Pride and splendour go on show

Fine details characterise centuries-old garments

The unusual passion of a German pseudo-baron and the skill of textile conservationists are part of a unique exhibition at the Swiss Abegg Foundation near Bern.

Baron von Hüpsch (1730-1805), who took his name and title from his grandmother, was a well-known collector in the German city of Cologne, whose cabinet of curiosities became a popular attraction.

The most unusual feature of his collection was a set of 18 items of clothing, which had belonged to rich members of the Cologne bourgeoisie in the 17th century. Today, they are the only garments of their type known to have survived from that period.

“Most costumes disappeared, wore out or were cut up for something else,” Catherine Depierraz, a researcher at the Abegg, told swissinfo.

The pieces, which Hüpsch bequeathed to the ruler of Darmstadt in southern Germany, have been conserved by the Abegg foundation and can be seen in this summer’s temporary exhibition.

Also on show are a set of 18th-century costumes from Darmstadt, and a magnificent Renaissance outfit from Dresden, which once belonged to Elector Maurice of Saxony (1521-1553). It consists of yellow and black slashed trunk-hose and soft leather leggings and a densely pleated gown – the oldest such costume to have survived in its entirety.

Piecing history together

The Hüpsch collection is something of a mystery, Depierraz says. It is not known where the clothes were in the century or so before he acquired them. “They could be connected to the plague. Perhaps they belonged to people who died young, and were kept in remembrance of them.”

Johannes Pietsch, the curator of the exhibition, has nevertheless been able to find out a lot about them by painstakingly examining the fabric and the cut.

“The customer had to provide the tailor with the fabric, and the tailor had to give back anything left over. So that’s how we know that if the clothes came from the same material, they belonged to the same family,” he explained to swissinfo.

“We think the whole collection came from two or three families.”

He discovered that some garments had been altered, suggesting that more than one person may have worn them.

Meticulous work

Although such garments are extremely rare, they look strangely familiar, since similar costumes are depicted in numerous contemporary portraits. But only a close-up view of the real thing reveals the extraordinary amount of work that went into making them so luxurious.

“Clothing regulations were in force,” Depierraz explained. “The bourgeoisie wore clothes of the same cut as the nobility, but they had to use simpler fabric. They couldn’t use multi-coloured patterns or metal thread. That’s why they tried to make the fabric richer with slashes, trims and embroidery.”

One of the items on show is a dark red woman’s doublet, – a short padded jacket. At a distance, it looks as if it has been threaded through with yellowish ribbon. In fact, hundreds of small slashes have been made in the fabric, and the threads tied back to reveal another layer of cloth beneath.

Men’s clothing was often just as intricate as women’s. One very elaborate sleeve, for example, is made of ribbons of lace, threaded through with thin strips of parchment wrapped in silk thread.

The clothes are beautiful to behold, but not very practical to wear. Many of the bodices had to be laced from behind – the numerous elaborate buttons are often merely decoration.

“They were not very comfortable. They were often stiffened with fishbone. And the clothes were not washed,” said Depierraz.

Men in the 17th century tied their doublet and hose together with numerous bows or loops, and the Maurice of Saxony’s soft leather leggings were sewn directly onto his hose.

“It must have been quite a palaver when he needed to go to the toilet,” Depierraz commented.

Conservation challenges

Behind the show are several years of painstaking work by the Abegg experts. Sometimes it was a matter of correcting previous conservation: in the early 20th century the slits in Maurice’s sleeves had been sewn up, for example. Unsuitable patches and stitches had often been used, which have now been removed.

One of the men’s garments in the Hüpsch collection had been wrongly reassembled in the 19th century, and given an incorrect linen lining.

The Abegg has also prepared special stands for all of the garments on show. These not only give a good idea of how they would have looked when worn, but also give exactly the right support to the often-fragile clothes.

But even the Abegg cannot work miracles. Some of the old dyes– and the mordants, which fixed them – are slowly but surely destroying the fibres, and the experts decided it was better to leave them as they are.

So the current exhibition is not merely a rare chance to see such unusual items; in some cases it may be the last chance.

swissinfo, Julia Slater in Riggisberg

Key facts

Wilhelm Carl Adolf von Hüpsch was born Jean Guillaume Adolphe Fiacre Honvlez in Luxembourg in 1730. He died in Cologne in 1805.
His father was a court official, and his family had married into nobility.
Von Hüpsch moved to Cologne in 1755 where he put his art collection on display, which soon became a tourist attraction in the region.
His collection served as the basis for the Landesmuseum of the German state of Hesse in Darmstadt.

Abegg Foundation

The Abegg Foundation is housed in the village of Riggisberg, near Bern.

Textile collectors Werner and Margaret Abegg established the Foundation in 1961.

It is an internationally respected centre for textile conservation and restoration, receiving textiles for conservation from all over the world.

Every year, from late April to early November, it holds an exhibition of some of the items it has recently conserved.

The exhibition is held in the Abegg museum of textiles and applied art.