ANNE WANNER'S Textiles in History / publications
Swiss Whitework Embroideries
a paper, given at the CIETA meeting of 1989 in Chicago USA, by Anne Wanner-JeanRichard
page 4 of 5
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  Table cloths with historical scenes
  The cloth with scenes of Napoleons life is in St. Gallen. It was possible to find the pattern which served for the embroidered scenes. The Xylography with Napoleon in Egypt comes from "Histroire de l'empereur Napoleon" of 1839 with illustrations of Horace Vernet (17889-1863). Other scenes are embroidered after paintings of Vernet, David and others.
Another example is a table cloth in Nuernberg, Germany with scenes of the life of Frederik the Great. Adolf Menzel (1815-1905) illustrated a history of Frederik in the 1840s. His flute concert was taken as a pattern. It probably was done in the early 18th century, maybe in remembrance of Menzels 100th birthday, or maybe to honour Frederik the Great's 200th birthday. In 1912 there was an exhibition in Berlin in honour of Frederik the Great which produced a real Frederik wave.		   We can compare the ladies of the flute concert also to some embroidered ladies which were made in the workshop of the swiss painter H.C. Ulrich. Near Appenzell he had his atelier where he occupied women and taught them how to embroider figures.

A tablecloth very similar stilistically shows scenes of Goethe's Faust. Here too the pattern could be found in an illustrated publication of Goethe's Faust, published in 1854, engraved by Engelbert Seibertz (born 1813) after designs of Peter Cornelius (1783-1867).

   
 

Detail of Tablecloth withScenes of Life of Napoleon:
Napoleon in Egypt
today Textilemuseum St.Gallen

 

Xylography with Napoleon in Egypt
   

 

 

Faustus in his Study, Detail of embroidered Tablecloth around 1900
today Textilemuseum St.Gallen

Faustus in his Study, illustrated Edition by E. Seibertz
 
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