Since 2018, the Draiflessen Collection has owned the Stichting Ariadne’s Naaikussen (Ariadne’s Sewing Cushion Foundation). This collection encompasses nearly 2,000 historical needlework and sewing utensils, a textile pattern collection, and a specialized library, all assembled over several decades by Clementine Kuttschrütter, née Brenninkmeijer. These treasures date mainly to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and were artistically crafted from precious materials. Many of them are items still in use today, such as needles, scissors, thimbles, or elaborate sewing boxes, as well as yarn balls, sewing clamps, or shuttles for frivolity work, whose practical significance and aesthetics we can now experience anew.
Miniature sewing cushion, undated, Draiflessen Collection, Sammlung Ariadne’s Naaikussen (photo: © Henning Rogge)
The first presentation of Ariadne’s Naaikussen in the rooms of the Draiflessen Collection introduces highlights and marks the start of the scholarly treatment of this outstanding collection. At the same time, it is a tribute to the passionate collector, who would have turned ninety in 2023.