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A new TRC donation: white cotton nanduti lace dolly, c. 2010, Paraguay. Photo: Shelley Anderson.The TRC has two recent donations of a very special type of lace from the South American country of Paraguay. This lace has its own National Nanduti Day, celebrated on the second Sunday in October. On that day the city of Itaugua, considered the home of nanduti lace, organises a festival whereby women wear traditional blouses and skirts decorated with nanduti lace.

Nanduti means “spider web” in Paraguay’s indigenous language, Guarani. There are many folktales about nanduti’s origins. These usually involve a young woman who discovers her dead lover’s body, covered in a shimmering cloth. Looking more closely, she realises the cloth is actually made of spider webs, and she vows to make him an equally beautiful shroud.

Less poetically, it’s believed that 17th-century Spanish colonisers brought the technique of lace making to Paraguay, where the indigenous population made it their own. Jesuit missionaries, who prized lace for their ecclesiastical textiles, are believed to have spread lace making via their missions. Indeed, one of the earliest references to indigenous Paraguayan women’s skill in needlework is from a 1610 Jesuit document, which mentions decorated towels.

Technically, nanduti lace is related to Tenerife lace (sometimes spelled Teneriffe, and known as Sol lace, or Roseta Canario or Calado Canario), which originated in the Canary Islands. It is a type of needle lace known for its round, medallion-shaped motifs, comparable to nanduti lace forms. The TRC has several examples in its collecion, including a stunning, late 19th-century lace collar (see below; TRC 2020.0462).

Four blue and white nanduti lace coasters, cotton, 2025, Paraguay. Photo: Shelley Anderson.

A recent controversy shows once again the deep link between dress and identity. Some weeks ago the President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, paid a state visit to Zambia (Fig. 1). He was warmly greeted at the airport by Zambia's President Hakainde Hichilema, who was wearing a Western business suit.

President Mahama was wearing a traditional Ghanaian tunic called a fugu. According to a BBC report, some Zambians began mocking the garment on social media, calling it a “blouse”, and wondering why a head of state would wear such a garment on a formal occasion.

Fig. 1. President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, wearing a fugu when arriving in Zambia for a state visit, photographed together with his wife. Courtesy The Office of the Presidency, Republic of Ghana.

Fig. 1. Boerhaavelaan 6, Leiden, the new home of the TRC.A feature of the TRC’s new home at the Boerhaavelaan 6 (Fig. 1) is a form of batten work (called betengeling in Dutch), namely the use of a wooden framework that is covered with tensioned cloth and paper. These cloth-covered interior walls in B6 date to about 1909 when the house was built.

This technique has been used for hundreds of years to cover both timber and brick-built, internal walls and to protect expensive wall paper or other materials. This technique is also known in other parts of Europe and indeed the world.

Basically it consists of a frame of wooden slats or battens (de tengels in Dutch) which is fastened against the bare wall, which is then covered with linen or jute (the betengeling in Dutch). On top of this there comes a layer of wet paper, which when dried tensions the layer of luxurious wallpaper or cloth placed on top.

I have been thinking a lot lately about political textiles. It’s a broad term that encompasses many different things.

Fig. 1. Crazy quilt made from a variety of materials, as well as embroidered panels, painted panels and ribbons from various Republican political rallies. USA, 1890s (TRC 2019.2925).

Big changes are hard. Whether it is moving to a new building or about thirty years of revolution and regime changes, change requires flexibility. One object from our collection knows all about change, the Leiden journeyman hat (Fig. 1; TRC 2010.0056a).

Fig. 1. Miniature bicorn hat in beaver (?) fur with a silk band, made for a journeyman's examination. Leiden, The Netherlands, 1796 (TRC 2010.0056).

This little hat, 30 cm in length, was made for the examination of apprentice hatmaker Hendrik Visser, member of the Leiden hatmaker’s guild. It is made of fur, probably beaver, with a silk band on one side. The small size of the hat proved that Hendrik Visser was a capable hatmaker and was therefore awarded the title of journeyman hatmaker. In 2010, the hat was professionally conserved after a public appeal to raise the required funds.

The TRC is officially shut until the beginning of March because of its move to new premises. But this does not mean that TRC activities have stopped. We are all carrying on from home and meeting in Leiden several times a week to discuss the current situation, work and projects.

Fig. 1. Long, dark red cloth, decoratively woven with narrow mid-red stripes at regular intervals. Across the middle of the cloth there is a broad band of silver thread embroidery with stripes of repeating, geometric motifs. Tunisia, first half 20th century (TRC 2026.0187).

by Emilie Lambert, TRC collection manager, 23 January 2026

Fig. 1. Egyptian woven fragment from the 1st millennium AD, with stylised figures and waves, all in dark purple on an unbleached linen ground (TRC 2023.0073).One of the most common phrases heard at the TRC is that the collection holds textile items from prehistory to today. To visitors, this point emphasises our understanding of the value of historical textiles as well as the cultural relevance of a modern fast-fashion collection.

Due to preservation and availability, most of the TRC collection postdates the 17th century. There is, however, a considerable medieval collection and a significant collection of Coptic textile fragments from the first millennium AD (Fig. 1). But there are textiles even older than that! The oldest textile at the TRC, and indeed one of the oldest preserved textiles in the world comes from Çatalhöyük (Fig. 2).

The site can be found under many spellings, Catal Hoyuk, Catalhoyuk, and more recently Çatalhöyük. As an archaeology student it was impossible not to hear about this site regularly.

The proud author with her first copy of The Atlas of World EmbroideryA very proud author, Friday 16th January 2026.

Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, director TRC, today received her author's copies of The Atlas of World Embroidery: A Global Exploration of Heritage and Styles (Princeton University Press).

"A visually captivating, deeply informative overview. . . . An exquisite, fascinating volume."—Kirkus, starred review

"Emphasizing the spectacular visual diversity of the art form, Vogelsang-Eastwood illuminates embroidery’s global history."—Kate Mothes, Colossal

The book will officially come out on 17 February. Copies can be ordered here. For Amazon.nl, click here.

A Dutch version of the same book, published by WBooks, has the title: Atlas van de borduurkunst: Een wereldreis langs erfgoed en stijlen. It comes out on 19 February. For Amazon.nl and the Dutch version of the book, click here.

Quite a day: The book arrived on the same day that Gillian closed the doors of the 'old' TRC building along the Hogewoerd in Leiden, where the TRC has worked since September 2009. The TRC will soon, in early March, move to a beautiful urban villa just behind the Leiden railway station, along the Boerhaavelaan. A new future for the TRC, and more publications, more workshops and courses, and all sorts of textile events.