Berakha bat Mira v’Shlomo, Mid-1400s Beaded Veil

Name: Berakha bat Mira v’Shlomo

Location: Barony of Bhakail

Wiki: https://wiki.eastkingdom.org/index.php?title=Berakha_bat_Mira_v%27Shlomo

This project examines reproducing a beaded veil that would have been worn in the mid-1400s, taking a particular look at painted representations of decorated and beaded headgear over a 100-year period as sources. A veil of this style would not have been worn alone. It would need a fillet to secure it to, and often a cap or wimple for additional coverage, modesty, and security, which are not reproduced here.

The project began by examining a different object altogether: beaded cup covers, which are seen across the Society. Sometimes they are block printed for added decoration, but they are always beaded. Cup covers are used across the Society, but in a break from historical precedent, our primary use for cup covers in the SCA is to keep food and drink protected whilst at an event out of doors, not indoors.While beaded hems and block printing are both art and embellishments used in period, and therefore combining them is plausible, I have yet to find examples of them being combined in this manner in historic art or artifacts. That is why in researching the plausibility of cup covers, I decided to reproduce a provably period item instead: a veil.


Doing so led me to reproduce a period bead arrangement, called the trefoil, on a cotton veil, as might have been worn by a middle-class woman in the 1400s. 


Link to documentation: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1B_tgM3y4PoGhsSoQ_Du7BW-FTRidj5h1/view?usp=sharing

3 thoughts on “Berakha bat Mira v’Shlomo, Mid-1400s Beaded Veil

  1. Berakha,
    I loved the finished result, it’s a gorgeous veil, and I appreciated your deconstruction of what you could/would do next time. I also really liked the myriad of examples of beaded veils in history. Great project and great and tight, descriptive, informative paper.

    -HH Corotica

  2. This is beautiful! I love the beaded details, and your research is fascinating! Thank you for sharing!

  3. I’m so glad you took the time to guide us through your process, not just of how you did the beading itself, but the journey that led you to doing it the way you did. Thanks for sharing your work!

Comments are closed.

Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Baskerville 2 by Anders Noren.

Up ↑