historische Stücke

Museum digital (2) – Tablecloth from 1927 from the Thielmann Workshop

The “Museum Digital” series presents outstanding examples of Schwalm whitework and documents them with numerous detailed photographs. Each photo is accompanied by a detailed description.
The pilot project – my Tulip Sampler – has met with great interest.

Now I have prepared another piece with first-class and remarkable embroidery: A beautiful and opulently embroidered tablecloth – dated 1927 – from the Thielmann workshop.

Much of my website is provided free of charge. I cover the costs of maintenance, updates, and upkeep.
Therefore, I ask for your understanding that such a time-consuming project as “Museum Digital” has a purchase price – albeit a small one.
In return, you will receive the “Tablecloth from 1927 from the Thielmann Workshop” with 140 high-resolution photos, which you can examine at your leisure and appreciate every detail. This is accompanied by a 12-page semantic description or, upon request, a 36-page description with inserted images.

By placing an order, you agree not to share or publish the photos and information in any way.

Museum digital (2)
Tablecloth
from 1927
from the Thielmann Workshop
140 photos
12 pages text
or
36 pages text with inserted images
text: English
60,4 MB file size
5,00 €
zum Shop

Museum digital (1) – Tulip Sampler

I recently held a special piece in my hands. Dated 1843, it appears to be a wedding bedsheet, as indicated by the letter combinations on the left side of the crown—C C H L—and on the right side—A C H L. C and A are the initials of the first names, and C H L is an abbreviation of the surname.

Although I have the cloth from Schwalm, the font and crown are not typical of Schwalm. A few special embroideries prompt me to present the details here.

The visible part of the sheet, which hung over the front edge of the bed and was decorated with a crown, initials, and the year, was made from the finest 21-cm-thread-count linen.
The lower edge is decorated with a two-centimeter-wide needle-weaving hem with a block pattern.

On the side panels you will find a one and a half centimeter wide cube needle-weaving hem.

Since the panels of handwoven linen were usually less than a meter wide, several panels had to be placed side by side.

For the part not visible to the viewer, a much coarser, 15/16-cm-thread-count linen was chosen.

A special feature that I hadn’t seen before were the connecting stitches in the style of a needle-weaving hem.

The distance between the two fabric panels is approximately 8 mm. Three threads were laid close together from one fabric panel to the opposite one, then weaved halfway. Then—and this is the special feature—the thread was moved to the nearest completed needle-weaving bridge and there wrapped around the center of the first laid thread. On the way back to the started needle-weaving bridge, the working thread was wrapped. Then the needle-weaving bridge was finished. It has a width of approximately 3 mm. The next bridge was started at a distance of approximately 4 mm.

Also unusual are the horizontal connections between the multi-unit needle-weaving bridges of the hem with block pattern on the lower edge.

See also:
Combining Lengths of Linen to Make Larger Pieces (1)
Combining Lengths of Linen to Make Larger Pieces (2)
Plaited Insertion stitch (Interlaced Insertion stitch) – how to work

The tulip is one of the main elements in Schwalm whitework designs. Tulip shapes can be modified indefinitely. They have also undergone changes in Schwalm over the centuries.
This blog post aims to trace this in broad outline.

While the tulip figures in early Schwalm whitework were were multi-

Detail from a parade cushion border – 18th century

and often small-part,

Detail from a door hanging border – 18th century

the filling patterns that were now in fashion required more space.

Detail from a bed covering, dated 1793 – Museum of the Schwalm in Ziegenhain

With the rise of Schwalm whitework toward the end of the 18th century, tulips were usually depicted in a single piece and in medium sizes. Smaller tulips were also available to fill the spaces. The bases of the tulips were usually only slightly rounded, often straight. The upper edges were slightly curved, rarely showing deeper incisions. The shapes varied – from long and narrow to wide-opening at the top to short and wide.

Detail from a bed covering, dated 1793 – Museum of the Schwalm in Ziegenhain

There have also been occasional split tulip shapes.

Detail from a bed covering, dated 1793 – Museum of the Schwalm in Ziegenhain

Initially they had a drop shape in the calyx,

Detail from a bed covering, dated 1823

but soon heart and

Detail from a parade cushion border, dated 1821

tulip outlines were added as calyx designs.

Detail from a parade cushion border, dated 1821

While the tulips were initially mostly medium-sized, very large motifs were added in the following decades.

Detail from a parade cushion border, dated 1804

Detail from a parade cushion border, dated 1842

Often their proportions were not adapted to the other motifs.

Detail from a parade cushion border – 19th century

Detail from a parade cushion border – 19th century

All of these representations remained constant throughout the 19th century.
It wasn’t until the 1920s that they changed significantly. Examples can be seen in the next blog post.

Many of the elements used in the parade cushion border (B) originate from early Schwalm whitework. So also some surface filling patterns, which were here often combined with withdrawn-thread patterns.

Separate articles are provided for two of these withdrawn-thread patterns.

Filling Pattern No. 563
Filling Pattern No. 564

One of the cushion designs shown in the previous post has met with great interest among my blog readers. Therefore, I now show this embroidery in detail. It is about a very special and rarely found Schwalm border pattern. It was embroidered on a parade cushion. The pillowcase is about 200 years old. It measures 45 cm X 82 cm. At 24 cm x 80 cm, the border occupies more than half of the cushion plate.

It is essentially early Schwalm whitework.
Coral Knot stitches are hard to find. But in addition to surface filling patterns, there is also a couple of withdrawn-thread patterns.

In addition to heart, tulips and sunflower, there are many other flowers, pomegranates and leaves in various forms. Some stems are kept wide and elaborately decorated. Blanket stitch eyelets are arranged in the shape of grapes. Instead of spirals, there are often intricate tendrils.
Not only the tree of life structure emanating from the basic vessel is interesting, but also the cross formations surrounded by the branches.

The embroidery also includes some very interesting filling patterns, which will be discussed in a separate article.

Schwalm Parade Cushion Border(A)
Transition from Early to Later Schwalm Whitework (1)
Transition from Early to Later Schwalm Whitework (2)
Transition from Early to Later Schwalm Whitework (3)