Degendrager van ambassadeur Allard Merens c. 1945 - 1976

Editor: Here we have "Degendrager van ambassadeur Allard Merens," or "Sword Belt of Ambassador Allard Merens," made sometime between 1945 and 1976. It appears to be made of silk and other textile fibers, and strikes me as surprisingly simple and elegant for something designed for formal wear. What's your take on this, considering its construction and potential use? Curator: What immediately interests me is the labor and material context that made this seemingly "simple" object possible. Silk production, for instance, often involves intense labor. Given the post-war dating, what kinds of supply chains and textile industries were accessible in Europe at that time? We should be asking: where were these materials sourced, and by whom? Editor: That's a great point. It's easy to overlook the global network involved in something like silk production, even for what appears to be a utilitarian object. The gold trim seems like a key part, as well. Curator: Exactly. Think about the gold itself: where did that originate? Was it newly mined, or perhaps repurposed from an earlier era, given the historical disruptions of the war? Understanding the provenance of materials brings us closer to grasping the economic and social realities embedded within this belt. How do you think the gold threading affects the value? Editor: Well, it certainly elevates it aesthetically and probably financially. It adds to the perceived status of the wearer. Was the application of this trim a specialized craft? Curator: Precisely! The application of such precise gold trim likely required skilled artisans. Were they part of a larger guild system, or independent laborers? These are the kinds of material and social histories we must unpack. Examining this “decorative” textile, as they label it, demands a closer look at the labor involved in its manufacture, to expand our definition of "decorative-art" itself. Editor: I never would have thought about that when simply admiring the belt as an object of the past, so I have certainly learned a lot. Curator: Absolutely, it becomes so much richer to discuss these objects when you consider these contexts.