Tag: Aethelflaed


More on Aethelflaed

A woman on a dark brown horse, wearing a modern riding dress inspired by Anglo Saxon riding horse.

So, after my first two attempts at Aethelflaed, I had a fascinating day with my reenactor friend Vara, talking about the garments and decorations of the period, and she showed me this photo of her daughter riding astride, but in a modern riding dress inspired by early medieval garments.

Rowanne is apparently intrigued by what I’m doing, and has given permission for me to put this picture up, showing her and her horse Lola!

Rough sketch of a woman in an early medieval veil, seen in profile

I also had a chance to do a sketch of a woman in profile, wearing the right sort of veil, complete with a fillet, with the added suggestion that Aethelflaed should be wearing a bright white veil, since that would be a sign of wealth and authority, and that sleeves would have been all in one with the dress.

So, I’ve had a bit more to work with, and had another go.

Another attempt in gouache to depict Aethelflaed, in red dress and white veil, on a white horse

This is better, I like the straighter back, and the dress covering the horse’s rump. But my goodness, if you compare her with Rowanne and Lola, she’s much too long in the body. I need to shorten her somewhat.

Furthermore, I think the horse has got too tame – back to the cross-eyed one staring out at the viewer!

But then, I think, I might be able to start playing around with placing her on the background and choosing colours for her. Which, my goodness, will be About Time!

Working on Aethelflaed

Marginal picture from a medieval manuscript, showing a man and woman on horseback, the woman with a falcon on her wrist

You may recall that the planning and designing of Aethelflaed is proving quite a long winded process, with a lot of repetition and rethinking going on.

I’ve been looking for medieval women on horseback, because I want Aethelflaed under her own steam, as it were – not lead on a palfrey, but mounted on her own horse, with the reins in her hands.

The best I’ve found so far is this one, which I think was in the Holkham Picture Book Bible.

A painting in gouache of a medieval woman on horseback, very clumsily done, and based on the lady in the picture above.

I started with the lady, and began some alterations. I want her horse to have some personality, so I’ve turned the head towards us, and lifted it a little.

I’ve extended the skirts somewhat, and given the rider a veil that flies a little, held in place by a golden fillet.

But the high contrast suggests a silk or brocade, and I want something that suggests a sensible woollen riding dress.

Then I found some Viking and Anglo-Saxon reenactors and talked to them. And goodness, that gave me food for thought. In particular, yes, riding dress was indeed a garment that an Anglo Saxon woman like Aethelflaed might have worn. But Anglo-Saxon dressmaking was not at all like ours.

Another gouache of a medieval woman on a horse. Still clumsy but a new iteration.

In particular, whereas we tend to have pattern pieces that start with the widest part, and remove fullness by means of darts, pleats, or gathers, Anglo-Saxon dressmaking started with the narrowest width and added fullness by means of gussets and gores. In fact, an Anglo Saxon riding dress would have a full circle’s worth of gores inserted into the side seams, resulting in something roughly like this.

But not quite. I’ve actually been to talk to my reenactor friends, and there are a few bits which don’t quite ring true. I have some photos to work from, so there is more to come…

An Experiment For Aethelflaed

A display of Anglo Saxon sword mounts and fittings found at the museum in Stoke On Trent

I’m beginning to realise that if I take into account at the beginning of a project the final destination of it or the way it’s going to be displayed, life might be a bit easier.

I think the Medieval Movers and Shakers may end up displayed on banners, but while the clerics Rahere and Dame Julian should probably be on a simple vertical drop, like a pulpit fall, I think William and Aethelflaed might want somethiing more ornate.

Outline of one of the fittings in the previous photo stitched in split stitch on gauze

With that in mind, one idea I had for Aethelflaed was to ornament her banner with reproductions of Anglo Saxon jewels in trapunto quilting. Easier said than done, and I don’t imagine I’ll get it right first time, so I hope that this will give me some thoughts!

Trapunto involves creating channels and cells that can then be filled with coloured yarns or wool. This experiment is done using leftover gauze from the Amarna overlays, and the design was quite roughly hand-drawn to make a first approximation, but in due course I had all the lines done in split stitch.

The narrow channels filled with golden yellow tapestry wool

Then it was time to fill in the channels and cells. Mindful of my recent experience with the Golden Accessories, when I found there was definitely a Right Order in which to fill in the strapwork, I did (believe it or not!) pause for thought before just barrelling in. I think I made the right choice – the channels are quite narrow, and it was definitely easier to fill them in first. I’ve used tapestry wool, and I’m not sure that’s necessarily the best choice, but it’s the right sort of colour, and with the narrow channels, it’s easier than fleece. Especially as I don’t have any to hand!

Dark red wool has been added to teh cells of the design, creating a reconstruction of an Anglo Saxon jewel in trapunto

The final stage was to fill in the cells – this time with Paternayan. I think I would prefer to use fleece for cells, to avoid having shadow lines between the “stitches”, but as a first attempt, I think it’s worked well.

Two layers of gauze are a bit much, though, I think it would be easier to manage if the backing were in calico. So next time I have a moment for this sort of experimentation, I might start with that, and maybe a different shade of gauze.

Research for Aethelflaed

A grid of pictures - three of items from the Staffordshire Hoard, and one sketch of the burgh symbol on the obverse of some coins minted in Mercia during Aethelflaed's rule.

I think I’m going to try to do Aethelflaed next.

At the moment, my thought is to have her riding (side-saddle) towards the refortification works at Chester (which is where I grew up). I looked up “side-saddle”, owing to having some doubts about how recent or not it might be, and the history and techniques of riding sidesaddle seem more complex than would at first appear.

Of course they are.

There’s the technique you probably think of first, with a leg hooked up and the rider facing forwards (think Queen Elizabeth II riding Burmese to Trooping The Colour, way back when). The development of that design is credited to Anne of Bohemia, Richard II’s Queen, so it would be anachronistic, to say the least, for Aethelflaed. However… The older style is more like a chair set on the horse’s back, with a footboard, and the rider faces sidesways. Generally the horse is then lead, either by a someone on foot, or by another rider, but I simply cannot imagine Aethelflaed not being under her own steam, as it were. I suspect that she would just have a really voluminous skirt or a slit skirt or even just wear men’s clothing and ride astride. But that would not create the image I want, so I’m going to have to balance storytelling with other concerns. Well, that’s part of what is interesting to me, so that’s ok!

A grid of sketches of some of the patterns seen on items from the Hoard. They were done in a museum, in front of the real thing, which is much tinier than the photos you see suggest, so they are scrappy and inaccurate, but they might still help.

I had a lovely day out a little while ago to see the Staffordshire Hoard exhibition at the Museum in Stoke on Trent. It’s the closest source I can find for patterns that I might be able to use, and although none of these sketches or photos will be useable directly, I can, for example, imagine taking the style of that processional cross in the grid at the top, sketched in the grid to the side here, and using that at the cardinal points of the border.

I’m also wondering about taking one of the patterns from the pieces in the Hoard, and turning it into a border design, somehow. That might make everything a bit busy, so, more thought needed…