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Coptic embroideries in Trier, GermanyJuly 2001
I spent a few days recently in the Moselle valley city of Trier, near the border with Luxembourg, and was astonished to find the most wonderful 4th - 6th century Coptic textiles in its Simeonstift Museum. This is a peaceful little place in some old cloisters, seemingly not much visited, and you can look in a leisurely, unhurried way at Coptic shirts hanging on the wall as well as drawer after drawer of stunning and surprisingly still vivid fragments of embroidered linen and children's socks with two toes and little shirts. I must have spent about five hours drawing these and could have taken even more time since the museum has only one small book in German with black-and-white photos. If you're interested in textiles and happen to be visiting Trier, do find a moment for the Simeonstift. These embroideries may well have been mentioned already elsewhere but I'm not aware of it and would welcome any information on this.
Caroline Brown
Caroline.Brown@dial.pipex.com