An Independent Scholar

That is what Mistress Ose calls herself when contacting museums for information.  Now that I have finished my first letter to a museum requesting information about one of their items, I suppose I may use the same title.  The letter is now in the hands of someone who will translate it into French for me.

The museum, Musee-Alfred-Bonno is in Chelles, France, what looks like a small town east of Paris.  As such, I'm not going to assume their curator speaks/reads English, hence having my letter translated.  I will mail them both versions just in case I'm mistaken.

A copy of the letter follows:

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am an independent scholar who is interested in one of the items in your collection.  I am hoping you are able to tell me more about it.

I am curious about the embroidered purse pictured below.

My only information about it is what is included with the photo:

Date: 1170-1190

Material: Silk threads on linen

Size: 10 cm x 13 cm

There is much I would like to learn about it as I am interested in trying to recreate it in order to learn more about embroidery techniques of the Middle Ages.  I am hoping you will be able to provide answers to the following questions:

- First and foremost, is it possible that you could email me high-definition photographs of the front, back, and inside of the purse?

- Is the stitching truly worked with silk threads and the base material actually linen?

- Is the purse lined?  With what type of material?

- From the photo I found online, I have been unable to determine what embroidery stitches were used.  Do you have any information about this?

- The buttons on the side and the drawstrings seem to be a type of weaving over a solid disk.  Do you know the material of the disk? The type of thread used for the covering?

- Do you know what type of threads were used for the drawstrings and the carrying strap?

I thank you for your time,

To regular readers of this blog the photo of the bag will look familiar.  This is the next step in being able to reproduce the bag.

Keep your fingers crossed the letter doesn't get lost in the mail when I send it, probably in January (janvier) to avoid the Christmas zaniness in the postal system.

~ Marjorie (said with a French accent this time)