A closer look

About the project

Already in the 17th century, materials for luxury goods and clothes came from all over the world. Highly specialized craftsmen, such as weavers, embroiderers, shoemakers, goldsmiths and tailors were involved in making them

Materials used to create objects in the Rijksmuseum collection, as well the details of their construction, will be compared with contemporary sources such as inventories and recipes, but also with similar objects in other collections. The project started in 2019; the materials and techniques used on a small number of embroidered gloves and purses have been documented and metal threads used in the embroidery analyzed. Further research is still in progress.

Aim of the project

The aim of the project is to gain a better understanding of how clothes and accessories in 17th-century Holland were made, and how these processes relate to production in other countries. Analysis of materials, techniques and dyestuffs is combined with the documentation of the underlying structure using micro-CT scanning and X-ray analysis. Three books published by the V&A in London set an example: the two-volume Seventeenth-Century Women’s Dress Patterns and Seventeenth-Century Men’s Dress Patterns . By sharing our results through (online) publications and presentations, knowledge will be made available for a wider audience, allowing it to be used for future research.

Publications

Results will be presented and/or published (online) by participants in 2020 and 2021 and partially included in a publication by curator B. du Mortier (due in 2022).

• Seventeenth-Century Women's Dress Patterns: Book One

• Seventeenth-Century Women's Dress Patterns: Book Two

• 17th-Century Men's Dress Patterns