Enabling alert - especially for Alex

Thanks for the heads-up. Maria Undi's book on Hungarian Needlework emphasizes the Turkish influence on Hungarian florals. FE: She says the tulip motif was a Turkish contribution. I wonder about the roses, though. During the Turkish occupation, most of the influential Turks lived in a hilly area west of the Danube, in what is now Buda. Tradition has it that they planted many roses there, which led to the area being named Rozsadomb, which means "Rose Hill." It used to me a very exclusive area, but there are still some pretty sorry buildings that have not been restored since WW-II.

Alex, who will order that book.

Let me know what you think of it. I may have to add it to the library.

Cheryl

OK, the book arrived and I have taken some time to look at it. First, it is *not* a book for embroidery beginners. The author discusses, with a limited (but perhaps adequate for her purposes) number of examples of Turkish embroidery and discusses them by motifs and stitches used. FE: She shows examples of typical Turkish towels from the 17th century to later work. There are limited references to Turkish regional variation, as her material seems to be primarily from Istanbul and Bursa, which is very near Istanbul. Neither North Turkey (on the black sea) and eastern Turkey (around Erhac(h) Malatya) are discussed in any real detail. Nor is the area about Izmir (former Smyrna, on the Med). No mention of Adana in the South either.

Of some interest to advanced needleworkers are the (at least to me) unique stitches used, and which she illustrates well. Some of their couched fills are understandable in principle, but with the myriad fill stitches listed in the Readers' Digest Book of Embroidery Stitches, I am not sure the Ottoman stuff has any modern significance. I just don't know. I must bow to those more knowledgeable than I.

For those interested in the historical aspects of embroidery, it is rather cool to be able to compare the Ottoman stuff to what was being done in Western Europe. There is no material showing how the Ottoman techniques influenced anything in Europe, either by stitchery techniques or by motifs.

Whether this is worth the cost depends on one's interest in embroidery history, is the bottom line.

For the curious, here are a few stitches she illustrates.

The Atma stitch, a couching technique.

The Bukhara self-couching stitch.

The Ottoman Hemstitch

The Murver stitch, which must be pulled to work. (Must be done in a frame).

The Musabak stitch, which must also be done in a frame.

The Rumanian self-couching diagonal stitch.

And the Turkish punch-stitch, which she admits she does not understand, but offers a possible reference.

There are a few typical patterns that might allso be of interest.

Hope this helps.

Alex

Hmm- still might need to have it. Thank you for such a great review.

Cheryl