I recently met Tiao Nithakhong Somsanith at the 5th International Conference on Lao Studies, in Bangkok. He transformed a drab classroom into a sacred space—golden embroideries of the Buddha, lace-like stencils of angels hovering like snowflakes on the windows overlooking the Chao Praya river, and an aura of the timelessness that imbues these ancient arts. Amongst […]
Ahoy there, Mateys!–Part 2 of Let’s Hear it for the Boys!
The second of Julia’s two three-part* series dedicated to the gentleman. If you missed my first post on ‘man-centric’ textiles – you can read it here. Here are a few more of my favorites: *NOTE from Julia: I found so many great guys in our collection, I’m planning a third installment of this blog…stay tuned! Sailors’ […]
Let’s hear it for the boys!
Ahoy there, Mateys! – Part 1 Often, when we think of textiles, we think of fashion or women’s handwork. But in many cultures, it is the men who are the master weavers, dyers, block printers, and high-end tailors. So this two-part post is dedicated to the gentlemen! Just for you, I have selected some truly […]
Passage from India – Part 2
This is the second post on the 18th-19th century Indian textile we’ve had the good fortune to work on of late. If you missed the first post in this series, you can find it here. In this post we’ll present history and possible use of the piece. This kalamkari is a treasure of the venerable […]
Passage from India
Part 1: We’re delighted to share with you two posts regarding a wonderful Indian ‘kalamkari’ that we have been conserving and researching over the past few months. In this post, we’ll tell you about a beautiful quilt and the restoration work that we have performed, and next week we’ll discuss its history and the kalamkari genre. Block […]
Crazy Crazy Quilt
Spring is finally here, and the explosion of blooms outside is mirrored in the studio in a crazy quilt with many of the season’s beauties—lily of the valley, dogwood, scilla, violets, virginia blue bells or maybe forget me nots…. Popular in the late 19th and early 20th century, crazy quilts were an excellent way for […]
Hidden Quilt History
The exterior of this quilt may look like any other, but there is something quite special going on under the surface here—it is two quilts in one (one quilt surrounding an even older quilt). We think the outer quilt was made between 1920-1940, when feed and flour sacks were commonly repurposed into dresses, towels, quilt […]
