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Sophie Pitman

@textilehistorian

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Pleasant Rowland Textile Specialist and Research Director of the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection @uw_cdmc @uwmadison

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The center welcomes poet and visual artist Jen Bervin for two upcoming events!

On Wednesday, October 7 from 3:00 - 4:00 pm, Jen Bervin will lead a workshop focused on close reading of textile fragments from the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection, in collaboration with Sophie Pitman, the collection's Research Director. This workshop aims to connect participants through slow looking and collaborative thinking processes. There are limited spots for this workshop; register for free through the link in our bio!

On Thursday, October 8 at 5:00 pm, Jen Bervin will give the Ninth Annual Bernstein Book Arts Lecture, delivering a talk entitled “*You can almost feel the date”. For the past 8 years, Kohler Art Library has invited master book artists to engage with students and community members by sharing their creative processes. This is a public lecture and requires no registration. It will be held in room L150 of the Elvehjem Building. We hope to see you at either or both of these amazing interactive events! A close-up photograph of a woven textile. The background color is a muted dark blue, with cream color creating the small geometric flower designs. Between these repeated square motifs are cream colored circles that connect each part of the design together.

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A couple of days ago at the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection, working with a new group of Iranian textiles.

چند روز پیش در مجموعه منسوجات هلن لوئیز آلن، در حال کار روی گروه جدیدی از منسوجات ایرانی.

@uwsoe
@uw_cdmc
@textilehistorian

#textile #iranianartist #iranianart #materialculture #weaving

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ImPRESSed Yet?

I am thrilled to announce that Impressive Textiles: Premodern Printing on Fabric will be published October 27 in print and Open Access with @acmrs_press, thanks to 30 textile and print scholars, and 1 groundbreaking exhibition @newberrylibrary! #CoverReveal

It's nearly 350 pages of rarely seen engravings, woodcuts, and letterpress on silk, cotton, and linen! Our collaborative essays are by Courtney Wilder, Edward Wouk, Philip A. Sykas, Theresa Kutasz Christensen, Catharine Dann Roeber, Marina Garone Gravier, Megan Creamer and Kimberly Nichols!

Another 40 "catalogue" entries by an international writing crew tell the story of narrative printing on fabric from c. 1350 to today, from Europe throughout the Americas! Not everything will be on view in Chicago, but if you come see the show in person, you can take home a fabric print made in 2025!

And we can't wait to introduce you to the star of the show, and subject of TWO book chapters, Manuela Cerezo, of Puebla, Mexico and her 1746 satin thesis broadside!

Can't wait for Open Access and want to pre-order print? The University of Chicago Press is our distributor! See link in bio! And did I mention it also involves SATIN Dürers?

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This brass sewing bird, dating to the 1850s, is a fascinating glimpse into the art of sewing in the 19th century.🧵

Mary Low, Andrew Low’s second wife, was known to have one of the first sewing machines in Savannah. But long before modern sewing tools, seamstresses relied on clever devices like this sewing bird to make their work easier.

Decorative weighted sewing clamps and pincushions became popular in the mid-1800s. Attached to the edge of a sewing table, the clamp served as a “third hand,” holding fabric securely while the seamstress stitched.

In England, these clamps were often fashioned in the shape of tailorbirds, named for the remarkable way these birds “sew” leaves together to build their nests. By pinching the bird’s tail, the beak would open and close, gripping the fabric and helping the seamstress pull it taut while stitching a hem or seam.

Objects like this remind us that even the smallest items in a historic house can tell us something about the daily lives, skills, and ingenuity of those who lived there.🪡

#textilehistory #historichouse #savannahga #fall #weekendvibes

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Intricately embroidered, this twentieth-century Kerman textile, known as pateh, features delicate embroidery on a dark red ground. It is housed in the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection at UW–Madison. It survives in remarkably fine condition.

پته‌ی زیبای کرمان که با ظرافت بسیار دوخته شده و در مجموعه منسوجات هلن لوئیز آلن در دانشگاه ویسکانسین–مدیسن نگهداری می‌شود.

#textile #art #arthistory #embroidery #woven

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I have been working on this Safavid textile fragment, housed at the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection, which came to the collection from a German Jewish textile dealer in Los Angeles, California.

مدتی است روی این قطعه پارچه‌ی صفوی در مجموعه منسوجات هلن لوئیز آلن کار می‌کنم. این اثر از یک فروشنده‌ی یهودی آلمانیِ منسوجات در لس‌آنجلس، کالیفرنیا، به این مجموعه رسیده است

#textile #art #iranianart #weaving #artwork

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Part of my ongoing work at the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection, documenting and examining a large-scale qalamkar textile from Isfahan, Iran, now housed in the collection.

بخشی از فعالیت‌های اخیر من در مجموعه منسوجات هلن لوئیز آلن

مستندسازی و بررسی یک پارچه‌ی قلمکار در ابعاد بزرگ از اصفهان، ایران، که اکنون در این مجموعه نگهداری می‌شود.

@faaezehjafari
@textilehistorian
@uwmadisonarts
@uwsohe
@uw_cdmc

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Acquired in 1963 from a small village near Kerman, this finely embroidered Pateh became part of the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection in 1991. Today, I had the privilege of examining and cataloging this remarkable textile.

Its catalog entry will be available on the collection’s website soon.

این پته که در سال ۱۹۶۳ از روستایی کوچک در نزدیکی کرمان خریداری شده، از سال ۱۹۹۱ بخشی از مجموعه منسوجات هلن لوئیز آلن است. امروز این پته را بررسی کردم و اطلاعات لازم را برای مجموعه آماده کردم.

به‌زودی اطلاعات کامل‌تر این اثر در وب‌سایت مجموعه منتشر خواهد شد.

@uw_cdmc
@textilehistorian
@faaezehjafari

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Huge thanks to @textilehistorian at the Nancy M Bruce Center for Design and Material Culture! Field to Frock participants came from far and wide for a special insider tour of historic linens today 🤩

The Helen Louise Allen collection is such a treasure!

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Today at the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection, working with this carpet fragment.

@faaezehjafari
@textilehistorian
@uw_cdmc

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This week, I have been cataloging and conducting a technical examination of this Persian carpet fragment at the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection.

@faaezehjafari
@uw_cdmc

#carpet #iranianrug #iraniancarpet #uwmadison #textile

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This week, I have been conducting in-depth research on a remarkable Persian tribal rug at the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection. Special thanks to @textilehistorian , my supervisor, whose support and insight have made me feel incredibly productive and tenacious throughout this research process.

@textilehistorian
@faaezehjafari
@uw_cdmc

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