The Netflix docuseries about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle may have confirmed us that the life of royals isn't definitely a fairytale, but there are other royal stories that textile and embroidery fans may appreciate more.
The TextielMuseum in Tilburg, The Netherlands, currently offers the opportunity to admire both the historical and new curtains for Huis ten Bosch Palace, the royal residence of Her Majesty Queen Máxima and King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands in a dedicated exhibition – "Royal Embroidery: Stitches and Stories". Opened at the beginning of December, it will be on till the end of May next year (but remember that this exhibition can only be visited in time slots and with a valid e-ticket booked in advance).
The project is the result of a joint effort: the new silk curtains were first machine embroidered in the TextielLab, but Queen Máxima helped finishing the pieces with a team of 150 embroiderers located all over the Netherlands, from Amsterdam and Arnhem to Maastricht, Rotterdam, and Utrecht. Under the guidance of master hand embroiderer Anna Bolk, they embroidered various natural elements that were then attached by hand to the machine-embroidered curtains.
The historical curtains, now too fragile for use, hung in the Chinese Hall of Huis ten Bosch Palace and were made in 18th-century in an unknown embroidery workshop in Guangzhou, China, and they were part of a lavish gift given to Prince William V and his wife Wilhelmina of Prussia.
The first room in the exhibition recreates the atmosphere of the Chinese Hall with the curtains, authentic furniture, fire screens and 18th-century tableware.
The historical curtains depicted numerous embroidered scenes that were highly symbolic: the stories hidden behind the everyday images – like the one about villagers washing clothes in a river – provide insight into the social status, dress and architecture of China at the time. Visitors can discover more about these stories and the symbols behind some of the embroideries through special audio fragments.
The next room displays the new curtains, which were designed by The Hague designer Liesbeth Stinissen, who developed the machine and hand embroidery in collaboration with master hand embroiderer Anna Bolk and the TextielLab's machine embroidery expert Frank de Wind.
The set and settings of the new curtains are typically Dutch with depictions of the meandering river delta connecting waterworks with iconic architecture and everyday scenes from The Netherlands' history.
The new embroideries are also intriguing from an architectural point of view as they show different buildings and infrastructures including the Delta Works in Zeeland, the NEMO Science Museum in Amsterdam and the Sint Servaas Bridge in Maastricht (architecture and embroidery would actually make a wonderful exhibition…).
The exhibition also includes in a space set up as a studio, sketches and samples that show Stinissen's research in the TextielLab and her explorations of the possibilities of computer-controlled embroidery, but also the technical challenges she encountered and overcame. Samples are provided for visitors to touch, helping to bring the details of the design to life.
The last room focuses on the embroidery fans who contributed to the curtains and includes a personal embroidery from each group that worked on the curtains, among the others there is a hand-embroidered white bridal shawl that Nasima Azimi made in Kabul, Afghanistan, and brought to the Netherlands when she fled the Taliban; a highly refined Japanese embroidery by Jessica de Boer van Brouwershaven that took 900 hours to make; and work by fashion students Angela Acosta Hernandez and Rayyan Jindi, who had never embroidered before taking part in this project.
These pieces tell the stories behind the makers' passion for the craft, which sometimes goes back generations, so that the exhibition offers the chance to admire the new works, but also explore the stories that arise when people embroider together. As Hebe Verstappen, Head of the TextielLab, states about the role of embroidery behind this exhibition, "Joint embroidery connects; it provides encounters, conversation and exchange of knowledge and skills."
Image credits for this post
1. Campaign image Royal embroidery: Stitches and stories Photo: Florine van Rees
2. Historical curtains, unknown embroidery workshop in Guangzhou, ca. 1791. HTB 0680, State of the Netherlands/Royal Collections, The Hague, on display in the exhibition "Royal Embroidery" at the TextielMuseum, Tilburg, The Netherlands. Photo: Josefina Eikenaar
3. Detail from the historical curtains, unknown embroidery workshop in Guangzhou, ca. 1791. HTB 0680, Royal Collections of the Netherlands, The Hague. Photo: Maarten Schuth
4. Sample of the new curtains for Huis ten Bosch Palace, showing the Sint Servaas Bridge in Maastricht. Photo: Patty van den Elshout for the TextielMuseum
5. Detail of new curtains designed by Liesbeth Stinissen showing the Wadden Sea on view in the exhibition "Royal Embroidery" at the TextielMuseum, Tilburg, The Netherlands. Photo: Maarten Schuth commissioned by TextielMuseum
6. Detail of new curtains designed by Liesbeth Stinissen showing Brandaris lighthouse, Terschelling, on view in the exhibition "Royal Embroidery" at the TextielMuseum, Tilburg, The Netherlands. Photo: Maarten Schuth commissioned by TextielMuseum
7. The TextielLab's machine embroidery specialist Frank de Wind and designer Liesbeth Stinissen working on the digital design of the new curtains. Photo: Willeke Machiels for the TextielMuseum
8. Her Majesty Queen Máxima embroiders with members of embroidery group Pennywafelhuis on the new curtains for Huis ten Bosch Palace in the TextielMuseum. Photo: Maarten Schuth Productions (Benjamin Arthur)
9. Group photo of embroidery group "Fatima Abbadi" from Capelle aan den IJssel, that took part in the "Royal Embroidery" project by the TextielMuseum. Photo: Maarten Schuth commissioned by the TextielMuseum