Kunst und Fleiss-übende Nadel-Ergössungen oder nru-erfundenesNeh-und Stick-Buch, vols. 1-3

Margaretha Helm is one of several early-modern female textile artists who were able to publish their designs under their own name. These three volumes of her embroidery designs were issued by Christoph Weigel in Nuremberg in the early 1720s. Each volume is preceded by a distinct title page, an introduction, and a brief description of the patterns included in the book. The first two volumes commence with embroidery designs on a grid, some of which may have been repurposed from an older publication. The other plates present individual motifs and patterns on a blank background. They are mostly floral in nature, and contain decorative elements typical of the late Baroque period. The second volume stands out for its introduction of Chinoiserie motifs. In the first and third volume, short descriptions have been added below each plate to describe the design or indicate its use. Certain plates show actual dress patterns for specific applications, such as embroidered decorations for a shoe, a glove, a purse, or a man's hat. Many of the plates exceed the dimensions of the publication and are therefore folded. As with many textile pattern books, they show signs of use in the form of written inscriptions, cut-out motifs, missing pages and hand-drawn designs that were added at the back. While signs of the original binding are visible in the form of sewing holes along the left edge of the paper, the Museum's three copies of Helm's pattern books are bound in 20th century bindings with the plates tipped in. Missing plates are substituted either by facsimiles or blank pages.