La Broderie by Pascal Payen-Appenzeller

La Broderie by Pascal Payen-Appenzeller is the stuff of an embroiderer's dreams. Historical embroideries and goldwork are given the royal treatment, with finely photographed details and detailed how-to's. For example, you can learn to make one of the Napoleonic bees from the Château de Fontainebleau in Goldwork, or a padded satin stitch monogram for linens.

This title was written in conjunction with DMC (the abbreviation of Dollfus Mieg et Cie), the famous thread company founded in France more than 250 years ago, and features material from their extensive collection, as well as museums and collections throughout France.

Pros:
• Full color photographs of inspiring historical embroideries
• How-to illustrations are easy to follow
• The photos shown up-close details of stitching and restoration techniques

Cons:
• Difficult to Find
• Average price: $65 to $200 US dollars (depending on condition)
• Available only in French

Description:
• Published in 1994 by Armand Colin, Paris
• Paperback: 127 pages
• ISBN-10: 2200214480
• ISBN-13: 978-2200214487
• Language: French

I've been collecting foreign language and vintage embroidery books for years, and I am especially drawn to the French books. The French are masters of embroidery techniques, and the pieces featured in the books are often centuries old and housed in private collections that few of us will ever see.

French embroidery is particularly regal and highly detailed and offer some of the best inspiration when designing embroidery or working our the details of the design such as shading, using stitches in unusual ways, etc. There are no shortcuts - everything is pristinely worked using the finest threads in all the right colors.

With this book, you will be able to peek inside the Collection DMC housed in Mulhouse, France, as well as the Musée national de la Renaissance, housed in the Château d'Ecouen at Versailles and Collection Brocard in Paris. The photographer, Bruno Loret, has expertly captured all the beautiful details in the well-photographed close-ups of the pieces featured in this book. For example, the facial details shown in the closeup image of Déposition ou Descente de Croix shown the texture of the stitches used to work Mary's face and hair perfectly.

I was lucky enough to have visited the collections at Versailles and elsewhere in France, and "lived" briefly across the street from the Château de Fontainebleau, where Napolean Bonaparte the throne. I've spent many hours admiring their collections while my husband was at work, happily wandering the halls in embroidery heaven. This book brings back fond memories of my stay in France - what I now refer to as "my second home."

La Broderie propose une synthèse historique, artistique et technique de la <>. Fondée sur la documentation inédite de l'atelier Brocard et du musée DMC, l'iconographie insiste de manière très concrète sur la réalisation des points. D'Écouen a Versailles de Perse en Europe centrale, nous vous convions a une promenade de rêve.

(VERY Roughly translated: La Broderie offers a synthesis of the historical, artistic and techniques of painting with threads on fabric. Based on unpublished material from the museums and workshops of Versailles, Brocard and DMC, the materials emphasize a very practical way of working the stitches. We invite you to take a personal journey through the collections.)

Pascal Payen-Appenzeller is a French historian, writer and poet born to a French father and Swiss mother. His books about the history of Paris and the icons of French culture are widely known around the world.