But is it art ?

My mother-in-law was a great maker. Even when she was too old to be moving around, she continued to think of creative uses for old tights, of which she had a truly staggeringly large stockpile.

This week, a bunch of her pieces came to light. They are all dolls' house rugs, and beautifully made.

It's true that I am no stitcher, so am probably not a good judge. It's only thanks to a junior school trade that I still have my stuffed Bambi, supposedly made by me, but in fact made by Susan Sowotka in exchange for me helping her with maths. Bambi has some large exuberant blanket stitch here and there (guess whose), and in between some impossibly fine careful stitching (guess again).

Anyway, I liked the small rugs, and in particular this one, which is about 270 x 240 mm.

My mother-in-law had stuck a label on the back noting that the rug design came from a Holbein portrait of George Syscze. This seemed a really exotic provenance for the rug, and it seemed to me that something had gone awry with the spelling. There are more improbable consonants there than even the average Welsh village.

I think the portrait must be this one, of Georg Gisze, painted in 1532:

Holbein liked putting puzzles and visual jokes in his pictures, and this one abounds with them. But where is the rug ? I have squinted optimistically at the table-cloth from a zillion angles, but still cannot see where the design fitted in.

If you recognise the rug from any other Holbein picture, please let me know.

As I gave up on the rug, the picture became more and more enchanting. It seems almost like black magic that anyone could achieve this sort of photographic quality with paint and brushes. Just look at that sleeve. The light on the material of the right arm is astounding.

I'd love to know (but never will) how Ma came across this picture, and what inspired the rug. Even if it isn't a direct lift from the painting, and is just inspired by it, it's still fun that she would get her tapestry kit out and figure out such an unusual pattern. Maybe she was having a small joke all her own. Yes, fun.