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Greetings from Florence!
Jan. 13th, 2008 06:59 pmI am here, settled,and have already seen the Baptistery (OMG mosaics!!!!!) and the Duomo museum (OMG Dontatello and Ghiberti!). The apartment is lovely, my neighbor is very nice, and so far this trip has everything I could have hoped for.
And mine eyes have seen the glory...of the Degli Angli Cushion.
Yes, friends, I did it. I went to Impruneta and saw the cushion in my icon. Here is what I can say about it:
1. It is not Victorian. Absolutely wrong in style and technique for Victorian silk work. Also, the wear on the velvet and silk pieces are consistent with something 500 years old, not 100 years old.
2. It is absolutely, definitely, no doubt about it, pieced. Even better, the technique is not the English paper piecing seen in the earliest known pieced coverlets (c.1700), but the sort of piecing one sees in modern hand pieced patchwork. The one difference that I saw is that some of the smaller pieces had cording couched to cover the seams, presumably because the maker (believed to be Deinara degli Angli) used white thread for her piecing regardless of the color of the patches.
3. The patterns look a great deal like some of the mosaics on the floor of the Baptistery, believe it or not. Given that the degli Anglis were friends with the Medici, it is very possible that Deinara saw the mosaics and was inspired.
4. The folk at the museum are very nice, but they have not the slightest idea of the importance of this piece. They pay more attention to a collection of fairly boring silver votive pieces (including a weird little reliquary that contains a skull topped by a wreath of very faded 17th century fake flowers,plus the owneràs organs in neat little silk gauze bags) and some 17th century vestments than to the only known piece of domestic patchwork dating from prior to 1700. However,it *is* in a climate controlled vitrine, so at least itàs safe.:)
5. Certain textile experts who wrote in the Cambridge History of Western Textiles that there was no such thing as patchwork prior to the 18th century will have to do a bit of rethinking.
And now, off to dinner and a well deserved nightàs rest!
And mine eyes have seen the glory...of the Degli Angli Cushion.
Yes, friends, I did it. I went to Impruneta and saw the cushion in my icon. Here is what I can say about it:
1. It is not Victorian. Absolutely wrong in style and technique for Victorian silk work. Also, the wear on the velvet and silk pieces are consistent with something 500 years old, not 100 years old.
2. It is absolutely, definitely, no doubt about it, pieced. Even better, the technique is not the English paper piecing seen in the earliest known pieced coverlets (c.1700), but the sort of piecing one sees in modern hand pieced patchwork. The one difference that I saw is that some of the smaller pieces had cording couched to cover the seams, presumably because the maker (believed to be Deinara degli Angli) used white thread for her piecing regardless of the color of the patches.
3. The patterns look a great deal like some of the mosaics on the floor of the Baptistery, believe it or not. Given that the degli Anglis were friends with the Medici, it is very possible that Deinara saw the mosaics and was inspired.
4. The folk at the museum are very nice, but they have not the slightest idea of the importance of this piece. They pay more attention to a collection of fairly boring silver votive pieces (including a weird little reliquary that contains a skull topped by a wreath of very faded 17th century fake flowers,plus the owneràs organs in neat little silk gauze bags) and some 17th century vestments than to the only known piece of domestic patchwork dating from prior to 1700. However,it *is* in a climate controlled vitrine, so at least itàs safe.:)
5. Certain textile experts who wrote in the Cambridge History of Western Textiles that there was no such thing as patchwork prior to the 18th century will have to do a bit of rethinking.
And now, off to dinner and a well deserved nightàs rest!
