Photo Post - Czech embroidery

I am still having problems with RSI in my wrist, which makes typing for any length of time a problem. It has resulted in delays in writing that book for visitors to Cesky Krumlov, which I had planned to publish in October. It also makes typing blogposts a problem. So I have decided I will give you a photo post or two instead.  

These embroideries are an important part of Czech traditional costumes. These can be seen in a number of museums in the Czech Republic and on certain holidays and in certain towns and areas you can see them being worn. The most famous event is the Ride of the Kings in Moravia, which takes place every year in Vlcnov and which I will be visiting next year - more of that in a future post.

Prachatice Bobbin Lace Museum

One memory of this summer will be the visit I made with two ladies from the Textile Society of Great Britain to the Museum of Bobbin Lace in Prachatice. I have a photograph of the two of them engaged in deep conversation with the museum's curator. I will not post it here, because like me the ladies would prefer if photographs of themselves were not seen generally.

I had established that both ladies were interested, nay extremely knowledgeable, in lace, and I knew the museum from previous visits. But it was the personal chemistry between the curator and the ladies that was so lovely and unexpected.

He told them how the museum grew from a collection of his wife's. She had come from a long line of lace makers and when the revolution happened she had expressed a desire to create a museum to share her collection. Alas his wife died, but he was carrying on with the museum, one suspects partly as a way of keeping her alive in some way. Now here were two elderly ladies who not only shared his wife's passion, but were very knowledgeable. One of them was even active in a similar museum in the UK.

It wasn't all one way of course. My two ladies clearly got a lot from listening to him and viewing the collection. Dozens of photographs were taken – no doubt much better than my amateur efforts – and will almost certainly be used in talks to other textile lovers. I was delighted.