Selected silk coffin upholstery from 17th and 18th centuries on Polish lands

• Authors: Małgorzata Grupa , Magdalena Majorek , Dawid Grupa

Title variants

PL

Wybrane jedwabne obicia trumien z XVII i XVII wieku na ziemiach polskich

• Languages of publication: EN PL

Abstracts

EN

Originating from wealthy families, funerals that took place in the 17th and 18th c were in fact theatrical performances, with a major part being played by colour, luxurious textiles and all other elements connected with burial ceremonies, e.g. 3000 candles. Clothes and haberdashery (as well as footwear, gloves, stockings, bands), made of silk fabrics were regarded as luxurious objects in the Middle Ages and Modern Times. Silk yarn was also used for upholstery textile production. Coffins were upholstered in these periods using: silk, wool and linen. Silk presented in the article, belongs to plain fabrics in weave 1/1, but also satins, velvets and damasks. Ornamenting motifs took the form of geometric shapes and flora. Archaeological material rarely delivers original textile colour, because it usually appears in yellow and green as a result of pigment decomposition. However, the textiles discussed here revealed red fabrics in various shades. The selected coffin upholstery comes from archaeological explorations in churches from Szczuczyn, Gniew, Lublin and Toruń.

Keywords

EN

archaeology; funeral; coffin; coffin upholstery; silk; luxury

• Publisher: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Sprawozdania Archeologiczne
• Year: 2014
• Volume: 66
• Pages: 399–416

Dates

published

2014

Contributors

author

Małgorzata Grupa

• Instytut Archeologii, Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika, ul. Szosa Bydgoska 44/48, 87-100 Toruń, Poland

author

Magdalena Majorek

• Instytut Archeologii, Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika, ul. Szosa Bydgoska 44/48, 87-100 Toruń, Poland

author

Dawid Grupa

• Instytut Archeologii, Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika, ul. Szosa Bydgoska 44/48, 87-100 Toruń, Poland