Studio: international art (38.1906)

Austrian Peasant Embroidery

FIG. 2.—SHIRT EMBROIDERED IN WOOL FROM ZAGROVIC, DALMATIA

(Property of Feldkurat Lukasek, Zara) 19TH CENTDRY

showed them to me with
pride, and in time she will,
no doubt, be buried in
them, perhaps as an atone-
ment for the evil she is
supposed to have done.
Some pieces, however, are
regarded as heirlooms ; for
instance, the women’s head-
cloths ; and it would be
hard to find a woman who
would part with one. These
head-cloths are made of
long strips of linen about

different districts can easily be distinguished by the shape
of the head-dress, the pattern of the embroidery, the men’s
hats, even by the very way they stick flowers into them.
Even a stranger soon learns to distinguish some of these
local peculiarities, while the countries vary so considerably
in their characteristics that one can immediately recognise
the differences. But everywhere there is this fine feeling
for form and richness of colour, a feeling which is inborn in
the inhabitants.

There was a time when every peasant woman’s marriage-
chest was filled with treasures of embroidery, but first
the museums bought specimens, then private collectors
became eager, and the people being poor their marriage-chests
and cupboards were ransacked and numerous old pieces
changed hands. Nevertheless, many have kept their
treasures; while those who have parted with theirs have
provided themselves with new ones which they have made
during the long winter evenings by the light of a candle
or small lamp. I have seen rare bits in the marriage-chest
of an old woman reputed to possess the “evil eye”; she

FIG. 3.—SHIRT EMBROIDERED FROM CARNIOI.A

IN GOLD AND BEADS 16TH-17TH CENTURIES

( Rudolfinum Museum, Laibach)

FIG. 4.—SLOVENIAN FROM LANDSDORF

HEAD-SCARF MIDDLE I9TH

(0limitz Museum) CENTURY

three quarters of a yard wide and two and
a half long. The ends are embroidered
in silks, sometimes for half a yard or even
more. The design is very intricate, the

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