Last spring, after the Kingdom of An Tir’s A&S championship, Queen Gwyneth Gower asked if I would be willing to make a frilled veil for her. I could not pass up the opportunity to veil a beautiful 14th century Queen who happened to also be a dear friend of mine.
And so the search began…how to veil a Queen?
The above images are: Queen Helvig, St. Peter’s Church, Næstved, c. 1375 (left), Queen of Denmark Euphemia of Pomerania (middle), and Képes Krónika 1358 – Kingdom of Hungary (right).
After gathering several images of Royal ruffles, I began to consider the best style of frilled veil for Queen Gwyneth. I decided to create a long veil that could be folded on itself three times to match many of the brasses that appear to have three layers of ruffles. I consulted with Maitresse Elisabeth de Besancon, who had created a longer 15th century ruffled veil in this style.
With much consideration, I set out to construct Queen Gwyneth’s veil at three times her shoulder to shoulder measurement with a front and back ruffle. This would be folded to create a layered ruffle look. After reading a report on a 14th Century Queen’s ruffled veil find in Prague that had included some embellishment, I made the decision to add a pearl embellishment to Queen Gwyneth’s veil.
~ Cristiana
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