books
and articles:
2022:
- Heino Strobel, Patrick
Schnetzer: Die Handstickmaschine,
Erfindungsgeschichte und erste Besitzer, Studien
und Dokumente zur historischen Entwicklung der
Stickmaschinen und der Maschinenstickerei, nebst
einem textilen Stickmuster, Hersusgegeben von
Heino Strobel in Plauen, i.V. als nicht
kommerzieller Privatdruck, 2021.
100 pages, german, colored and black and white
pictures.
Abstract “The hand embroidery
machine - history of invention and first
owners”
From 2017 to 2020, Heino Strobel (Plauen,
Germany/Saxony) and Patrick Schnetzer (Fribourg,
Switzerland) jointly conducted private empirical
research on the development and patent history of
the first hand embroidery machines with their
customers in Switzerland, Germany, France and
Great Britain as a hobby. The topic seemed so
exciting because previous publications on it were
incomplete and partly contradictory.
This machine was invented in 1828 by
Josué Heilmann (1796-1848) in Mulhouse. His
life and work are comprehensively described in
the book. Patent specifications have been
preserved for France, Austria and Great Britain,
which are presented. The account books of the
first manufacturer, the company André
Koechlin & Cie in Mulhouse, were
made accessible for the first time for this
history of the hand embroidery machine, also
known as "Heilmann's embroidery
machine", and the drawings were obtained
from the patent files and included in the
publication.
The two machine versions of 1828 and 1834 are
discussed in detail. The first three customers of
the hand embroidery machine were Franz Mange in
St.Gallen (Switzerland) in 1829, and a few months
later in 1830 Ludwig Boehler in Plauen (Saxony)
and Augustin Perier in Vizille (France)
incidentally in Le château de Vizille, in the
commune of Vizille in the department of Isère,
where the Museum of the French Revolution is now
housed.
The publication also looks at the wider
distribution of hand embroidery machines up to
1850. These machines were also produced in the UK
in the 1830s, probably in Manchester. One
customer there is known by name (Louis Schwabe
from Germany). In 1842 the inventor J. Heilmann
visited this factory. In 1844 the King of Saxony
also visited on his study trip through England.
Only research by British historians could attempt
to identify the machine manufacturer in the UK.
After locating an original machine drawing from
1829 with a scale drawn on it (the original
version of the hand embroidery machine with a
rope hoist instead of the later crank drive), a
virtual 3D reconstruction of the first hand
embroidery machine was created by an engineering
firm in Saxony. The actual drawing from 1829 is
also included in the book.
The history of the company André Koechlin &
Cie from its foundation in 1826 to the death of
André Koechlin in 1875 is described in detail.
Embroidery machines were manufactured from
1829-1836 according to the entries in the account
books, which were indexed for the first time. The
description of the 12 textile embroidery patterns
presented by Josué Heilmann in Mulhouse in 1829
from his newly invented machine is included in
full as a quotation for the first time in the
book.
Whether the patterns are still preserved in the
files of the Société Industrielle de Mulhouse
(which would be a sensation for textile history)
could only be clarified by additional research of
French Historians. All embroidery designs on such
machines by Josué Heilmann from the 1830s to
1850s, of which either pictures or real designs
have survived, have been included as pictures in
the book.
As in a British journal from 1849, a real hand
embroidery machine pattern is included in each
copy of the publication. It was made exclusively
in Switzerland on a historic hand embroidery
machine.
With the embroidery machines sold to St.Gallen,
the only embroidery machine mechanic of the
company André Koechlin and Cie went from
Mulhouse to St.Gallen in 1830. Until
then, only his family name Michel was known.
During research, his first name was found in the
company's workers' book. This made it possible to
find and present further traces of this man's
life. From 1835, this Auguste Michel apparently
worked as a teacher in Altkirch in Sundgau.
The publication is rounded off with the first
list of all 18 museums that show such embroidery
machines after the ingenious invention of Josué
Heilmann. They are located in Switzerland,
France, Austria and Germany. Anne Wanner, a very
renowned Swiss textile historian, and Nicolas
Stoskopf, professor emeritus of contemporary
history at the UHA Mulhouse, gave this
publication forewords.
Bibliographical data: Title: Die
Handstickmaschine – Erfindungsgeschichte und
erste Besitzer. Authors: Heino Strobel and
Patrick Schnetzer Publisher: Heino Strobel,
Plauen (Germany) Non-commercial private printing.
No sale. Copies: 111 100 pages, size 100, richly
illustrated, with an enclosure of a textile
embroidery pattern. Language: German, with
quotations from historical sources in French and
English. Copies are available in selected
libraries, archives and museums in Switzerland,
France, Germany and Great Britain.
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