Tracing Textile Routes: The impact of Norwich callimanco on Estonian dress

This talk focuses on new research by PhD candidate Tiina Kull in Estonia on Norwich's callimano fabrics that were being traded to the Baltic in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Callimancos are brightly-coloured striped textiles that were transported to Estonia and sewn into skirts and wedding bodices. These skirts started a massive trend among Estonian peasants to weave and sew semi-woollen striped skirts, that form the base of Estonian national clothing.

This presentation discusses both how Tiina - through a comparison of Norwich pattern books and preserved objects in Estonia - demonstrates a clear connection to Norwich, and why textiles from Norwich are considered the origin of the striped skirt trend in Estonian folk costume.

The talk offers a brief overview of the striped skirt in Estonian national dress and explores how this garment has persisted throughout the twentieth - and into the twenty-first -century. In short, the presentation tells the story of how a fabric woven in Norwich came to serve as a powerful carrier of national identity in Estonia—and how traces of this cultural transmission from over two centuries ago can still be seen today when travelling across the country.

**If you are unable to make the live talk, Tiina 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.**

Speakers: Tiina Kull

Tiina Kull is a Junior Researcher and PhD student researching Estonian folk costume collections at the Estonian National Museum, Tartu, Estonia.

Tiina’s work builds upon the historical research conducted by Dr Michael Nix, an expert on the textile industry of Norwich, who has summarised the importance of it as follows:

'Norwich, in the county of Norfolk, England, was a leading exporter of worsted and half-silk fabrics during the eighteenth century. Swatches in surviving pattern books, pattern cards and other associated books represent material connections to the city’s international trade in Europe, the Americas and China, as well as in Britain’s colonial possessions.

Pattern books and pattern cards were sent to merchants and dealers, known as correspondents, in Europe and to commission agents in London. They were also carried by commercial travellers known in Norwich as ‘foreign riders’. Manufacturers received, in return, bespoke orders some of which are recorded in dispatch books. Modern viewers of these books are frequently amazed by the bright colours and complex patterns produced in an era before chemical dyes. Indeed, these books give us insights into the work of spinners, weavers, hot-pressers, dyers and others.'

Norwich’s colourful textiles from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries can now be found in collections in England, Estonia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United States and elsewhere.

Images : Estonian peasants with striped skirts dancing in a wedding. A watercolour by F. Uexküll. Oiza! pulmad!, ERM EJ 87:12, Eesti Rahva Muuseum, http://www.muis.ee/museaalview/661766 [CC by NC]; Carl Timoleon von Neff “Eesti naine lapsega” (Estonian women with a child). Variant, EKM j 153:39 M 38, Eesti Kunstimuuseum SA http://www.muis.ee/museaalview/1448046; Johann Baptist Homann's Map of Scandinavia, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and the Baltic states, 1730; Ville de Paris: Bibliothèque Forney, 677.064

**If you are unable to make the live talk, Tiina 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.**

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The C&TA has been an independent charity supporting the Norfolk Museums Service's costume and textiles collections for over 35 years

The Costume & Textile Association (C&TA) host regular online events via zoom, in addition to in person events in Norwich, Norfolk, UK

Online Programme 2025

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

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 will not be recorded

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

August: Summer Break

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 , National Trust

Tues 18 November Tracing Textile Routes: The impact of Norwich Callimanco on Estonian dress traditions, 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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