Normandy Bed Coverlet
From the our November 2021 newsletter:
"As for this astonishing Normandy lace bed coverlet...! Here we see an antique lace sheet, painstakingly embellished with elaborate portraits of 15th-century European nobility, including Anne de Bourgogne. She was the daughter of a Bavarian duchess and the duke of Burgundy, and in 1423, was given in marriage to a son of King Henry IV of England.
Now, might this item represent a mere souvenir, a history lesson preserved in textile art—or a specially-commissioned, commemorative item intended to celebrate one's claims to ancestry, or establish one's claims to it?
Or is it simply an ambitious lacemaker's project, perhaps, depicting royal figures in a bid to command a royal price? If we ever find out more, we'll be sure to let you know."
Museum ID: 37110
Donated by:
Photographs: Jules Kliot
"As for this astonishing Normandy lace bed coverlet...! Here we see an antique lace sheet, painstakingly embellished with elaborate portraits of 15th-century European nobility, including Anne de Bourgogne. She was the daughter of a Bavarian duchess and the duke of Burgundy, and in 1423, was given in marriage to a son of King Henry IV of England.
Now, might this item represent a mere souvenir, a history lesson preserved in textile art—or a specially-commissioned, commemorative item intended to celebrate one's claims to ancestry, or establish one's claims to it?
Or is it simply an ambitious lacemaker's project, perhaps, depicting royal figures in a bid to command a royal price? If we ever find out more, we'll be sure to let you know."
Museum ID: 37110
Donated by:
Photographs: Jules Kliot