Wiehler MAGAZIN - Wiehler Gobelin

The approx. 2000 exhibits here include rural, bour-
geois and courtly samplers dating between 1600
and 1940.
The custom of producing an embroidery sample cloth in
order to base the embroidery of one’s dowry on the motifs
and symbols collected on it, was so popular that it can be
found in all strata and social standings. This is manifested
by the unique collection of the journalist couple Elfi and
Hans-Joachim Connemann who have established a wonderful
home in a charming small summer residence dating from the
Rococo period. The approx. 2000 exhibits here include rural,
bourgeois and courtly samplers dating between 1600 and
1940; also sample cloths for shirt slit trimmings in needlepoint
work and artistic darning samplers, as well as parts of
the dowry ranging from a bridal cushion dating from 1669
to burial shroud from 1793. A sampler by a young noblewoman
is adorned with 18 tiny freshwater pearls, “a precious
item that was reserved for the nobility and the church“, Elfi
Connemann explains. But no matter whether the girls lived
in a castle, in the town or in the country – textile handicrafts
with needle and thread and knowledge of the deep symbolic
meaning of the motifs were common to them all.
The crowned peacock as early Christian symbol of the resurrection
(its beautiful tail feathers that it loses once a year grow
again in their full splendour) was one such motif. It unfurls
it plumage not only on a courtly cloth but also on a peasant
girl’s sampler from Thuringian dated 1707. Besides the year,
also the girl’s initials are embroidered on it, the “S” being the
wrong way round. Like most girls the maiden could in fact
embroider perfectly but due to a lack of education she could
neither read nor write. All the more lively were the numerous
samplers she embroidered that developed as the “language” of
the girls and women who used them to articulate themselves
over the centuries in view of the lack of intellectual possibilities
and their exclusion from a world dominated by men.
Numerous endearing objects made of ivory, silver and
wood connected with embroidery complete the exhibition
in this specialised museum that is unique the world
over; in addition there are hand-coloured embroidery patterns
from the Biedermeier era and rare old pattern books,
for example the original edition of a „model book“ (model
here meaning sample) by the Nuremberg copper engraver,
Johann Siebmacher, dating from 1601, whose patterns have
been embroidered in the whole of Europe over the centuries.
„For example the basketwork ornamentation“, the specialist
Mrs. Connemann explains, and points to an intricate formation.
„It is a magic sign for the thread of life that – plaited
and knotted – represented the bond with fate“. At the same
time three letters can be recognised in the ornament – the
monogram of Christ, IHS.
Wiehler MAGAZIN – May 2007 Page
This important symbol can be seen, borne by two cherubs,
on a small Danish sampler measuring only 20 x 20 cm
dating back to 1808, this being the first sampler in the Connemanns’
collection. It was in a rural auction, finely embroidered,
but nibbled at by mice, and lay unheeded in a cabinet.
It very soon belonged to the couple who at that time did not
even suspect what significance it had for them.
Their passion for collecting was aroused, a step taken into
a world unknown to them so far, that had a fascination
for them and that has not ceased to captivate them to this
very day. The result: The work of a lifetime that is unique
throughout the world. Visitors from all corners of the globe
are true evidence of this.
The collectors, Elfi and Hans-Joachim Connemann, who hold between them
the largest embroidery sampler (in the background) of the collection dating
from 1780 and measuring 72 x 77 cm, and the smallest from 1745, 20 x
15 cm. Between these lies everything that they have collected over the past
30 years that are appropriate to the topic of the museum: „Four centuries
of social and cultural history shown on the example of a forgotten textile
everyday culture”. The worldwide exclusivity of this special museum in Celle
explicitly proves how necessary it is to keep a documentation of these cultural
treasures in museum quality in order to keep “women’s heritage“ alive.
German Sampler-Museum Celle
Open between 10 a.m and 5 p.m.
Monday und Friday closed
eintritt Adult 3.– euro
Student 1,– euro
Groups on demand
Deutsches Stickmuster-Museum Celle
Palais im Prinzengarten
D-29221 Celle/Germany
stickmuster@kulturserver.de
stickmuster.kulturserver-nds.de