Celtic, Viking & Anglo-Saxon Embroidery
by Jan Messent
I should think that all embroiderers and yarncrafters
have heard of Jan Messent; her work has been praised and loved for
many years. Now here is a book showing her fascination with
early embroidery, all presented in a series of altered books and other
artifacts.
This is a lush, large-format hardcover that will look great residing
on any coffee table. You and your guests won’t be able
to resist taking a good long look at it and being impressed with the
standard of the work, the sheer imagination, the research and, of
course, Search Press’ beautiful photography and presentation.
It is not a book of projects but the culmination in words and pictures
of the author’s longtime love affair with the subject.
However, it is the sort of book that is likely to spark an interest
in altered books and in making them about one’s own crafting
passion. The
author covers a lot of ground in here, from showcasing what early
embroidery looked like, through to the clothes and accessories people
adorned with it, ecclesiastical and royal uses, how it differed
between the various peoples covered, and much more. There
are excerpts from old documents, thumbnail portraits of historical
people, descriptions of the author’s own processes, and even
some templates to help those who want to have a go themselves.
It all rather defies description, but it is impossible not to be
impressed and become even more so on reading the text and discovering
not only about the subject but how much research has gone into doing
it. I can imagine that this book will be of great use also
to all those on textile courses having to put together display boards
or books of samples; having done this myself I can see now how to
do it properly! Who knows, maybe in time it might get filed
in the bookcase and your coffee table groaning instead under the
weight of your own work…highly recommended.
|
The
Book |
Search Press |
April 2010 |
Hardback
|
1844484092 / 9781844484096 |
Non-Fiction/ How To/ Embroidery |
More
at Amazon.com US
|| UK |
Excerpt |
NOTE: |
The
Reviewer |
Rachel
A Hyde |
Reviewed 2010 |
NOTE: |
|