The term “needlework” covers a wide variety of thread-based practices from sewing to knitting to lace-making. While some of these are functional, techniques like embroidery are often employed purely for their aesthetic qualities. From ornately stitched Japanese robes to regal, patterned belts in Central Africa’s Kuba kingdom, the time-honored medium is diverse with virtually endless applications.
In The Atlas of World Embroidery by Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, forthcoming from Princeton University Press, a world of compositions made with needle and thread is compiled into a single volume.
Where there is fabric, there tends to be embroidery, whether in the form of ceremonial headdresses, badges, vestments, quilts, gowns, or myriad other items. Often combined with beads, shells, leather, and found objects, the practice fulfills a range of cultural, ritual, and personal purposes.
Every world region has its own interpretations and motifs, from Indigenous America to Europe to the Iranian Plateau. But there is also a rich amount of cross-pollination, highlighting how international trade and migration introduced different designs across cultures.
Emphasizing the spectacular visual diversity of the art form, Vogelsang-Eastwood illuminates embroidery’s global history. The volume contains more than 300 images and thoroughly surveys its implementation and styles, with subsections devoted to individual countries, cultures, and the kinds of ornate needlework that characterize different regions.
The Atlas of World Embroidery is scheduled for release on February 17. Pre-order your copy in the Colossal Shop.
Image courtesy of Minneapolis Institute of Art, The Suzanne S. Roberts Fund for Asian Art
