‘Our interpreter does it well’ - All’s Well That Ends Well, act IV, scene 3

The new book is a treasure trove of previously unpublished high-quality colour photographs of archaeological textiles from the 16th century

The front cover of 'Textiles in context’ features a mask excavated in 1976, which was roughly made in plain weave silk (find out more about it in the next newsletter)

Many of the knitted finds are featured in the new book with high quality photographs and detailed descriptions among numerous other fragments of tailored garments, hats and trimmings

Hanna Zimmerman on the day she defended her doctoral thesis about the Groningen textiles in November 2007

Hanna knitted a pair of baby’s waistcoats based on the Groningen example for a colleague’s newborn twins

The disturbing silk mask on the cover of 'Textiles in context' went missing for many years but is now at Groninger Museum, object number 1990-07-0004 (image: Heinz Aebi)

The clasp of a thrummed felt purse (find 54Tl27.2) which still opens and closes with a satisfying snap (image: Jaap Buist)

Another of the very few silk items from Groningen – a pinked silk brim lining (find 54T51) on a felt hat (image: Jaap Buist)

The remnants of four purses were found in Groningen including what may be the silk lining (find 54T80) of a circular purse (image: Jaap Buist)