Embroidery and Lace

de Angela Volker, Christoph Thun-Hohenstein

A rich inventory of previously unpublished documents boasting great artistic sophistication can be found in the Wiener Werkstätte archive in the MAK -- Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art on the design and production of lace and embroidery produced there between 1906 and 1930. Together with the objects kept in the museum they convey an authentic picture of the department's extraordinary production. Around forty designers are known by name. The earliest pieces of embroidery, from 1906, derive from furniture upholstery belonging to the Wittgenstein family, while lace production did not begin until 1915 and consisted of braids and covers, also inserts for curtains and counterpanes. The book provides a great deal of new information on this hitherto little-known Wiener Werkstätte department, including artists? sketches and designs, blueprints, bobbin lace patterns, sample portfolios in WW design, and historical black-and-white photographs of the original objects.