• Home
  • Research
  • Learn
    • Setting up a Slate Frame
    • Events
    • Lectures
    • Alpine Experience 2023
    • Workshop Glentleiten
    • Workshop Halberstadt
    • Medieval Goldwork Course
    • Medieval Embroidery Study Group
    • FlossTube with the Acupictrix
  • Blog
    • Embroidery Projects & Techniques
    • Embroidery Tools & Materials
    • Research articles
    • Book Reviews
    • Other Reviews
    • Exhibitions
  • Webshop
  • About
    • Contact
    • Curriculum Vitae
  • Startseite
  • Forschung
  • Sticken lernen
    • Stickrahmen einspannen
    • Veranstaltungen
    • Vorträge
    • Alpine Experience 2023
    • Workshop Glentleiten
    • Stickkurs Halberstadt
    • Mittelalterliche Goldstickereikurs
    • Studiengruppe mittelalterliche Stickerei
    • Die Acupictrix auf FlossTube
  • Blog
  • Webshop
  • Über
    • Kontakt
    • Lebenslauf
  • Startpagina
  • Onderzoek
  • Leren borduren
    • Opspannen Slate Frame
    • Evenementen
    • Lezingen
    • Alpine Experience 2023
    • Workshop Glentleiten
    • Workshop Halberstadt
    • Cursus middeleeuws goudborduren
    • Studiegroep middeleeuws borduren
    • FlossTube met de Acupictrix
  • Blog
  • Webshop
  • Even voorstellen
    • Contact
    • Curriculum Vitae
Acupictrix - Dr Jessica Grimm
  • Home
  • Research
  • Learn
    • Setting up a Slate Frame
    • Events
    • Lectures
    • Alpine Experience 2023
    • Workshop Glentleiten
    • Workshop Halberstadt
    • Medieval Goldwork Course
    • Medieval Embroidery Study Group
    • FlossTube with the Acupictrix
  • Blog
    • Embroidery Projects & Techniques
    • Embroidery Tools & Materials
    • Research articles
    • Book Reviews
    • Other Reviews
    • Exhibitions
  • Webshop
  • About
    • Contact
    • Curriculum Vitae
  • Startseite
  • Forschung
  • Sticken lernen
    • Stickrahmen einspannen
    • Veranstaltungen
    • Vorträge
    • Alpine Experience 2023
    • Workshop Glentleiten
    • Stickkurs Halberstadt
    • Mittelalterliche Goldstickereikurs
    • Studiengruppe mittelalterliche Stickerei
    • Die Acupictrix auf FlossTube
  • Blog
  • Webshop
  • Über
    • Kontakt
    • Lebenslauf
  • Startpagina
  • Onderzoek
  • Leren borduren
    • Opspannen Slate Frame
    • Evenementen
    • Lezingen
    • Alpine Experience 2023
    • Workshop Glentleiten
    • Workshop Halberstadt
    • Cursus middeleeuws goudborduren
    • Studiegroep middeleeuws borduren
    • FlossTube met de Acupictrix
  • Blog
  • Webshop
  • Even voorstellen
    • Contact
    • Curriculum Vitae
EN | DE | NL

Historical Embroidery News...

The broche/brodse/Bretsche

18/5/2020

11 Comments

 
Picture
A couple of years ago, the above wooden tool arrived in the mail. It was sent by Nuria Picos, fellow RSN-student who had gone on studying with the famous goldembroidery masters in her native Spain. Luckily, Nuria had taken the trouble to include a step-by-step instruction on how to use this particular tool as I had never seen it before. At the RSN, we didn't use fancy spools like this to wrap our goldthreads on. At best, you were given a piece of rolled-up felt wrapped in tissue paper. It works. But this works so much better! At the time, this wooden tool was simply called a spool for goldthreads. It protects your precious threads from oxidation by touching them too much with your hands. The spool also prevents them from tangling. It wasn't until I started to read older instruction books on goldwork embroidery, that I came across the proper name of this type of spool: broche (French/English), brodse (Dutch) and Bretsche (German). You can tell from the spelling that they all have a common origin.
Brodse uit Dordrecht
Copyright: Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (NL)
The brodse is an old tool. In the 1970s, a complete wooden brodse was found during an excavation in Dordrecht, the Netherlands. The piece measures 18,2 x 1,6 cm and dates to the third quarter of the 14th-century. It is held under inventory number F 6395 at the Boijmans van Beuningen museum in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. And it shows the same characteristics as my modern-day Spanish brodse: two prongs at one end, a long shaft and some embellishment that prevents the spool from rolling off your frame. Although I am an archaeologist who has dug medieval deposits, I would not have known what the above object was used for prior to becoming a goldembroiderer. Let alone if I would have found an incomplete one. I suspect many of my colleagues have the same problem. I've contacted wood-expert Silke Lange to see if she knows of any other examples. So far, her search has not turned up any more brodse. However, I'll keep you posted if she comes up with any.
Sara Marrel embroidering
Copyright: Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main
How do we know that the wooden object found in Dordrecht was really used in embroidery? Well, we do have a picture. The above drawing shows Sara Marrel sitting at a table on which rests her embroidery frame (weighed down!) and on which lies a brodse. The drawing was made in 1658 (about 300 years younger than the brodse from Dordrecht) by Johann Andreas Graff (husband of Maria Sibylla Merian, famous scientific illustrator) in Frankfurt am Main (Germany). I just wished the drawing was a bit more detailed when it comes to how the goldthread is wrapped around the brodse!

We know that the above-shown objects were named brodse in Dutch from the embroiderers guild regulations from Utrecht written down in 1610: 'Gelijck oock niemandt sich sal mogen vervorderen op de Raempte off mette Brodse, eenich werck te maken, ten sij hij off zij het Gildt voldaen hebben, op poene van telcken maendt te verbeuren een daelder' (De Bodt 1987, 4). It means that nobody is allowed to make any piece on an embroidery frame or with a brodse when they don't pay the embroiderers guild. The Worshipful Company of Broderers still displays two crossed brodse in their coat of arms.
Picture
Bretsche in Dillmont
As said before, you do encounter the brodse in older literature. But not in all. It is notably absent from M. Louis de Farcy's 'La broderie du XIe siecle jusqu'a nos jours' written in 1890 in France. But that other famous embroidery institution from France, Ms Therese de Dillmont (who actually was Austrian ...), does mention the Bretsche in her famous 'Encyclopedia of Needlework' from the DMC library, first published in 1886. The original German text from the 'neue, vermehrte und verbesserte Auflage' from 1925 reads: 'Die Spindel auch Bretsche genannt, ist aus hartem Holz gearbeitet und ungefähr 23 Zentimeter lang. Sie dient zum Aufwinden des Metallfadens. Der Holzstab, sowie die Gabel sind mit doppellaufendem DMC Perlgarn (Coton perle) in hellgelber Farbe zu umwinden. Der Goldfaden ist dann an die Schlinge zu Knüpfen und um den unter der Gabel befindlichen runden Stab zu winden. Der Stickfaden ist ein- oder mehrfach, meistens zweifach auf die Spindel zu winden' (Dillmont 1925, 189). In the English translation it reads like this: 'The spindle is an instrument made of hard wood, about 9 inches long, on which the metal threads are wound and with which they are guided while the work is in progress, so that they need not be touched by the hands. The body and the lower part of the prongs are first covered with a double thread of DMC pearl cotton (Coton perle), yellow or grey, ending with a loop, to which the gold or silver thread to be wound on to the spindle is attached. The thread is usually wound double on to the spindle' (Dillmont 1945, 186-187).

Those of you who can read both languages will have noticed that there are marked differences in what they say. No wonder. This book has been revised many times. The most noticeable differences are that the German text has the original name for the wooden spool 'Bretsche' whereas the English text only mentions spindle. But the English text mentions why the spool is used (so as not to touch the metal thread) and this is not mentioned in the German text. But this is not what puzzles me most. Has any of you understood the part on the actual wrapping of the spool? Not even the drawing published in both editions of the book is much help to me. It does not make sense. Why would you wrap the spool first with the perle? Passing thread would happily snag on it :). I think Ms Dillmont has never used a Bretsche or seen it being used. The tool had probably become rare by the time she did her apprenticeship in 1873 in Vienna. This would also explain why De Farcy does not mention the tool in his book although he does cite Ms Dillmont frequently on other embroidery matters.
Picture
Luckily, we have other sources! The above drawing comes from a Dutch embroidery instruction manual written in 1910. Here the thread is wound around the shaft of the 'houten rol waaromheen de goud- of zilverdraad gewonden wordt' (Van Emstede-Winkler 1910, 84). This translates as: wooden reel on which the gold- or silver thread is wrapped. The drawing completely ignores the prongs. Again, one gets the impression the tool was no longer standard practice in goldwork embroidery when Mrs van Emstede wrote her manual.
Picture
And last but not least, I found the above picture in a German source from 1913. Here it reads: 'Unentbehrlich für jede Art der Goldstickerei ist ... die Sprenggabel oder Bretsche ... (Donner & Schnebel 1913, 406). And further: 'Der ganz feine Metallfaden wird 2, seltener 4 fach, über die Bretsche glatt gewickelt' (Donner & Schnebel 1913, 419). This translates as 'essential for any type of goldembroidery ... is the broche ...' and 'the very fine metal thread is wrapped double, less often four times, flat onto the broche'. And luckily for us, they also provide a picture of the tool in action:
Picture
Now this makes complete sense! The embroiderer works on an embroidery frame with the left hand under the frame (with the needle) and the right hand on top of the frame holding the Bretsche (and a stiletto). Can you see how a single metal thread runs through the pronged bit before it is wrapped onto the shaft of the Bretsche? That's how Nuria instructed me to load up my Spanish goldwork spool. I've made a FlossTube video so you can see me do it in 3D. The writers of this excellent manual used or had seen the Bretsche being used. No hear-say, but actual experience.
You can order your wooden broche directly from Richard Pikul in Canada.

P.S. Did you like this blog article? Did you learn something new? When yes, then please consider making a small donation. Visiting museums and doing research inevitably costs money. Supporting me and my research is much appreciated ❤!
Literature
Bodt, S. de (1987). ... op de Raempte off mette Brodse ... Nederlands borduurwerk uit de zeventiende eeuw. Haarlem: Brecht.
Dillmont, Th. de (1925). Encyklopaedie der weiblichen Handarbeiten. Mulhouse: Th. de Dillmont.
Dillmont, Th. de (1945). Encyclopedia of Needlework, revised edition. Mulhouse: Th. de Dillmont.
Donner, M. & C. Schnebel (1913). Ich kann handarbeiten. Illustriertes Hausbuch für die Techniken der weiblichen Handarbeit. Berlin: Ullstein.
Emstede-Winkler, I. van (1910). De technieken van kunstnaaldwerk. Amsterdam: Van Looy.
11 Comments
meri link
18/5/2020 10:01:15

I've learned something new for sure! Thanks Jessica. I want to learn every each minute in my life - meaning my brain is well enough :)

Reply
Jessica Grimm link
18/5/2020 14:39:07

Thank you Meri! I loved diving into this topic.

Reply
Claire
18/5/2020 10:35:29

Dear Jessica, this is so interesting! Thank you for your wonderful research and practical information! And what a great idea to have them made again. Somehow, they look like the Koma used in Japanese embroidery, but with the addition of the prong which makes the whole thing a step better! Thank you!

Reply
Jessica Grimm link
18/5/2020 14:40:20

Thank you Claire! I did use a koma too, but I like the brodse better :). Especially as it is very easy to wind a double thread onto the spool.

Reply
Annelies Englram link
18/5/2020 13:03:50

Liebe Jessica,
nur jetzt auf die Schnelle: ich habe mir eine Bretsche machen lassen. Eine - inzwischen pensionierte Fahnenstickerin - nennt sie bayrisch Breschn. Der Ausdruck "Goldspindel" wurde in einer Ausgabe von "Ornamente", der deutschen Ausgabe von Handwerken zonder Grenzen, benutzt. Von einer auch lange in Rente gegangenen Stickmeisterin bekam ich den Tipp, die Bretsche mit Perlgarn zu umwickeln, auch den unteren Raum in dem Spalt. Das schützt den Goldfaden. Es gibt in Japan für Goldstickerei ein Werkzeug. Es sieht ähnlich aus wie die alten hölzernen Garnspulen nur oben und unten nicht rund sondern eckig. Wenn Sie wünschen, suche ich die Artikel heraus und mach' ein Foto von meiner Breschn. Die Fahnenstickerin benutzte auch ein Hölzchen, genannt "Legerl", es hatte eine ähnliche Form wie ein Modellierholz und wurde wie eine Mellore benutzt.
Liebe Grüße
Annelies

Reply
Jessica Grimm link
18/5/2020 14:50:01

Liebe Annelies,
ich habe eine Idee warum diese Perlgarn-Geschichte aufgetaucht ist. Mit dem Beschützen des Goldes hat es aber nichts zu tun :). Aber Frau Dillmont schrieb ja für DMC und musste deren Produkten anpreisen. Goldfäden hat DMC nie hergestellt. Um doch ein Kapitel über diese Sticktechnik schreiben zu können, hat Sie (oder eine ihre NachfiolgerInnen, Therese ist nicht sehr alt geworden, aber der Namen wurde beibehalten) sich die Geschichte mit dem Perlgarn ausgedacht. Und da fast alle dieses Büchlein wie eine art Stickbibel verwenden, wird es dann von selbst nachgemacht und für wahr angenommen. Da es aber sonst nirgends erwähnt wird und z.B. auch auf dieser Zeichnung von Graff nicht so gezeichnet ist, gehe ich sehr stark davon aus das es eben eine erfundene Geschichte ist.
Gerne würde ich einen Bild von Ihre Bretsche erhalten! Die Japanische Koma kenne ich gut, finde sie aber nicht so geeignet wie eben eine Bretsche.
Herzlichen Grüßen, Jessica

Reply
Ginette
18/5/2020 14:02:39

Good morning Jessica, I have been intrigued by these ever since I travelled to Spain, especially to Malaga and Sevilla where goldwork embroidery is quite famous. I have seen many of these, I called them Spanish koma for lack of information but will use the broche term from now on. Next trip, I will look for old ones and see if I can get one as a souvenir from the past. Thank you for such a great research on a very old tool traditionally used by embroiderer!

Reply
Jessica Grimm link
18/5/2020 14:51:47

Yes, I think Nuria studied in Sevilla, but it is quite a few years ago and I don't remember exactly. Please do let me know if you find any antique ones. And if you find ones that have a (sligthly) different form, I would be interested to know too :).

Reply
Monica
19/5/2020 18:55:16

Hi Jessica, thanks for this interesting item. I had already been wondering what we might have missed from the archaeological record... do you think that they could also be made from bone or antler/horn/ivory? Would there be an advantage. And I’ll see what I can find on gold embroidery & tools in the Arabic world. For example the cloth that covers the Kaaba in Mecca is gold embroidered and renewed every year.

Reply
Jessica Grimm link
19/5/2020 19:26:04

Thank you Monica! Yes, I do believe that similar objects could have been made from other materials as well. But wood was probably the cheapest. Embroiderers have always been rather poor it seems :). I've seen pictures of the male embroiderers working on the Kaaba cover but they seem to use a simple squared rod https://www.emirates247.com/news/6-million-gold-laced-kiswa-at-hajj-2013-10-13-1.524355 Works too! Do let me know if you find anything!

Reply
steve montgomery link
22/3/2023 20:56:15

Thanks so much for the broche etc research. I make and sell as a hobby sewing, embroidery, and cooking tools and try to be historical in my designs, mostly pre-17th century, though I may be going to late 18th in some things due to addition US Revolutionary War interests now that we have moved to Virginia.

As you can see from the ones I have listed above I have made a couple modern changes for convenience sake, rounding the front knob of the spool to minimize crimping and inserting fret dots as a visual reference for the slit orientation.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Want to keep up with my embroidery adventures? Sign up for my weekly Newsletter to get notified of new blogs, courses and workshops!
    Newsletter

    Liked my blog? Please consider making a donation or becoming a Patron so that I can keep up the good work and my blog ad-free!
    Patreon


    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Acupictrix
    Alison Cole
    Allgäuer Nadelstiche
    Alpine Experience
    Appenzell
    Applique
    Archaeology
    Art
    Art Nouveau
    Arts And Crafts Movement
    ArtTextil Dachau
    Au Ver A Soie
    Bag
    Barbaral Creations
    Bavarian Braces
    Bayrisches Nationalmuseum
    Beadwork
    Beate Pietzsch
    Benediktbeuern
    Berlin Woolwork
    Bisa Butler
    Blackwork
    Blog
    Bohemian
    Bookmark
    Book Review
    Boutis
    Bretsche
    Broche
    Brodse
    Byzantine Embroidery
    Cabinet Of Curiosities
    Canvas Work
    Caren Garfen
    Carolyn Pearce
    Castello Buonconsiglio
    Chasuble
    Children
    China
    Christmas
    Church Heritage Museum Vilnius
    Cope
    Coton A Broder
    Crafts Market
    Crete
    Crewel Embroidery
    Crossstitch
    Czech Republic
    Darning Patterns
    Debbie Rowley
    Diocesan Museum Augsburg
    Diocesan Museum Bamberg
    Diocesan Museum Eichstätt
    Diocesan Museum Trento
    Diözesanmuseum Brixen
    Dommuseum Fulda
    Dr Alexandra Makin
    Ebook
    Egerer Antependium
    Elisabeth Bräuer
    Elisabeth Bräuer
    Elisabeth Roulleau
    Embroiderers
    Embroidery
    Embroidery Hoops
    Embroidery Tools
    Epigraphy
    Exhibition
    Fabrics
    Fallahi
    Federkielstickerei
    Finishing Techniques
    Flea Market Finds
    FlossTube
    Folk Costume
    FREE Pattern
    Germanisches Nationalmuseum
    Gingham
    Glazig
    Glentleiten
    Gold Threads
    Goldwork
    Görlitz
    Görlitzer Sammlungen
    Guild Regulations
    Hazel-blomkamp
    History
    Hl. Kunigunde
    House Of Embroidery
    Iceland
    Inspirations Magazine
    Italian Couching
    Italy
    Jen Goodwin
    Jewellry
    Journal Of Dress History
    Just Nan
    Kelley Aldridge
    Kits
    La Droguerie
    Lecture
    Liberty Silks
    Linen Vestments From Tyrol
    London
    Louvre
    LoveCrafts
    Lusatia
    Madder
    Maison Sajou
    Marienberg Abbey
    Marketing
    Mary Corbet
    Metal Threads
    Miao People
    Middle Ages
    Millie Marotta
    Mindelheim
    M. Maurer
    Mokuba
    Moni Arkadi
    Monogram Stencils
    Mounting
    Munich
    Musee Cluny
    Museum Der Schwalm
    Nathalie Cichon
    National Silk Museum
    Nativity
    Needle Binding
    Needle Lace
    Needlepoint
    Negergarn
    Nordic Needle
    Online Class
    Opus Anglicanum
    Palestinian Embroidery
    Paris
    Pascal Jaouen
    Pattern Darning
    Plumetis Express
    Pope Francis
    Professional Embroidery Course
    Pronkrol
    Rationale
    Regensburger Domschatz
    Renaissance
    Ribbon Embroidery
    Riolis
    Romania
    Royal Garden
    Royal School Of Needlework
    Rüstkammer Dresden
    Samplers
    Schwalm
    Scissors
    Sherryll Cuneo
    Silesia
    Silk Ribbon
    Silk Shading
    Slate Frame
    Speyer
    Stadmuseum Klausen
    St Cuthbert
    Sternenmantel
    Stitchers Box
    StitchyBox
    St Laurence
    St Nick
    St Paul Im Lavanttal
    Stralsund
    Strawberry Fayre
    Studio
    Stumpwork
    Tambour Embroidery
    Tanya Bentham
    Tenntrådsbroderier
    Textile Art
    Textile Fair
    Thimble
    Tutorial
    Tyrol
    Ultramod
    Underside Couching
    Uta Chasuble
    Valdani
    Vestments
    Vic Cope
    Vienna
    Vierfachgarn
    Villach-Judendorf
    Webshop
    Whitework
    William Morris
    Workshop
    Yvette Stanton
    Zardozi
    Zweigart

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014

Contact: info(at)jessicagrimm.com
Copyright Dr Jessica M. Grimm - Mandlweg 3, 82488 Bad Ettal, Deutschland - +49(0)8822 2782219 (Weekdays 9.00-17.00 CET)

Impressum - Legal Notice - Datenschutzerklärung - Privacy Policy - Webshop ABG - Widerrufsrecht - Disclaimer
EN | DE | NL
  • Home
  • Research
  • Learn
    • Setting up a Slate Frame
    • Events
    • Lectures
    • Alpine Experience 2023
    • Workshop Glentleiten
    • Workshop Halberstadt
    • Medieval Goldwork Course
    • Medieval Embroidery Study Group
    • FlossTube with the Acupictrix
  • Blog
    • Embroidery Projects & Techniques
    • Embroidery Tools & Materials
    • Research articles
    • Book Reviews
    • Other Reviews
    • Exhibitions
  • Webshop
  • About
    • Contact
    • Curriculum Vitae
  • Startseite
  • Forschung
  • Sticken lernen
    • Stickrahmen einspannen
    • Veranstaltungen
    • Vorträge
    • Alpine Experience 2023
    • Workshop Glentleiten
    • Stickkurs Halberstadt
    • Mittelalterliche Goldstickereikurs
    • Studiengruppe mittelalterliche Stickerei
    • Die Acupictrix auf FlossTube
  • Blog
  • Webshop
  • Über
    • Kontakt
    • Lebenslauf
  • Startpagina
  • Onderzoek
  • Leren borduren
    • Opspannen Slate Frame
    • Evenementen
    • Lezingen
    • Alpine Experience 2023
    • Workshop Glentleiten
    • Workshop Halberstadt
    • Cursus middeleeuws goudborduren
    • Studiegroep middeleeuws borduren
    • FlossTube met de Acupictrix
  • Blog
  • Webshop
  • Even voorstellen
    • Contact
    • Curriculum Vitae