Køstrup gown - a potted write up and set of documentation

This is my version of an outfit based on the Køstrup (Grave ACQ) grave find. It is a Viking era grave, dated to around the 10th Century, in Denmark, which contained a number of fragments of textile large enough to make various extrapolations from. It is not a high status grave, but based on the grave finds is considered to be more "upper middle class" (as discussed by Lønborg (1993)).


I made the gown in 2014 as an experiment to see how the pleating would turn out, and as it was one of the larger pieces of extant Viking womens clothing around, yet not that many people seemed to do it (it seems to have gained in popularity since, and I have seen a number of versions). I then decided to complete the outfit for Jan 2016, based on the grave finds; researching and purchasing the appropriate brooches, tablet weaving the band, and organising the right beads.

Full view

The outfit consists of a linen undertunic, and woollen apron dress, with pleated front. I am also wearing a pair of naalbinded socks (York stitch) and leather turnshoes (not quite visible, and part of my standard Viking kit). There was no information as to head gear/hair style, so I have tied it in a basic knot, as per several of the Valkyrie pendant figurines found (see back view below). I am wearing a needle case suspended from the brooches, however in the grave find, one was not found, but instead there was a key and a knife.

Back view

The tablet weaving is a wool on wool brocade. I used the motifs of the original, but did it on a basic standard 4 hole ground rather than the 2 hole technique. I had to repeat a couple motifs to make it long enough to span between my apron loops. Motifs are based on those done by Agnes Raaness, as presented by Hilde Thunem.

Close-up of brooches, beads and pleats - unfortunately 1 of the quartz beads decided to hide behind the brooch, so you can't see it. 

The beads are replicas based on the extant ones from the grave - I asked a friend for help (she likes to make beads), she emailed the museum and was sent images, and she did the glass replicas. The 2 non-glass ones were spherical quartz beads, which I bought and may not be as exactly to scale as the glass ones. Unfortunately I do not have explicit permission to display the museum images, but can show the replicas.  

Close up of beads

For details and images of the grave find, especially the textile fragments, I recommend visiting The aprondress from Køstrup (grave ACQ) By Hilde Thunem. Her work was my main starting point and quite inspirational in what I have done. 

Construction choices:

Due to the nature of the fabric fragments, it is unclear how far down the pleats extended. I have made mine part way down my chest, but I have seen other people do versions which range from shorter, to much longer (waist), to full length.

I have also made the gown quite long, with quite full skirts (gores from the hips and at the back), so it appears almost train like at the back. This is similar to that seen in some of the Valkyrie figures, but there is no textile archaeological evidence to support it, so far as I am aware.

The dress is made from a fairly fine wool - twill weave, rather than tabby. The fineness of the fabric was deliberate to try and get the scale of the pleats correct.

The dress loops have been done using the same fabric as the dress - I did not put in a linen core, as was found in one of the loops. I have had to shift the loops and shorten them as I initially made it for a different set of brooches, and needed to shorten them for the new larger brooches.

The brooches are double shelled (P51 type). Mine are a little larger than the ones from the grave, by about a cm in either direction. It is difficult to tell if the woman from the grave was a similar scale/build to me or not, and hence if they would have looked as large on her. My pleats have ended up slightly wider (10 cm, from a base of 8 cm, due to the top seam bulking things out), and assuming a seam placement under the arms and half way around the body, I have a larger distance between the apron loops and underarm.

It may be just noticeable that the particular under-tunic I am wearing has stitching going up towards the neck hole. It was originally made with a quite deep neck slit for breastfeeding, but has since been whip stitched closed.

How I differed from the grave:

The grave finds included a casket, a key which does not match the lock in the casket, and a knife. At some point I may try and get an appropriate knife and key, but I was not able to for the deadline I was working to.

The grave also contained fragments of quilted fabric on top, which may have been a garment or a quilt/bedding. I did not replicate those.

Still to do:

The outfit is basically finished, and already worn for the deadline event intended. Looking at these photos, I would like to stitch the bottom of the tablet weaving to the top of the dress, to avoid the gaping observed.

Conclusion: 

The outfits works well and is quite comfortable, though the size of the brooches takes a bit of getting used to. Due to the full flowing skirts etc, I would generally save it for more formal wear (I did do the full outfit for a particular formal ceremony), but have shifted firewood in it, in the earlier smaller brooch iteration, so it is not impractical. It is not an extremely high status outfit, but more upper middle class (as discussed by Lønborg (1993)), so makes an interesting variation to the archetypal Viking woman's outfit usually seen in re-enactment circles.


Note: Never did get any full photos of the outfit from the formal event it was completed for, so these photos are from a photo shoot in my back yard at a later date. Hence the background really doesn't go with the outfit.  

References used:

The aprondress from Køstrup (grave ACQ) By Hilde Thunem - seriously good reference and starting point, which I can thoroughly recommend.
Vikinger i Uld og Guld, Om de danske vikingetidsdragter baseret på tekstilfunn i grave, Speciale, Forhistorisk Arkæologi, Københavns Universitet, 1998. By Charlotte Rimsted
Dragtrester i grav ACQ, Køstrup, Fyndske minder, Odense Bys Museer, Årbog 1993. By Liisa Rasmussen and Bjarne Lønborg
Køstrup - en nordvestfynsk vikingetidsgravplad, Fyndske minder, Odense Bys Museer, Årbog 1993. By Charlotta Lindblom
Vikingetidens kvindedragt, Fyndske minder, Odense Bys Museer, Årbog 1993. By Bjarne Lønborg


Please note that I don't speak Danish, so my interpretations form the non-english papers are based on the English summaries at the ends and what I can work out from the diagrams etc, combined with occasional Google Translate (not great on technical textile terms). I may have made mistakes. Happy to hear if there is anything I have misunderstood in translation/new things I can learn about this:)

Blackwork embroidery resources

Resources which are useful for blackwork embroidery:

(To be added to as I find them/people recommend them. Page being a basis for an upcoming class/round table workshop on blackwork at Canterbury Faire 2012)

Books:

Patterns of Fashion 4 by Janet Arnold - Includes blackworked shifts and shirts. Very very nice. Information about extant garments.

The New Carolingian Modelbook by Kim Brody Salazar (SCA Ianthe d'Averoigne) - very good if you can get hold of a copy. Patterns generally taken from period sources.

Beginner's Guide to Blackwork by Leslie Wilkins - ok intro to technique. Good start if you are not fussed about period sources for patterns.

Blackwork embroidery by Elisabeth Geddes and Moyra McNeill - 1965 Dover book - short historical section with some black and white images of paintings and some textiles. OKish.

Blackwork by Mary Gostlow - 1976 Dover edition - again, historical section includes some black and white paintings and textiles (only 2 colour ones, some overlap with the previous book re images, but probably the better of the two). OKish.

Websites:

http://www.string-or-nothing.com/ - Blog by Kim Brody Salazar. Includes links to her (free pdf) book of fill patterns Ensampario Atlantio (link to post where she gives the links). She also has tutorials on how to produce the same pattern on both sides of the fabric (and how to look at patterns to try and achieve this).

http://blackworkarchives.com/ - not a bad starting place for just learning and playing with basic 16th C inspired patterns. Not period sources.

http://aeg.atlantia.sca.org/projects/howto/blackwork/index.htm - More period blackwork fill patterns (cites sources).

http://www.larsdatter.com/blackwork.htm Good link collection for images and extant textiles.

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O46183/sampler/ Jane Bostocke sampler from the Victoria and Albert Museum. Earliest dated British sampler (1598). Period pattern source.

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O70028/sampler/ Italian sampler from the Victoria and Albert Museum. Period pattern source.

This may be resurrected...

Due to the fact that LJ is broken and has been for 2+ days, I may start using this instead.

In which case the focus will be more historical re-enactment, with occasional other stuff.

The random cat comments will stay with facebook though.

Holding pattern

This is being set up up so as to more easily be able to comment on others blogs as opposed to LJ posts. I'll be posting at http://stellar-muddle.livejournal.com/ cause I set up there first.