An 18th century Southern German embroidered linen towel

Consisting of two joined pieces of linen, the lower embroidered in madder, indigo and dark brown cotton in satin and stem stitches with a design of two panels enclosing figures and flowers. The upper panel with two musicians, with a violin and a lute, below the inscription ‘Spielet auf ihr Musicanten’; the lower with two dancers, and a dog, performing a minuet below the inscription ‘Der hanß will eine Minewet danken’. These two lines (allowing a youthful, phonetic rendering of the German ‘Menuett’) might be translated as ‘Play on you musicians, Hans will be grateful for a minuet’. Above the panels an arrangement of flowering, foliate branches, and below, the name of the embroiderer, ‘Margaretha Schüllerin’ (a relatively unusual surname and, with one ‘l’ rather than two, the word denotes ‘schoolgirl’ or ‘female student’), and the date ‘1760’. The top edge with two loops, and the bottom with a panel of drawn thread work.

Similar towels may be found in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; accession number 09.50.2787 and of the V & A; accession number T.211-1953 ; & accession number T.212-1953

185cm (72¾”) long and 40.7cm (16”) wide.

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