Academic literature on the topic 'Medieval Needlework'

This study aims to fill the gaps in the history of Korean embroidery by examining Luembroidery of Shandong, an area closely related to the Korean peninsula in history, geography, culture, and custom. Unlike Gu-embroidery of Jiangnan that gained renown in the late Ming dynasty, Lu-embroidery’s relations to Korea could be found from the ancient times, through medieval Yuan to the Qing period, and therefore has significance as historical documents. Needlework in Lu-embroidery style, made or brought to Korea in the late Joseon period represent the literary preferences of the ruling class at the time and also hold diverse information on localized embroidery in Joseon, including Ahn Joo-embroidery, closely associated with Shandong.</br>Kkonsa existed since the ancient times, but was eclipsed in popularity by p’unsa, used in painted embroidery in medieval period in East Asia. It regained dominance again during the Yuan dynasty. In the late Yuan period, Lu-embroidery reached another golden age as Shandong Lu-embroidery employed kkonsa, a type of twisted embroidery thread rather than p’unsa, a type of silk thread, and as new techniques of more diversity and refinedness were developed. Shandong Lu-embroidery is also called uiseonsu, meaning embroidery for clothes, as kkonsa was widely used as being suitable for more sturdy costumes. In Nopakchiplam, it is recorded that new types of embroidery threads were used in Joseon as well. Conclusively, this study compared the Lu embroidery style works at the National Museum of Korea and the works of Ming-Qing period, and examined how kkonsa were used in Joseon. The iconography and style of embroidered Lotus Pond and Waterfowl and narrative figure paintings, and the use of Joseon royal style two-strands Jeonggumsa, royal embroidery, folk embroidery and Ahn Joo-embroidery were all considered for more comprehensive understanding.

The object of the study is the texts about Tan-varp-ekva, «the tendon twistress», recorded during the 20th c. The majority of the full-text tales has been recorded from the northern Mansi (Lyapin River Basin, Upper Lozva), some folklore stories have been published for various groups of Khanty (Yugan, Middle Ob, Berezovo, Kazym, Upper Purov, Shurishkar); the Nenets legend about the old woman-Sihirtia stands out. The tales mostly split into two plots: the first one is associated with the prohibition to spin veins at night, the second — with changeling and kidnapping of children. The analysis of the key points of the legends has been carried out, the position of the Ob-Ugorsk forest spirit among similar images of the Komi and Russians has been determined. The authors suggest that the village of Lombovozh (Lyapin Mansi) became the place of creation of the folklore storyline, linking it to the presence of a large archaeological site, a medieval settlement. The spread of the legend of Tan-varp-ekva among other Mansi and Khanty groups was the result of migrations. The main plot of the story refers to the introduction of regulations by the Ob Ugrians on inclusion of a daughter-in-law, young women into the foreign cult community. The story with a silver cup explains the rules of entry of a newly manufactured or brought from the outside object into the sphere of worship in the Ob Ugrians. Tan-varp-ekva in the role of a female deity could act as the patro-ness of needlework, as, for the Ob Ugrians, twisting of deer tendon threads was a traditional female work. The stories about Tan-varp-ekva are similar to those of many Russian fairy tales, ballades about mythical spin-stresses, as well as bans on needlework during the night and transition time. Her image has a lot in common with Baba Yaga and with the character of Yoma — her double in Komi (forest spirits, creatures of the lower world, kidnappers of children, cannibals, treasure keepers, treasure givers, «spinning» deities). The motifs of killing and eating of daughter-in-law by the spinstress of tendons can be an allusion of the rite of transition to a new family, when the girl «died» for her former family and left the protection of the spirits-keepers of her family. The popular-Christian layer of views of the Russians and Komi provides material for comparative analysis of mythological con-cepts of Slavic and Finn-Ugric peoples, who for a long period experienced mutual influence on ethnocultural tradi-tions. The function of Tan-varp-ekva as a «twister of tendons» can be secondary, borrowed from neighboring populations, for example, from the Komi, who, together with Orthodoxy, accepted and adapted the popular-Christian beliefs of the Russians.

The Stroganovs, known in the 16th–17th centuries as merchants, industrialists and landowners, left a deep mark in the history of not only the economy, but also of the culture of Russia. There is the vast scientific literature covering various aspects of the family members’ life, but their ktitor (founder and donator of church building) and art patronage activities of that time were not specifically studied. Only certain aspects were considered in the context of scientific searches in the field of art history. The authors of the article show that primarily the ktitor activity of the Stroganovs was consisted in the construction of numerous parish churches at their own expense during the development of the vast Ural-Pomor lands. This activity acquires great spiritual and cultural significance with the construction of magnificent stone Cathedrals (Sol’vychegodsk, Nizhny Novgorod, etc.), especially the family Blagoveshchensky (Annunciation) Cathedral (1560-1584) in Sol’vychegodsk, in which even a ktitor’s place was arranged. Concerns about providing the churches with everything necessary led to the foundation by the Stroganovs icon painting and book-writing workshops, decorative needlework and silver jewellery making, and the support of the Usol’e (Stroganov) masters of chanting. With a certain degree of conventionality for that time, the Stroganovs can be called not only ktitors, but also patrons of the arts. The theme of patronage of art and culture development by individuals in certain historical periods is often found in world science, but as a rule, on the examples of the Modern Age period. A few works are known about medieval patronage (about European rulers mainly). Therefore, the presented work highlighting the rare theme of patronage in Russia in the late Middle Ages complements the data of this issue at the world level. Thus, the purpose of the researching is to present in a generalized form the phenomenon of the flourishing of arts in the Stroganovs’ possessions precisely in the context of the formation and development of their activity as founders and donators of church building and art patrons in the 16th–17th centuries. This multifaceted activity is interpreted as the basis for the development of arts in the period under review. On the basis of the available scientific data, including one belonging to the authors, as well as with the involvement of new materials, a generalizing analysis of Stroganov masters’ works of art is also presented. The most significant scientific approaches are the complexity and interdisciplinary of the study. The results of solving the posed issue complement the modern scientific knowledge about the ways of development of art and ecclesiastical culture of Russia

Taking up the question of whether Frances Norton’s apparent religious orthodoxy is at odds with a feminist consciousness, this chapter argues that her literary works are parts of an ongoing project to memorialize her daughter, Grace Gethin, whose death interrupts participation in gendered spheres of marriage and motherhood. Norton’s commemorative project challenges conventional gender roles by generating an identity for Gethin as a woman of letters and spiritual authority, albeit through the tolerated feminine activities of needlework and devotional writing. Paying special attention to Norton’s published needlework poetry, this chapter argues that Norton foregrounds women’s grief and domestic labour.

Abstract Strictly speaking, the Bayeux Tapestry, which provides the most vivid pictorial record of the events leading up to the conquest of England by the Normans, is not a tapestry at all. The 70-metre long embroidery, known in the Norman cathedral city of Bayeux as ‘the tapestry of Queen Matilda’, is equally unlikely to be the painstaking work of the wife of William the Conqueror. Long before the Conquest, and long after it, England was famed for the intricacy and brilliance of its needlework. The great narrative hanging was probably the result of a celebratory, and possibly enforced, commission to English needle women to mark both the Norman victory of rn66 and the consecration of the cathedral at Bayeux in 1077 by its bishop, William’s half-brother Odo. After the conquest Odo had been rewarded by William with large estates in England and with the title Earl of Kent. He later acted, with some ruthlessness, as the King’s viceroy in the north of England. Odo’s periodic and prominent appearances on the tapestry as William’s counsellor, as the blesser of food at a banquet on English soil before the battle of Hastings, and as the armed wielder of a great wooden staff in the battle itself (clerics were forbidden to carry swords), suggest that he at least would not have found it inappropriate to decorate his new cathedral with an embroidered commemoration of his brother’s famous victory.