#material culture

[shitacademicswrite]

Someone solved the Lorem Ipsum mystery!!

[piizunn]

Colonizer Classics, 2024

Glass seed beads, beeswax, nylon

[nocnitsa]

[grimmborg-in-the-bog]

Am i a 10th century baddie yet?

After four years of having my viking clothes mostly done, i've finally been made to finish them. My basics were all done back then, but this is more of a fancy summery fit that took a lot more work (especially the weaving)

Dress is based on the Vangsnes pleated dress, it's a super thin wool dyed with madder (the colour is a little uneven sadly)

Woven band is from a similar grave to vangsnes, but in Køstrup, because the vangsnes band is all swastikas

My brooches are NOT historical but just what i have rn :(

Half the beads are made by me, the other half were bought. it might be a bit much ngl but i felt very fancy

[acrossthewavesoftime]

A curse that comes with Knowing History, and harbouring a particular interest in material culture, is that you can never watch a documentary, film, or series without paying attention to the tiniest details, which will inevitably ruin your viewing impression.

Watching a documentary about Louis XIV for Reasons, one of the scenes recreated by actors is the last illness of the Grand Dauphin, seen here drinking a fortifying bouillon from what would not be the type of bowl used in these circumstances in the early 18th century. That would likely have been an écuelle (a specific soup bowl that often featured a lid which could be converted into a plate), not this thing:

Thankfully, Monsieur le Dauphin here tilts his bowl of bouillon enough to allow a peek underrneath:

That is no 18th century porcelain mark. That is a modern Seltmann-Weiden mark, likely second half of the 20th century, possibly pre- German Reunification:

I put a couple of filters over the image to make the mark slightly more visible. Image of the reference Seltmann-Weiden mark found here.

For all ye who want the really very absolutely authentic soup bowls in use at Château de Meudon in the time of the Grand Dauphin, you will have to look for second-hand or new old stock options because Seltmann-Weiden has discontinued the Theresia/Heimatland series some time ago, but they are definitively still around, presumably because the Grand Dauphin's household, having been dissolved after his death, has flooded the second hand market with Seltmann-Weiden crockery:

I will leave whoever was in charge of the props that though: the Grand Dauphin was married to Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria, and Seltmann-Weiden is a Bavarian firm, so if this was an intentional decision, I have to say it is a nice touch. Blue and white porcelain was much en vogue then, but this here pattern reminds me a tad too much of Meissen's iconic Zwiebelmuster, which was only created in 1730, 19 years after the Grand Dauphin's death. I get that it is not economically feasible to procure authentic surviving 18th century porcelain for filming a few scenes for a documentary. But still. This choice of soup bowl is not as historically informed as it could have been.

TL;DR: I beg you, never watch anything remotely historically-themed with me.

[d1nosorcerer]

Corded Ware culture bros be like: not now I'm cording my ware

[fjorn-the-skald]

If you're interested in browsing objects from the Norse world (c. 400-1100 CE), I recommend wandering over here:

Items Archive - Gelmir

[editor-in-grief]

This is the Tarkhan dress, the oldest woven garment ever discovered. Excavated in southern Egypt, it is more than 5,000 years old. Once, someone wore this as part of their everyday life.