Modelbuch aller Art Nehens vn Stickens (Page 11v) 1535

Editor: Here we have “Modelbuch aller Art Nehens vn Stickens (Page 11v)”, a page from a book of model designs dating back to 1535. It's a print of geometric patterns in ink, quite delicate considering its age. There's something satisfyingly symmetrical about it all. What captures your imagination when you look at this, um, pattern sampler? Curator: What I love is imagining nimble fingers transforming these rigid geometries into something soft, pliable, wearable. Don't you think these patterns have a sort of quiet intensity? It’s a guide, of course, but I feel there's so much personality in the particular selection, the way they sit on the page… it whispers of the artisan’s preferences. Are they more drawn to the meandering vines at the top, or the almost mathematical precision of the crosses lower down? Editor: That’s a beautiful idea - seeing it as a record of preference. I hadn't considered that these pattern books might say as much about individual taste as technical skill. Are there other clues in the image that you find especially revealing? Curator: Oh, definitely. Think about the transfer of these woodcut prints onto fabric with painstaking embroidered stitches... There’s a loss in translation that somehow becomes a gain, don’t you think? A texture emerges that's absent in the flat print. Perhaps it's the imperfections – the slight wobbles and variations that introduce a distinctly human quality. It reminds me that perfection is boring; it's in the little hiccups where true beauty resides. Editor: I love that idea, and that looking at them gives insight into a long gone artisan. This really reframes how I see these historic sewing patterns, less technical manuals, more personal expression. Thank you. Curator: And thank you. Next time I look at it, I will feel the thread!