Textiles
This is a diverse collection of over 2,400 items. It contains many fine examples of costume, accessories, household textiles, fragments and samplers from both Britain and around the world dated from the 18th century onwards.
James Wilson Sampler Chart PDF
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Of around 800 costumes held by the museum, the majority are from Eastern and Northern European countries such as Hungary, Sweden, Romania, Russia and Norway. These items form part of our important peasant art collection.Highlights include our Hungarian chemises and headscarves, Romanian blouses and skirts and Norwegian bodices, waistcoats and belts. Most are 19th century and many of these feature the traditional natural dye colours of rural Europe, such as madder red and indigo blue, used in simple geometric or floral embroidery patterns.
We do not hold many local costumes, but one highlight is an 18th century child’s dress from Fernhurst, West Sussex, with beautifully detailed cotton pique, applied and couched cotton braid and hand embroidered broderie anglaise inserts.
Our non-Western costumes tend to be mainly from China and India. From China we have delicately embroidered shoes, jackets and silken cloaks. From India we hold 19th century Gujarat headdresses, Banjara embroidered blouses and Kashmir leather and velvet slippers. We also hold items made from plant fibre from Pacific areas, such as Samoan tapa cloth and a 19th century vegetable fibre netted bodice, decorated with seed/nut cases, probably from Papua New Guinea.
Household
We have around 230 household textiles. This includes items such as tablecloths, napkins, bedlinen and towels, of which the majority are European.Highlights include an appliqué linen drapery for a bedstead with a naturalistic design depicting birds, grapes and scrolls. This is believed to have been designed by Godfrey Blount, an important figure in the peasant art movement. Other local items include 20th century textiles from Inval Weavers, Haslemere, who produced items such as woven linen napkins, tablecloths and scarves.
We also hold several Eastern European towels. Towels in peasant tradition were used in many specific and significant ways. They were used for body drying, for gifts, as household decoration, as payment and as symbolic items in rites of passage.
In embroidered household linen, a Russian peasant woman kept to the traditional placement of patterns, thus decorating both ends of the towel. Often symbols of pagan beliefs are present in the strong geometric patterns.
Fragments
We also hold around 400 textile fragments, gathered for their interesting materials, designs and techniques. Highlights include several Greek hand embroidered items and Russian naboika block prints on linen in blue, white, red and yellow floral designs dated c.1900.Printed indigo blue fabric was common to European peasant women from France to Russia from late 18th century and was used for aprons, skirts, headdresses and domestic interiors.
Samplers
We have a superb collection of 170 samplers, displaying a wide range of motifs and styles. The vast majority come from England, with a few from Scotland, Holland, Germany, Italy and Romania. A large number of samplers were produced over the 18th and early 19th century. Many were framed in homes as a testament to the skill and hard work of children. A great deal of samplers contain religious themes and include quotations/poetry. Religious motifs mainly feature Adam and Eve as the central figures in front of a tree with serpents, doves and olive branches. Alphabets and numbers began to be used from 17th century onwards. Flowers, birds, animals and insects appeared in a detailed naturalistic form, though not always to scale, in the late 18th and early 19th century, becoming stylised and arranged symmetrically.Around 80 of our samplers have been photographed and produced into a CD available for sale through the museum shop.
Accessories
We care for around 400 textile accessories, covering items such as gloves, collars, hats, shoes and bags. Our collection of around 50 historic fans is of particular note, and includes items such as an 18th century gentleman’s fan made from ivory and silk. Looking East, we hold Mandarin Chinese collars and cuffs exquisitely embroidered on silk. |
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| 19th century dowry pillow covers from Kalotaszeg in Transylvania (today part of Romania) |
This pillow is made from linen and was used as part of a village courtship ritual. When a young girl was ready for marriage the best room of the house was prepared with a dowry bed piled high with embroidered pillows. This demonstrated the girl’s skill as a needlewoman to possible suitors and their mothers.
