Challe Hudson
@challehudson.bsky.social
Early modern independent historian exploring the evolution of fashion as depicted on church monuments, memorial brasses, and other representations of English women during the Wars of the Roses and early Tudor eras. 📷 my own unless otherwise indicated.
Today’s challenge: locate (and cite) the best, earliest possible definition of the thread - gimp, a silk floss core tightly wrapped with contrasting silk floss - that was couched to make this delightful little caterpillar on the circa 1600 Bacton Altar Cloth.
#TextileTuesday
#TextileTuesday
September 30, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Today’s challenge: locate (and cite) the best, earliest possible definition of the thread - gimp, a silk floss core tightly wrapped with contrasting silk floss - that was couched to make this delightful little caterpillar on the circa 1600 Bacton Altar Cloth.
#TextileTuesday
#TextileTuesday
Explored All Saints, Brixworth, Northamptonshire, and admired the effort put into carving the mail on this effigy. Probably represents Sir John de Verdun (1299 - 1376) first Baron Verdun, Lord of Brixworth. If only I could see it in its original brightly coloured paint. #MonumentsMonday
September 29, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Explored All Saints, Brixworth, Northamptonshire, and admired the effort put into carving the mail on this effigy. Probably represents Sir John de Verdun (1299 - 1376) first Baron Verdun, Lord of Brixworth. If only I could see it in its original brightly coloured paint. #MonumentsMonday
Archaeological artifacts gain context when paired with historical depictions of them in use, and come alive when practitioners recreate and use them. Bone tablets for weaving narrow wares (Roman Britain) and an illuminated detail of a girl weaving with tablets (N Germany c1320-50). #TextileTuesday
May 13, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Archaeological artifacts gain context when paired with historical depictions of them in use, and come alive when practitioners recreate and use them. Bone tablets for weaving narrow wares (Roman Britain) and an illuminated detail of a girl weaving with tablets (N Germany c1320-50). #TextileTuesday
Modern artists recreating historic textiles set themselves impossible goals, like trying to find washable inks to wipe away the patterns drawn on to guide embroidery. They didn’t do it - why should we?
Detail of an early 17th century English jacket at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Detail of an early 17th century English jacket at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
April 24, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Modern artists recreating historic textiles set themselves impossible goals, like trying to find washable inks to wipe away the patterns drawn on to guide embroidery. They didn’t do it - why should we?
Detail of an early 17th century English jacket at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Detail of an early 17th century English jacket at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Faces essentially identical. Ermine to show royal status. Hats obscured by crowns (imagined, or never worn that way), hair down for maidens. Gowns covered with a symbolic “sideless surcoat” to indicate that they are queens and princesses. I can see jewellery and cuffs, but little else. Sigh. 2/2
April 23, 2025 at 8:46 AM
Faces essentially identical. Ermine to show royal status. Hats obscured by crowns (imagined, or never worn that way), hair down for maidens. Gowns covered with a symbolic “sideless surcoat” to indicate that they are queens and princesses. I can see jewellery and cuffs, but little else. Sigh. 2/2
This #SaintGeorge with the family of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York is a missed opportunity. Nothing wrong with the saint and dragon–that’s dramatic enough–but the utterly generic, stylised royal family in formulaic fashion saddens me; I want detailed portraits and contemporary clothing. 1/2
April 23, 2025 at 8:46 AM
This #SaintGeorge with the family of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York is a missed opportunity. Nothing wrong with the saint and dragon–that’s dramatic enough–but the utterly generic, stylised royal family in formulaic fashion saddens me; I want detailed portraits and contemporary clothing. 1/2
I travelled Shropshire last week absorbing springtime to the rhythm of this Robert Frost poem:
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
April 14, 2025 at 1:26 PM
I travelled Shropshire last week absorbing springtime to the rhythm of this Robert Frost poem:
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
Detail of the carving above. The square in the middle has the initials D and LL for David Lloyd, who commissioned this building, around his merchant's mark, with the date below. #WoodcarvingWednesday
April 9, 2025 at 6:42 AM
Detail of the carving above. The square in the middle has the initials D and LL for David Lloyd, who commissioned this building, around his merchant's mark, with the date below. #WoodcarvingWednesday
Admired the carved beams of this gable helpfully dated 1570, now in the Shrewsbury Museum. The sinusoidal pattern with pairs of leaves above and below, here with grape clusters between the leaves, is also commonly found decorating carved effigies. Was this a carvers pattern or also used on textiles?
April 9, 2025 at 6:42 AM
Admired the carved beams of this gable helpfully dated 1570, now in the Shrewsbury Museum. The sinusoidal pattern with pairs of leaves above and below, here with grape clusters between the leaves, is also commonly found decorating carved effigies. Was this a carvers pattern or also used on textiles?
When I go to churches, seems like I take photos of everything. But today I needed a photo of someone wearing a medieval hood, and so this little bedesman from the side of the c.1502 tomb to Richard Croft and Ann Fox in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, just made it into the slide show of my next talk.
March 17, 2025 at 12:42 PM
When I go to churches, seems like I take photos of everything. But today I needed a photo of someone wearing a medieval hood, and so this little bedesman from the side of the c.1502 tomb to Richard Croft and Ann Fox in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, just made it into the slide show of my next talk.
This delightful door from St Mary’s, Goudhurst, Kent, apparently needed to be rehung to swing the other direction, but not replaced, leaving an artistic shadow from the iron hinges. One of the very first parish churches I visited, February 2013, and still such a happy memory. #ADoorableThursday
March 13, 2025 at 9:54 AM
This delightful door from St Mary’s, Goudhurst, Kent, apparently needed to be rehung to swing the other direction, but not replaced, leaving an artistic shadow from the iron hinges. One of the very first parish churches I visited, February 2013, and still such a happy memory. #ADoorableThursday
Some daffodils for a seasonal #FlowersonFriday, taken three years ago in front of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, following a visit to that and the Queen’s House. Plus a lovely view taken there of the Isle of Dogs, viewed through the twin spires of the Old Royal Naval College.
March 7, 2025 at 9:34 AM
Some daffodils for a seasonal #FlowersonFriday, taken three years ago in front of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, following a visit to that and the Queen’s House. Plus a lovely view taken there of the Isle of Dogs, viewed through the twin spires of the Old Royal Naval College.
Thomas Sutton died in 1611 and is buried in the Charterhouse Chapel. His tomb is rather a bit grander, but harder to photograph, given the railing. I wonder, though, would John Dudley’s monument still stand had it not been cared for in his wife’s second husband’s honour?
#MonumentsMonday
#MonumentsMonday
March 3, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Thomas Sutton died in 1611 and is buried in the Charterhouse Chapel. His tomb is rather a bit grander, but harder to photograph, given the railing. I wonder, though, would John Dudley’s monument still stand had it not been cared for in his wife’s second husband’s honour?
#MonumentsMonday
#MonumentsMonday
“Several Prelates and other Persons educated at Charter House School, the Foundation of Thomas Sutton, Esq. by their respectful contributions caused this tomb to be repaired, A.D.: 1808.” This made me look up her second husband, who I found I had visited some seven years earlier. 🧵
March 3, 2025 at 4:10 PM
“Several Prelates and other Persons educated at Charter House School, the Foundation of Thomas Sutton, Esq. by their respectful contributions caused this tomb to be repaired, A.D.: 1808.” This made me look up her second husband, who I found I had visited some seven years earlier. 🧵
with your first spouse, especially if you’ve erected a beautiful monument there. I notice that no one carved in her date of death. Maybe it was painted in and has since flaked away; maybe not. But the additional panels on the tomb tell why it was restored instead of dismantled: 🧵
March 3, 2025 at 4:10 PM
with your first spouse, especially if you’ve erected a beautiful monument there. I notice that no one carved in her date of death. Maybe it was painted in and has since flaked away; maybe not. But the additional panels on the tomb tell why it was restored instead of dismantled: 🧵
Tombs survive for such interesting reasons. Take John Dudley: after he died in 1580, this fine tomb was erected. His widow Elizabeth remarried Thomas Sutton, but when she died in 1602, she too was buried here, in Old St Mary’s, Stoke Newington. That’s not so unusual, asking to be buried 🧵
March 3, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Tombs survive for such interesting reasons. Take John Dudley: after he died in 1580, this fine tomb was erected. His widow Elizabeth remarried Thomas Sutton, but when she died in 1602, she too was buried here, in Old St Mary’s, Stoke Newington. That’s not so unusual, asking to be buried 🧵
Is anything more whimsically delightful and anatomically questionable than a medieval elephant? Maybe one with a castle on its back, like this 15th century misericord in Manchester Cathedral. I love how the carver felt compelled to give it horse’s hooves and bat-wing ears. #WoodcarvingWednesday
February 26, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Is anything more whimsically delightful and anatomically questionable than a medieval elephant? Maybe one with a castle on its back, like this 15th century misericord in Manchester Cathedral. I love how the carver felt compelled to give it horse’s hooves and bat-wing ears. #WoodcarvingWednesday
I’ve been ignoring social media, trying to finish my first full-length paper about the Bacton Altar Cloth, but I just couldn’t miss another #FlowersonFriday. And while I’m pretty sure there aren’t any forget-me-nots in the embroidery, botanical accuracy in art is very much on my mind. 4/4
February 21, 2025 at 11:51 AM
I’ve been ignoring social media, trying to finish my first full-length paper about the Bacton Altar Cloth, but I just couldn’t miss another #FlowersonFriday. And while I’m pretty sure there aren’t any forget-me-nots in the embroidery, botanical accuracy in art is very much on my mind. 4/4
She noted the five round petals and ridge around the concave flower centre - but is that enough to name this flower? What about the leaves, which on the cup are ovate and toothed, but on the plant are oblong and smooth? When is a medieval flower a specific plant, and when a decorative motif? 3/4
February 21, 2025 at 11:51 AM
She noted the five round petals and ridge around the concave flower centre - but is that enough to name this flower? What about the leaves, which on the cup are ovate and toothed, but on the plant are oblong and smooth? When is a medieval flower a specific plant, and when a decorative motif? 3/4
In connection with its shimmering appearance in the British Library exhibition about Medieval Women, I went to a fascinating online lecture by Dr Mary Franklin-Brown in which (in part) she dove into the identities of plants on this cup, and identified this little flower as a forget-me-not. 2/4
February 21, 2025 at 11:51 AM
In connection with its shimmering appearance in the British Library exhibition about Medieval Women, I went to a fascinating online lecture by Dr Mary Franklin-Brown in which (in part) she dove into the identities of plants on this cup, and identified this little flower as a forget-me-not. 2/4
The mid-15th century silver-gilt Foundress’ Cup from Christ’s College, Cambridge (bequeathed by Margaret Beaufort, though originally made for Eleanor Cobham and Humpfrey, Duke of Gloucester) and its ornate lid, refashioned by the King’s Mother to include the Tudor Rose on top. 1/4
February 21, 2025 at 11:51 AM
The mid-15th century silver-gilt Foundress’ Cup from Christ’s College, Cambridge (bequeathed by Margaret Beaufort, though originally made for Eleanor Cobham and Humpfrey, Duke of Gloucester) and its ornate lid, refashioned by the King’s Mother to include the Tudor Rose on top. 1/4
When I visited Canterbury Cathedral for the first time in 2013, I stared at the ceiling and said “wow”. When I visited in 2019 (as part of a conference) they were restoring the roof and cleaning the ceiling, and I said “wow” much closer up. Still can’t believe I got to do this. #ChurchCrawling
February 2, 2025 at 11:52 AM
When I visited Canterbury Cathedral for the first time in 2013, I stared at the ceiling and said “wow”. When I visited in 2019 (as part of a conference) they were restoring the roof and cleaning the ceiling, and I said “wow” much closer up. Still can’t believe I got to do this. #ChurchCrawling
The cushion has spectacular tassels on the corners, too. What materials are under the silk and silver threads to give that shape - a wooden or clay core, perhaps? What techniques did they use to work the loops and knots and braids? Who made this, and how was it used?
January 21, 2025 at 1:15 PM
The cushion has spectacular tassels on the corners, too. What materials are under the silk and silver threads to give that shape - a wooden or clay core, perhaps? What techniques did they use to work the loops and knots and braids? Who made this, and how was it used?
When I admired this 17th century cushion in Westwood Manor, a National Trust property in Wiltshire, they tried to tell me it was a pincushion, which it most certainly is not - those are silver spangles held with a single stitch threaded through a tiny bit of silver purl.
#TextileTuesday
#TextileTuesday
January 21, 2025 at 1:15 PM
When I admired this 17th century cushion in Westwood Manor, a National Trust property in Wiltshire, they tried to tell me it was a pincushion, which it most certainly is not - those are silver spangles held with a single stitch threaded through a tiny bit of silver purl.
#TextileTuesday
#TextileTuesday
Was seeking the most ridiculous possible medieval hat picture to pair with a #CallForPapers for the Medieval Dress and Textile Society conference ‘Topping it off: dress and textiles above the shoulder’.
Found it.
www.medats.org.uk/events/cfp-t...
#MedievalSky
#ManuscriptMonday
Found it.
www.medats.org.uk/events/cfp-t...
#MedievalSky
#ManuscriptMonday
January 13, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Was seeking the most ridiculous possible medieval hat picture to pair with a #CallForPapers for the Medieval Dress and Textile Society conference ‘Topping it off: dress and textiles above the shoulder’.
Found it.
www.medats.org.uk/events/cfp-t...
#MedievalSky
#ManuscriptMonday
Found it.
www.medats.org.uk/events/cfp-t...
#MedievalSky
#ManuscriptMonday