German Modelbücher 1524-1556

German Modelbücher 1524-1556 : A Compilation of Eight German Needlework and Weaving Pattern Books

A new book by Marion McNealy

For several years I’ve really longed for a good 16th century German embroidery and weaving pattern reference book. I wanted a book that I could look through when I saw a design in a painting, to see if I could find the full design in a period pattern book, and I also wanted it to be a book that I could use when planning projects around a specific date, say “The year is 1532, what designs are available to use?”

While there are a lot of extant pattern books which have now been digitized, they aren’t all in one place for easy comparison, and there is a lot of duplication between books, some designs are in multiple books, and others in just one or two. I also wanted to be able to study how embroidery designs changed over time. Over the summer, I’ve been pulling together and analyzing eight different German pattern books (modelbücher), organizing them by type, style and uniqueness. There’s over 200+ unique designs so far, and I’ve tracked which ones are duplicated in which books, and when they were republished.

A compilation of eight different German modelbucher dating from 1524-1556, with 200 unique plates.
Books included:
Schonsperger 1524 and 1529 editions
Quentel 1529, 1532, and 1544 editions
Egenolff 1535 edition
Gülfferich 1553 edition
Hoffman 1556 edition

The plates have been organized by type (freestyle or charted), and style elements, with duplicated plates noted, and when they were republished. Historical embroidered and woven pieces which use identical or similar patterns will inspire and guide you in your use of this book.

The introduction discusses the individual books, the different types of patterns, tools depicted, and includes a section of examples of similar patterns found in extant objects and paintings.

A few sample pages: