Fashioning the Viking Age – A Web Exhibition
Researchers from the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen have reconstructed the clothing found in two of the most famous Viking Age graves in Denmark. The reconstructed garments from two graves dated to the 900s; a man’s grave from Bjerringhøj, Mammen, and a woman’s grave from Hvilehøj. Both we interred in large burial mounds on Jutland in Denmark.
The Museum of Cultural History in Oslo, Norway is presenting an online exhibit, with details of the work and photos of the reconstructed garments.
I would like to point out that the white pattern on the woman’s dress is not tablet-woven trim, nor is it embroidery—it is woven into the fabric of the dress. I cannot imagine how many hours that must have taken—or the amazing patience and skill it took to do so.
Many thanks to Fjorn the Skald for this link! (If you haven’t checked out his website or signed up for his newsletter, I highly recommend doing so!)
Photo: Roberto Fortuna, National Museum of Denmark.
[Image description: A medium-height woman with brown hair wearing a red linen dress with a white pattern woven into the bodice, leather slipper-style shoes, and a short fur cloak decorated in blue, red, and silver tablet-woven trim stands on the left of the photo. Next to her stands a taller man with short brown hair and a beard, wearing an undyed wool tunic with embroidery, dark yellow long pants edged at the ankles with red tablet-woven trim, and leather shoes. He wears a longer fur coat decorated with tablet-woven bands of wool, which hides most of the embroidery on his tunic.]
