c1910 portfolio of charted pattern sheets of traditional Romanian embroidery

Circa 1910, forty-eight sheets from a portfolio of 19th century (and earlier) traditional Romanian counted thread patterns, Cusaturi Romanesti adunate de Elena Cuparencu. The name E. Cumparenecu-Sentea appears on the pages as well, and Cartea Romaneasca is the publishing house (“The Romanian Book”).

9″ by 12″ each on thin parchment-like paper (the texture is similar to a waxy tracing paper) with patterns printed on graph paper. The metallic gold and silver inks almost appear to have been hand painted and do not follow the graph lines. Text at the top is a name (probably the source of the original sample the illustration was made from) and and the region; footnotes on some pages detail how or where the embroidery was used (maneca means sleeve, for example). 25 pages are unnumbered, the others are numbered 25 through 47, so they may be from different portfolios although the style and layout of the sheets are the same.

Very good condition, slight toning and edge wear, ink colors are still bright and the paper is not brittle. A lovely and rare example from needlework history.