Author Archives: mdb

I have started working on my Gelderlander frocks only to find the underlining for my skirts are too short, and my references…. sigh. I actually start to read the “Maison de Lynden” Chronical to find out more about Fulswine de Randwyck and… sorry? Married in1440? But her plate is more like 1530.

“Autentica et originali effigie delineabat fr. Joannes Vafou ord: pred A 1625.16. octobris”
“An authentic and original effigy drawn by fr. Joannes Vafou ord: pred A 1625.16. October”

I know the risks in using 17thC printed works, and especially family histories. I was just hoping she would be named correctly.

Her clothing and accessories do work for the region if we go by the Codice de Trajes. The problem is a near total lack of digitisation of portraits from the time and place.

Luckily there are a few other works to go by including a fabulous painting with the mix of North Rhine headgear and Dutch style frock.

Current attribution possibly Anoniem (Gelderland (prov.)) 1549
Date dated 1549 (1549)
Title Portret van een vrouw, waarschijnlijk Aleid Bushof (?-1582) Other (former) title
oude titel: Portret van een vrouw, genaamd Maria Hacfort (?-1550) English title Portrait of a woman, probably Aleid Bushof (?-1582)

https://rkd.nl/en/explore/portraits/272337

And wonderfully we have Aleid Buschof’s wedding contract!

Gelders Archief, 0405 Huis Ter Horst, Inventaris, Persoonlijk gedeelte, 1.1. Geslacht Hackfort, 1.1.04. Wijnant Hackfort en Aleid Bushof, 13 Acte van huwelijksvoorwaarden tusschen Wynant Hackfort en Aelheit Bushoff, 1546. 1 charter i

13 Acte van huwelijksvoorwaarden tusschen Wynant Hackfort en Aelheit Bushoff, 1546. 1 charter i

And a little more information:

1546 maand. na visitatie Marie vprg. (5 Juli) . \ Wynolt van Hackfordt burgem. te Arnhem . Joffer Aelheyt Buyshaves 1)

from De Nederlandsche Leeuw, jaargang 36 (1918)

But wait, what is that note?

1) Burggraaf kan er niet staan, want als zoodanig komt hij niet voor op de lijst in Mr . van den Bergh’ s Nijmeegsche bijzonderheden en in Mr . Joosting’ s Nijmeegsche Broederschappen.
1 ) Burggraaf cannot be there, because as such he does not appear on the list in Mr . van den Bergh’s Nijmegen details and in Mr. Joosting’s Nijmegen Brotherhoods.

Luckily this doesn’t impact the veracity of either the portrait nor the marriage. But does point to the massive difficulties in finding and trusting sources even when you have physical access to them.

And I do not.

So to go back to this chronical? Well…

It’s made up. There are something like 8 different articles about it all by a single historian. I’ve grabbed them all (inside massive yearly books) so maybe I’ll find a hint in one of them. But so far several dates appear wrong inside the text let alone the attributions.

There is almost nothing about the artist, unless you look for “Jan Vassens” or “Joannes Vasoens” or “Jan Vasoens” and then his paintings pop up. And the quality does suggest he carefully recorded the portraits he saw- it’s just a question of where he saw them.

The printer Jan Cnobbaert and his family (widow, son) seem to have a good handle on the etching so it’s, again, trying to track down where these images were and now are.

I have to admit I’m sort of working my way through all of the Codice de Trajes depictions of people in the North Rhine. It’s really fun but I’m suddenly faced with working with a synthetic for my Gelderlander frock and after so many years using them only for historic inspired work that I’m struggling a bit.

You see the stunning silk brocade loses it’s brilliance when it’s paired with even crimson. It is however stunning when paired with the magenta velvet ribbon I have been using on my farthingale. And that makes me want to use it to make a very different gown.

Yep that’s my Mantua fabric and you know… I’ll keep it that way. I think the power of the particular texture really does work best how I’ve already got it. But oh boy does that red velveteen cause it to flash beautifully. But it’s pleating that really makes the most of the shot taffeta.

The blue wool is documentable with rich reddish velvet so I think if I can push the red into true crimson I’ll be happy to use my blue wool.

There is going to be a heck of a lot of fabric dyeing but I’m also hoping to luck into a shade I can use for my pulled apart frock and so I probably should rest up from a week of exhausting health care.