Musinsky Rare Books

NEEDLEWORK PATTERN BOOK — FRITZ, Johann Peter.

Modell-Buch [spine title]. Hanau, 1771.

Oblong folio (217 x 357 mm). Manuscript on prepared paper: 61 unnumbered leaves printed on rectos in red with engraved grids, all with imprint “Nürnberg, zu finden beÿ Joh. Andreä Endters Handlung," and with measurements along two sides, containing approximately 460 manuscript needlework patterns on 58 leaves, composed of tiny black ink dots applied within the grid; the first leaf with the designer’s name, place and date (also created by dot infill), “Iohann Peter Fritz [of] Hanau den 4ten November 1771.” Leaves 7, 37 and 61 left blank; leaves 36, 41 and 60 incomplete (only partially filled in), leaves 8-9, originally blank, with later designs of alphabets, numbers, etc. Showthrough of the ink patterns onto blank versos throughout. Watermark: crowned shield with wolf [?] / Wolfec [i.e., Wolfegg, see below)]. Binding: Contemporary mottled (acid-stained) sheep, both covers with decorative gilt border and central gold-stamped star device, flanked on upper cover with Fritz’s initials, “I.P. / F.”and on lower cover with the date 1771, spine in six gold-tooled compartments, the second with red goatskin gilt lettering-piece, lettered “Modell-Buch,” edges red-stained, marbled endpapers, flyleaves with large bell watermark; original red pastepaper-covered boards slipcase (very worn). Condition: occasional marginal finger-soiling, a very few small stains, small chip on fol. 47 (in unmarked area), fols. 8 and 9 with the later additions rather frayed and soiled, fol. 9 almost detached, last leaf [61, with blank grid] detached, 4 stubs before and after blank leaf 41, indicating possible removal of leaves. Binding with abrasions possibly due to excess acid, joints and extremities rubbed. Provenance: Johann Peter Fritz, designer and owner; "Fr[au] Johanna Zahn," late 19th or 20th-century pencil inscription on front flyleaf, the name repeated informally as "Henni Zahn" on verso of fol. 42.***

An unusual and attractive manuscript needlework pattern book, in which the over four hundred and fifty designs were meticulously built up from tiny black ink dots on red engraved grids (Grundnetz in German), the latter printed by the famous Endter printing firm of Nuremberg. Fritz’s flawless manuscript patterns, for cross stitch embroidery, whitework and/or openwork embroidery, and weaving, are juxtaposed on single pages in constantly changing sizes, creating attractive and quasi-abstract carpet-like images. This unique album is both a visual feast and a witness to a pre-industrial age, when clothing and linens were sewn at home in all but the wealthiest households, from textiles that were produced locally (mainly wools and linens in Germany), and women of all classes were expected to have mastered the arts of needlework. 

Contents: Fritz’s name and the date appear on the first page under a crown, next to two vertical patterns combining two rows of stylized flowers between 3 lozenge strips. Fritz’s designs are of three main types, appearing in this order: those with geometric and stylized floral repeating patterns (approximately 259, on fols. 2-38[with the exception of blank leaf 7 and the later addition on fols. 8 and 9]), single motifs (149, on fols. 38 to 48) and vertical ribbon-like strips (52, on fols. 49-59). (A count of the patterns is subjective, depending on how one counts the repeating patterns, many of which contain multiple motifs.)

The later, 19th-century additions on fols. 8-9 are not as skillfully applied; included are an alphabet, the numbers, various initials, the names “M A Ritter” and “M. Susanne Reuter” and dates 1830, 1832, 1850 and 1853. Another small addition, in blue ink, appears on the unfinished original design on fol. 36.

Adding to the charm of the album is the showthrough on the versos, which creates a sort of shadow image, and luckily does not affect the facing pages of this fairly thick paper, which was produced in Wolfegg, Baden-Württemberg, by the papermaker Joseph Anton Unold (1717-1785), in the “Unter Papiermühle” in Wolfegg in Baden-Württemberg. The mill was active from 1689 to 1785 (cf. the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek paper database).

The maker and context:
A family genealogy website of the Zander family tells us that Johann Peter Fritz was born in Bischofsheim, Hanau (Hesse, near Frankfurt) in 1701. In 1769, after his first wife (name unknown) had died, he remarried Susanne Margarete Rödiger (b. 1748), also of Hanau. This latter information (from LAGIS, the Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen) describes Fritz as a merchant or businessman (Handelsmann). Hanau was an important center for the textile industry, and he may have been active in that trade. If so, these designs were perhaps intended as samples of patterns for the cottage industry of mostly female workers that still dominated the textile trade, or perhaps they were simply patterns for needlework, produced for his family or entourage. One may speculate that the designs may have been executed by a woman in his family, such as his young wife. Perhaps the book was intended to be published. In any case, it was never finished, and was evidently handed down through the family. Item #4474

Price: $12,500.00

Status: On Hold