Annatextiles VOCABULAR - Embroideries |
| index voca---alphabetical order: german english italiano---embroideries |
| *ge--- deutsch | *e--- english | *fr--- français | *it---
italiano |
Frühe Leinenstickerei in Norddeutschland |
Linen Emboidery in Northern Germany |
Broderie blanche région nord de l'allemagne |
Ricami bianchi regione nord della germania |
| by Aldith Angharad St. George Whitework is a general term for embroidery worked on white linen fabric with a white (usually linen) thread. There are many forms and styles of Whitework. Some forms use texture for effect, such as counted brick stitch or satin stitch work, and can be strictly classified as embroidery. Other forms rely on open spaces made in the fabric for their effect, such as pulled-thread and especially drawn-thread work. These forms of whitework lead to the needle laces of the 16th century. Whitework can also include outlines and details worked with a black, brown or dark blue thread of wool or silk. Whitework was most typically worked on altar and table linens from about the 12th century. The earliest and most numerous examples that have come down to us are from Germany, where it was used for altar coverings, particularly for use during Lent. It is for this reason that whitework was frequently referred to in church records as Opus Teutonicum ("German Work"). However, there is a 12th century whitework altar cloth from North Italy (Lombardy) that is worked in stem and broad chain stitches, so whitework shouldn't be thought of as exclusively German. By the 14th century, whitework becomes more common in North Italian and Scandanavian altar linens, probably as a consequence of these countries' proximity to Germany. However, it is surprising that there seem to be far fewer, if any, examples of English, Flemish or Spanish whitework until the 16th century. It's been suggested by more than one writer that the reason that so much whitework is concentrated in German convents is that these convents were so poor that they couldn't afford silk and gold threads for their embroideries, so the nuns used the ravellings of linen cloth for embroidery thread. |
I think that while this may have been true in
the beginning, a taste for the austere beauty of
white-on-white, especially on a semitransparent ground,
developed very quickly, with the result that whitework
became a sought-after style in much the same way as Opus
Anglicanum. Certainly, whitework is just as
challenging to stitch as silk or metal thread work. By the 14th century, suspiciously secular designs began to appear in South German and Swiss whitework, which may be an indication that these pieces were worked by domestic, or even professional, embroiderers. Some are likely to been used for secular purposes before being donated to the church. During the 15th and 16th centuries, such secular work becomes commonplace, and is used not only for table linens, towels and curtains, but also on some items of clothing. Regrettably, I haven't found any solid evidence so far for whitework being used on secular clothing until the third quarter of the 15th century, when examples of white-work on the increasingly visible edges of shirts and chemises begin to appear in Germany, Italy and Spain. During the first half of the 16th century, the major forms of whitework (drawn-thread, pulled thread, insertion stitches, counted stitches such as satin and brick stitches) were all used to decorate personal linens more and more frequently, and this leads directly to the development of needle laces. (http://www.bayrose.org/wkneedle/Articles/Whitework.html) Literatur: Kroos, Renate und Jeitner, Christa-Maria: Das Brandenburger Hungertuch, Brandenburg 2001 Bertone, Maria Beatrice, il velo della Beata Benvenuta Bojani, in: filoforme, Autunno 2001, p. 3. Publikation zum mittelalterl. Flechtstich von Frau Buggenthin |
  1 -- Kloster Ebstorf, 1290 |
Die nachfolgenden Beispiele
stammen aus den Sammlungen: 1 -- Ebstorf, 1290 ge--- Malteser Flechtstich, vorne e--- Maltese filling stitch, front |
The following examples
belong to the collections of: 1) Ebstorf, Kloster Ebstorf, Leinendecke 2, 3) Lüneburg, Kloster Lüne, Leinendecken und Altarbehänge 4) Cividale del Friuli (Italia), il velo della Beata Benvenuta Bojani 5) Brandenburg, Dom, Hungertuch see also: Schweizer Leinenstickerei  1--- Ebstorf, 1290 ge--- Malteser Flechtstich, hinten e--- Maltese filling stitch, reverse |
 2 a -- Kloster Lüne, 1330 |
 2 a -- convent of Luene, 1330 ge--- Plattstich, Stielstich, vorne e--- Satin stitch, front |
 2 a -- convent of Luene, 1330 ge--- Plattstich, Stielstich, vorne e--- Satin stitch, front |
 3a --Kloster Lüne, 1300 |
 3b-- convent of Luene, 1300 ge--- Leiterstich, Flechtstich, vorne e--- open chain stitch, front |
 3b -- convent of Luene, 1300 ge--- Leiterstich, hinten e--- open chain stitch, reverse |
 3c --Kloster Lüne, 1300 |
 3d-- convent of Luene, 1330 ge--- Klosterstich, vorne e--- self couching, front |
 3d --convent of Luene, 1330 ge--- Klosterstich, vorne e--- self couching, front |
 4 a --Cividale, 1290 |
 4a-- Cividale, 1290 ge--- Klosterstich, vorne e--- self couching, front side |
 4 a -- Cividale, 1290 ge--- Klosterstich, vorne e--- self couching, front |
 5 a -- Angel, Brandenburg, 1290 |
 5 a ---Hiob, Brandenburg, 1290 ge--- Klosterstich, vorne e--- self couching, front |
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voca names: german english italiano embroideries |
Last revised September 2016 |
