present project and just try to gather my thoughts…

I am supposed to be writing a historical account of the organization known at the beginning of the 15^th century as the Mistier de Brouderers de Londres.  It is only to cover the period of the Tudor monarchy but there has to be a bit of background to set the stage.  Then, after investing all that time on the trials, tribulations and occasional triumphs of the 16th century, knowing the direction that their path will take when the new century unfolds is significant.

But that’s only the first part… The second part is a timeline of extant English embroidery through that period.  Unfortunately, for many reasons, which become clear through the unfolding of history, there are few of these treasured items available to reveal their secrets.  The timeline has to therefore be underpinned by descriptions from contemporary documents using obscure terms that can be baffling.

The third part is to select ten representative objects from the timeline that provide a practical glimpse into the diversity of work that was produced.  Each object is to be examined with respect to purpose, materials and technique, virtually unpicking the stitches to reveal the process and experimenting with modern threads to reconstruct the techniques.  I have finally settled on nine of the objects but whether the custodians will allow the studies to be published is yet to be determined…

The piéce de resistance is part four – new embroideries developed from embroidered objects painted in contemporary portraits.  Nine portraits have finally been settled on as well but with the same caveat.  One object has been completed so far and many of the new designs have been drawn… the stitching is yet to be done.

Then there are the appendices… a biographical dictionary or ‘handlist’ of over one hundred professional embroiderers and longer biographies of five of the more well-known individuals.

Also, the glossary, the bibliography and, last but not least, the index so that it is a useful and useable source for future researchers and interested embroiderers. Here is a reminder that is always close by but so often ignored…

Now my thoughts are gathered but the enormity of the work remaining has settled in my studio as a huge challenge still before me and the deadline of June 2025 it is looming large!  It’s time to tidy my exterior space and figure out where to begin again which is exactly where I was when I started this post!

On the agenda for next month, is a final research trip to the UK for which I am just figuring out the itinerary.  Upon my return, I will be preparing and presenting a paper on the insect life embroidered on the Bacton Altar Cloth (yes, it is an amazing object and continues to be a fascinating research project!) for the International Congress for Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo in May, and immediately following that a very important side trip to New York City! 

I’d better get back to work – here’s a hint for where I settled on to start again…