Antique Embroidery of Norbertines from Żukowo. The State of Research after Thirty Years

Abstract

It has been written so far very little about the antique embroideries of Norbertines from Żukowo in the professional literature. And they belong to the group of the most interesting examples of this kind of artistic craft in the area of the former Royal Prussia. There was only one major article about them written by Barbara Kaźmierska-Latzke. Unfortunately it was not so well known as it was published in the niche and issued for a short time bulletin of Łódź „Central Museum of Textiles.” Other studies which have mainly ethnographic and popular science character mention the works of art from church in Żukowo but only on the sidelines of deliberations on Kashubian embroidery. Their authors are trying to prove the influence of folk art on monastic embroidery thankfully less and less, but they still marginalize the role of nuns in the formation of the Kashubian ornament. In this situation a reliable publication of embroideries made by the Norbertines seems necessary, especially that their state of preservation is still getting worse and many of them we know today only from the archival photos. From ninety one embroidered objects in the parish church in Żukowo only twenty one vestments remained preserved until today (most of them were stolen in 1989). Edition of the catalogue of vestments originating from the Norbertines workshops including the photographic documentation before the year 1989 could be helpful in finding these stolen works. The material developed and analyzed in such a catalogue would provide an excellent reference point for researchers dealing with similar issues. At the same time it would allow for closer designation of the influence range of the Norbertines monastic workshops and associate with it perhaps a greater number of works.