New Künstlichs Modelbuch (Page 43 recto) 1600

This is a page from "New Künstlichs Modelbuch", a book made in the late 16th century by Bernhard Jobin using woodcut prints on paper. Look closely, and you'll see this wasn't intended as a work of art, but as a pattern book for needlework. The entire image is built from a grid, the kind you might see on counted cross-stitch designs. Think of each of those squares as a single stitch, and the whole composition materializes. Jobin's book democratized design. It placed patterns in the hands of makers, primarily women, enabling the creation of textiles that could imitate the elaborate woven patterns of the elite. It took significant labor to produce these textiles, and the designs circulated by Jobin allowed for a wider distribution of aesthetic knowledge and skill. The very nature of the woodcut medium, with its emphasis on line and repetition, aligns beautifully with the logic of needlework. It's a reminder that so-called "craft" practices have always been underpinned by sophisticated design thinking, challenging any strict division between art and craft.