All history nerds in Sweden are very happy right now. Swedish national television is currently showing a series about history in Sweden, from the Stone Age to the 1950s.
The episode that was shown on Sunday, was about the time from 1361 until the death of the Swedish king Gustav Vasa in 1560.

We were asked if we could lend a gilt leather coverlet to one of the episodes to create a more cosy environment. Of course we did. and it was especially fun to see the coverlet in the background of the scene of Gustav Vasa’s haircut.

The Dalhem II coverlet comes from Dalhem’s church in Småland and is believed to be the work of the Birgittine nuns in Vadstena around the early 16th century. Today, the embroidery is in the History Museum’s textile collection.

There are about 12 medieval gilt leather embroideries preserved to this day, thanks to wills and inventory lists we know that there were many more, which are no longer extant. Among other things, there are gilt leather embroideries recorded in inventory lists from several of the Vasa family’s castles. They appear both in the form of coverlets and cushions. The colors mentioned are black and yellow which were the colors of the Vasa family.

The recreated coverlet has been sewn by several people, no one mentioned no one forgotten. Read about our first attempt to recreated two full size coverlets here.

/ Amica Sundström and Maria Neijman
Photos: CC by 4.0