Nejstarší výšivky ve sbírkách Etnografického ústavu Moravského zemského muzea : odkaz spolku Vesna

The 18th-century embroidery work in the store of textiles at the Ethnographical Institute of the Moravian Provincial Museum can be counted among its rarest and most precious collections. This paper looks at particular examples in its consideration of the sources of patterns and individual motifs and the routes by which these were disseminated among the people. As early as the beginning of the 16th century books of swatches printed in Germany and Italy were in circulation. For the most part, styles of ornamentation employed by embroideresses in the provinces were inspired by the textile furnishings of the church, which they regularly serviced; embroidery work in churches was their model. Documentation from the 17th century states that ordinarily this included coverings for the altar (a corporale, a large cloth around the altar), antependia, christening wreaths and corner hangings. Among the surviving artefacts we find embroidery where either the numbers of threads is counted or the work is completed according to a sketch. The colours of embroidered material in the 18th century were mostly red, also black, light yellow and white. Composition followed certain rules: there was a bordura around the edges and flowers on the surface. Zoomorphic motifs were also used, for the most part lambs, deer, lions and birds. These reached Europe in precious silk fabrics as early as Byzantine times, from the Middle Ages they were imitated in embroidery work. Most items in the collection of 18th-century embroidery work (comprising several dozen registration numbers) reached the Ethnographical Institute by means of one of two transfers. In terms of both quantity and quality, its basis was acquired from the Vesna collection; this came into the keeping of the Moravian Provincial Museum after the Vesna Society was dissolved in 1949. In 1963 and 1965, the Institute acquired further pieces from the defunct Stojan Museum at Velehrad.