Textile Treasures of the Middle Ages

Textile Treasure of the Middle Ages

In celebration of Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery's Royal Palace Reborn and the transformation of the Norman Keep, reopening in 2025

Woven, embroidered, appliquéd, quilted, and painted textiles were some of the most precious commodities of the Middle Ages, as costly as precious metal objects and schemes of stained-glass windows, more expensive, by far, than a painted panel or illuminated manuscript. This lecture will consider the craftspeople, often women, who made them, the materials and techniques employed, and the contexts, sacred and secular, in which textiles were used.

Even though they were fragile and vulnerable to wear and tear, neglect, exposure to high levels of light, fire, and flood, a remarkable number of medieval textiles survive, including some in the collections of the Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery and the costume and textiles at Shirehall, which will feature in the lecture.

**If you are unable to make the live talk, Sally has kindly agreed that we can record her talk and send you a link afterwards. Sign up to Eventbrite to be on the list for the recording.**

Speaker:

Dr Sally Dormer is a freelance medieval art historian and lecturer. She read History at Durham University, before completing an MA and a Ph.D in Medieval Art History at the Courtauld Institute of Art. She is Course Director and lecturer for the V&A’s Medieval and Early Renaissance Year Courses, and was, until recently, Dean of European Studies, a semester of study in Europe for two American universities. She teaches, or has taught, for Gresham College, the Arts Society and ARTscapades, and leads study tours abroad for Art Pursuits and Cox & Kings.

Images: The Buxton Achievement, with details, late 15th-century, Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery, NMS; detail of the Butler Bowden Cope, 1330-50, V&A

C&TA ONLINE MEMBERSHIP 2025

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Online members will receive discounted member ticket rates for our virtual events (i.e. not in person events, usually held in Norwich, Norfolk, UK)

FULL C&TA MEMBERSHIP 2025

Full C&TA membership is for those who enjoy attending in-person - and online - events, visiting Norwich's remarkable Norfolk Museums Service's collections, plus other locally available discounts, as well as receiving 'Miscellany' and joining our members' monthly 'Crafty Chats' and more ...

For Full Membership, please click on the link in blue. Full individual membership is £25.00 per annum (see the C&TA website for other membership types): www.ctacostume.org.uk

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Online Programme 2025

Follow the Costume & Textile Association's Eventbrite page to receive notifications when new events are posted. Talks are held monthly on Tuesday or Wednesday evenings at 7pm.

Spring & Summer 2025

Tues 11 February Recording Historical Costume Pattern Drafts with Anna Deacon, GSMB award winner

Wed 12 March Recycled Denim Art, 'The Secret Garden' and other Artworks with Ian Berry, Visual Artist

Tues 8 April Stitching like it's 1066: a Bayeux-style 'Tapestry' for Norwich Castle Keep with Nik Ravenscroft, Project Co-ordinator

Tues 6 May Lorina Bulwer's Embroidered Letters with Ruth Battersby, Senior Curator, Costume and Textiles, Norfolk Museums Service

Tues 24 June The Vogue Fashion Photography of Lee Miller during WW2 with Ami Bouhassane, Trustee of the Lee Miller Archives (**Please note this talk is not being recorded)

Tues 15 July Japanese Textile Techniques on Historic Kimono with Dr Rosanna Rios, Textile Artist

August summer break

Autumn/Winter 2025

Weds 24 September Textile Treasures of the Middle Ages with Dr Sally Dormer, Medieval Art Historian

Weds 1 October 100 Things to Wear: Fashion from the Collections of the National Trust with Helen Antrobus, Emma Slocombe and Terri Dewhurst

Tues 18 November Norwich Textiles in Estonian Folkcostume with Tiina Kull, Junior Researcher and PhD student at the Estonian National Museum

Tues 16 December Celebrate Jane Austen's 250th birthday - Dress in the Age of Jane Austen: Regency Fashion with dress historian Hilary Davidson

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