BÜHL, Gudrun, Sumru Belger Krody and Elizabeth Dospel Williams (2019). Woven Interiors: Furnishing Early Medieval Egypt, Washington: The Textile Museum, ISBN 978-87405-040-0. Soft back, fully illustrated in colour and b/w. 124 pp., bibliography, no index.

A catalogue to a travelling exhibition initially held at The Textile Museum, Washington D.C., between August 2019 and January 2020. The exhibition included a range of public space and household objects made from various types of material, including curtains, wall hangings, cushions and floor coverings. Most of the items are woven, but there are also some less well-known resist-dyed pieces that include religious scenes and figures (pp. 67-68). The range of objects on display include some very famous items from the Dumbarton Oaks collection, such as the Hestia Pikyolbus (no. 29) and the Nereids and Dolphin hanging (no. 13), as well as many lesser known items. The text is supported by relevant, contemporary objects such as stone tiles, spoons, containers, etc. The objects come from various North American museum collections, including The Textile Museum, Washington DC; Dumbarton Oaks, Washington DC; The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

There are six essays included in the catalogue that cover various subjects, including architecture, public buildings and the use of space; private buildings and their spaces; Christian sacred imagery, as well as comfort in the home, an appraisal of textile aesthetics in the early medieval period in Egypt, and finally continuity and change in textile production, trade and use. There are some technical details, but not very much.

Recommendation: Well worth having if you are interested in early medieval Egyptian textiles, the use of religious textiles, textiles used for interiors of public and private spaces. It is also a must for any library dealing with early medieval archaeological material from the Middle East.

Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, March 2020.

A length of modern velvet from Italy with a classic flower design (TRC 2018.2510).Velvet is a rich, varied and versatile type of cloth that can be used in many different and at times surprising ways. Velvet is used for garments, covering the body literally from head to foot, and worn by men, women and children. Houses are also decorated with velvets and the material has been used for soft-furnishings as well as upholstery.

The TRC exhibition Velvet!, which was on display at the TRC from January to June 2019, included examples of velvet dating from the late fifteenth century to the present day. There were over 100 garments and textiles, ranging from samples of cotton, linen, mohair, silk and wool velvet (some of which visitors can touch), velveteens, kuba velvets, to children’s velvet garments, wedding dresses, not to mention a wide range of velvet hats! A real feast for the senses.

Postcard and stamp of a 19th century painting depicting a lady in a velvet jacket, Hungary (TRC 2018.2544).

The luxurious character of velvet was made clear by a length of so-called Utrecht velvet (made from mohair), and also by an example of a pressed velvet that is used in the Tweede Kamer, The Hague, for a wall hanging. There was even a sample of the velvet used to decorate the Throne Room of the Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain.

The TRC exhibition VELVET! was officially opened on the 22nd January 2019 by the Wethouder for Cultural Affairs (Leiden), Ms. Yvonne van Delft.

For a brief introduction to the subject of velvet, please click here. For the complete list of objects that were being displayed, with direct references to the TRC online catalogue, click here.

The exhibition was made possible with the help of Lunsingh Meubelstoffering en Zitmeubelrestauratie, Leiden.

7000 years of hand woven textiles in one exhibition!

TRC Gallery exhibition, 26 May – 23 September 2014

Woman in Lima, Peru, with backstrap loom. Photograph: Jefke van ItersonThe Gallery exhibition at the Textile Research Centre, Leiden, is a must for textile lovers.

The exhibition includes some of the oldest textiles in the world. They come from Çatal Hüyük (Turkey). These tiny fragments are about 7000 years old, and what a story they tell about the long history of hand weaving! Other unusual items on display include textiles that were originally wrapped around the Dead Sea Scrolls, examples of Coptic tapestries from Egypt, as well as medieval and Renaissance velvets and silk woven textiles. All of them are hand woven!

Following an article about the TRC in a national Dutch newspaper (Trouw, 22 October 2011), the TRC was approached about the potential donation of a collection of European textiles from the sixteenth to the early nineteenth centuries. These pieces formed part of the collection of the Van Gerwen-Lemmens Museum, Valkenswaard, which was forced to close down in 2008. After a visit by TRC staff to Valkenswaard on November 12, Mrs. Van Gerwen very kindly donated 101 textiles to the TRC.

Most of the textiles date to the 18^thcentury and include velvets, brocades and damasks. In addition, there are a few printed and embroidered pieces. There were also several, very rare ‘Coptic’ silk embroideries dating from the sixth to the seventh centuries AD. These include scenes depicting what appears to be Christ and various saints.

The acquisition of these pieces means that the TRC’s collection will take on a greater depth with respect to quality and range of subjects. The textiles will be on display at the TRC Gallery as part of a special exhibition, from June to September 2012.

The TRC works on a project basis and on financial donations from official, commercial and private sources. The funding is used for special projects, maintaining the collection, setting up costs of exhibitions and general running costs. Through the years we have had many Friends support the work of the TRC with donations, both financial and material for the collection.

Over the last 30 years, the TRC collection has grown from forty items to over 42,000 catalogued items. Since 2009, the collection has been housed at Hogewoerd 164 in Leiden. The opening of this site also allowed the expansion of educational activities and exhibitions of the growing collection . We are again at a critical moment in our growth. We are running out of space, for the collection, work space and classroom space. We need our friends even more. We are, simultaneously, trying to accommodate the growing collection and educational program in our current space AND on the lookout for a new space. We are being cautious during these difficult economic times, yet hopeful knowing that a new space will increase our ability to be more self-sustaining as we are able to provide more workshops and work more efficiently.

Become a part of our future and join our support network by becoming a Friend of the TRC. To show our appreciation you will receive a 10% discount on items in our shop, lectures, courses (excluding intensive 5-day courses) and workshops. In addition, four times per year all members will have the chance to win a raffle prize. Annual or Life time memberships.

Annual membership fee is €75; lifetime membership fee is €500

To become a member, please send us an email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the subject line 'Friends of the TRC membership'.

Tax benefits of donating to TRC Leiden

Stichting Textile Research Centre is officially recognised as a non-profit organisation, a "Culturele ANBI" (Algemeen Nut Beogende Instelling) whereby donations are not subject to donation or succession taxes and are tax deductible. Your financial contribution to the TRC as a Friend is deductible for the annual tax return, up to 125% of the amount for private individuals and up to 150% for companies. To this end, you will receive a confirmation of receipt of your contribution to the TRC. After that, you only need to state the amount of your gift in your annual tax return and tick the box “Cultural ANBI”.

Contact and Information

The Stichting will be happy to answer any questions that readers may have about our work. In addition, gifts of clothing, books and visual material are always welcome! If you want to be informed regularly of all TRC activities, by email, please contact us by email and provide us with your name, address, telephone number (optional) and email address. Your personal details will of course remain confidential and will not be passed on to a third party.

• Address: Stichting Textile Research Centre, Boerhaavelaan 6, 2334 EN,  Leiden, The Netherlands
• Tel:  +31 (0)71-5134144
• Mobile: +31 (0)6-28830428
• Email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Opening times: Currently closed. We will be reopening in the new building in March.

For exact location of TRC Leiden, see Google maps (Dutch).