@drchrishiggins
Head of History; Kent History Teacher of the Year; PhD (Birkbeck, London); research interests, early modern female mobility & Countess of Arundel ‘Wide Wandring Weemen’ database: https://travellers.thedevroom.co.uk/
Absolutely fascinating talk at the IHR this evening on newly catalogued legal records at the National Archives. Many thanks to Dan Gosling for such an insightful session. I’m very much looking forward to exploring these resources further in my own research.
Rose Water Vase
Persian
17th century
(Ackland Museum)
Mary refuses to be distracted by multiple angels, pigeon, & God the Father hanging out in her living room. Good parenting skills, by Cornelis de Bailleur, whose day is today.
A long strapless ballgown of pink and green striped silk arranged in a mitred effect. It has broad hips that look like c18th paniers and self coloured buttons centre front
Apparently French designer Marie Louise Bruyère was not that keen on Dior’s post war ‘New Look’. Here in 1947, though, is her full hipped ballgown, perhaps reminiscent of c18th France and a different period of excess @ngvmelbourne.bsky.social #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡
Side view of a mannequin wearing a red chiffon evening dress with floaty layers and a large ruffle detail at one shoulder with a long scarf type drape at the back
Farewell Valentino, a long life lived at the heart of the couture world. He began his career apprenticed to Jean Dessés, becoming part of the shared DNA of generations of makers. Here a late #1980s chiffon in his signature red @metmuseum.org #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡
Front view of a bright emerald green sleeveless chiffon dress covered with a symmetrical pattern of dark metallic geometric embroidery
It is a jewel in dress form, an emerald seemingly engraved with architectural geometric motifs but in fact embroidered in sinuous swirls. A dress in which to shimmy as the band plays faster, #1920s #PalaisGalliera #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡
The bear was trying to take possession of the honey reserves owned by the bees. The outcome was not good for the bear.
BL Harley 3448; Flore de virtu e de costumi (Flowers of Virtue and of Custom); 15th century; Italy, N. (Padua?); f.10v
Six arch shaped stained glass artworks, each featuring a different image of a bird, plant or animal in individual colours
UK based stained glass artist Harriet Love #Womensart.
Paolo Veronese (1565-70), Sposalizio mistico di santa Caterina
Gallerie dell’Accademia #Venezia
As we approach the Winter Solstice, here's what Stonehenge looked like in the 16th century.
#WinterSolstice
BL Add MS 28330; Lucas De Heere, Corte Beschryvinghe van Engheland, Schotland, ende Irland; 1573 CE-1575 CE; England (London); f.36r
That’s so interesting. I hadn’t noticed that about the drape. You’d think I’d watched enough episodes of the Sewing Bee to spot that. 🪡🧵
Cartography couture at The British Library Secret Maps exhibition. Lady Mountbatten’s post-war lingerie, cut from printed silk maps of Italy.
😂
Spotted in BBC History Dec 2025: “A 2025 study sponsored by Microsoft sought to identify those occupations most at risk from GenAI. Historians came second, behind interpreters and translators. Dredge operators, last on the list.” 😳
Portrait of a girl, c. 1625-35
Attributed to the British School
(Royal Collection, HM CIII)
Excellent news — it looks as though the British Library’s online catalogue for manuscripts and archives will soon be back.
A wonderful day at Lambeth Palace Library yesterday. The librarians could not have been kinder or more helpful. I still miss the old library, but the new wing — light, calm, beautifully designed — is a joy.
Screenshot of the Viabundus website.
A neat tool I just came across: Viabundus, a digital road map of northern Europe 1350-1650, that lets you calculate contemporary travel routes/times. In 1500, going Amiens → Köln by horse took almost 7 days and 13 toll payments.
#medievalsky
www.landesgeschichte.uni-goettingen.de/handelsstras...
C.S. Lewis responding to a letter from an American schoolgirl asking him for some writing advice.
(Worth reading? ✅️)
Highly recommend ‘The House at Number 48’ on BBC Sounds — a haunting and fascinating journey into the past, beginning with a suitcase and ending in some remarkable revelations.
📢 Reminder about our CFP for the Mobility and Migration Seminar in collaboration with @ihr.bsky.social!
Please see below for more information on the CFP, abstracts are due on 15th November! Please share widely!
English embroiderer and Pre-Raphaelite artist's model Jane Morris was born #OnThisDay in 1849. It is believed that the embroidery of intertwined floral sprays for this c. 1878 blue silk bag with a metal mount was designed and worked by Morris. V&A collection. #fashionhistory
Delighted to see the open access publication of Crossings: Migrant Knowledges, Migrant Forms -- a superb volume featuring artists, poets, scholars, and a short essay by me on Dutch- and French-speaking women in 16th-century London telling their stories of migration. punctumbooks.com/titles/cross...
Would anyone like to take a guess at the word before “kebob”? Which predates OED - ms is 1660
We invite applications for British Academy/Leverhulme Senior Research Fellowships 2025. The scheme supports established and senior researchers in the humanities and social sciences wishing to complete research through a sustained period of leave for one year. Apply now: https://bit.ly/3VMeTZ9
I’m very tempted by this one-day course at the British Library:
Really fascinating paper. Many thanks! 🙏
The IHR Tudor and Stuart seminar has joined Bluesky! Please follow and RT!
Our programme for the year is starting NEXT WEEK on Monday 29 September with Alison Knight @aeknight.bsky.social speaking on 'Certificates of Religion: Early Modern Belief on Paper'.
Online and in-person, 5.30pm
Book here:
Check out the new V&A exhibition about Marie Antoinette’s fashion, but first listen to our episode of BBC YOU’RE DEAD TO ME about her life — with me, Professor @100days1815.bsky.social, and comedian Jen Brister
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
