The Musée Alfred Bonno holds the relics belonging to Merovingian queen Bathlide and abbess Bertille. It is in the Parisian suburb of Chelles, and since I was lucky enough to have an 11 hour layover on the one day of the week it is open to the public, I decided to go and see the textile relics that have intrigued me for many years.
The museum is really only three rooms, but what rooms! The textiles are held upstairs. I was saddened to discover that the chasuble and great mantle are currently on loan to an exhibit about Merovingian queens in Germany, but what remained was enough to fill my entire morning.
I wasn’t really supposed to take pictures due to the risk of damage to the textiles, but I managed to get a few without using a flash. I didn’t bother with the later period shoes, but I did get most of the textiles.
embroidered reliquary pouch
tablet-woven bands in geometric patterns
more tablet woven bands but with animal patterns
Sleeves from St. Bertille’s tunic, trimmed with tablet weaving
The grand robe, which appears to be an over-tunic that was open at the front and pinned and belted closed. It may have belonged to Queen Bathilde, but there is no proof. It is of extremely fine linen, almost transparent. The seams are all finished with no raw edges visible. The robe is quite long, and would likely have been worn bloused up over the belt. The sleeves were likely pushed up into pleats, or rolled.
Linen shawl with fringe belonging to St Bathilde. The shawl is made with little loops of fabric, giving it an appearance of sheep’s wool (or chenille).
Detail of the shawl:
The scraps of fabric used to hold relics. Most are Byzantine or Persian silks
The piece on the bottom is Asian batik, pre VII century
Byzantine scrap with hearts!
And finally, Bathilde’s hair and the silk ribbon that held it in place. Bathilde had long blonde hair, though only a small piece remains (most had been stored separately, and it disappeared sometime around the Revolution). Sections of the ribbon were wapped in red, yellow and green silk threads, sometimes mixed with gold thread (a thin ribbon wrapped around a silk centre). These sections made the ribbon more rigid, which allowed Bathilde to pinch them snug, and thus hold her hair in place.
Needless to say, I bought all the books, even though I owned at least one of them already.
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