'The Eye of the Needle: English Embroideries from the Feller Collection', Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK

摘要

Though the objects in this exhibition were 'Early Modern', the show was a dramatic retreat from brightly lit, extrovert modernity. In a very busy gallery, visitors examined the embroideries with something like the hushed and patient concentration of the pieces' original creators. Curated by Mary Brooks, with the Ashmolean's Catherine Whistler and Matthew Winterbottom, this display grew out of Brooks's cataloguing of Mr and Mrs Feller's collection. Textile Conservator Susan Stanton explained that the couple buy well-preserved objects, consult conservators and respect embroideries as evolving historical documents (they tend to retain historic frames and alterations). As an accomplished needlewoman herself, Mrs Feller's own expertise has clearly informed their purchases and a wide range of techniques were represented here.