The Lost Art of the Anglo-Saxon World: The Sacred and Secular Power of Embroidery

by Alexandra Lester-Makin

This latest title in the highly successful Ancient Textiles series is the first substantial monograph-length historiography of early medieval embroideries and their context within the British Isles. The book brings together and analyses for the first time all 43 embroideries believed to have been made in the British Isles and Ireland in the early medieval period. New research carried out on those embroideries that are accessible today, involving the collection of technical data, stitch analysis, observations of condition and wear-marks and microscopic photography supplements a survey of existing published and archival sources. The research has been used to write, for the first time, the 'story' of embroidery, including what we can learn of its producers, their techniques, and the material functions and metaphorical meanings of embroidery within early medieval Anglo-Saxon society.

The author presents embroideries as evidence for the evolution of embroidery production in Anglo-Saxon society, from a community-based activity based on the extended family, to organised workshops in urban settings employing standardised skill levels and as evidence of changing material use: from small amounts of fibres produced locally for specific projects to large batches brought in from a distance and stored until needed. She demonstrate that embroideries were not simply used decoratively but to incorporate and enact different meanings within different parts of society: for example, the newly arrived Germanic settlers of the fifth century used embroidery to maintain links with their homelands and to create tribal ties and obligations. As such, the results inform discussion of embroidery contexts, use and deposition, and the significance of this form of material culture within society as well as an evaluation of the status of embroiderers within early medieval society.

The results contribute significantly to our understanding of production systems in Anglo-Saxon England and Ireland.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

272 pages, Paperback

First published September 19, 2019

Reviews

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Lost Art of the Anglo-Saxon World: The Sacred and Secular Power of Embroidery is an in-depth dissertation on extant pieces of Anglo-Saxon embroidery. It is well written and comprehensive when describing the existing embroidered pieces and embroidery stitches and how that related to your place in society. The only drawback, which is not the author's fault is the limited access to such ancient and delicate cloths, many are grave goods, and must be treated with the utmost care. I read the book with my computer handy and found that many of the described works are now archived online in enlargeable color photographs, by the museums in which they reside. It made the book even more fascinating and allowed me to take a look back in time and wonder at the level of detail preserved in these tiny scraps and the author's dedication in teasing it out. This book is not written as a how-to book, but rather a historical view of the embroidered art of Anglo-Saxon women. I highly recommend the author's website, https://alexandramakin.com/, for even more information on medieval and Anglo-Saxon embroideries.

[Lemonade · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-have for anyone who wants to learn about existing Western European embroidery from before 1000AD. Dr Makin analyzes materials, methods and tools in-depth.