Kay Beecraft

@kaybeecraft

Fashion & textile archaeological research focused on Romano-Briton+early medieval era @ UoY. Writer of historical romance & fantasy, currently edits for Guenevere & Arthur retelling. Historical costuming and fashion. Undercover penname of Kelsey. 🍉😷

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Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· 10d

I am hellbent on finagling myself back into the collections at @yorkmuseumstrust.bsky.social to see this little guy because I am convinced he used to be a finial for a handheld distaff, a la the many, many bronze/copper-alloy distaffs long mislabeled in archives as "stirring" or "votive" rods.

A bronze handheld distaff with a decorative ridged rod featuring a detailed rooster at the top and a ring at the bottom. Byzantine.

Three bronze handheld distaffs of a simple rods with different birds and a chicken adorning the top and a ring at the bottom. Roman, 1st-4th century CE.

A greening copper-alloy handheld distaff of a rod with decorative ridges, a pheasant at the top, and a ring at the bottom. Roman, 1st-3rd century CE.

A bronze handheld distaff of a simple rod with a rudimentary bird at the top and a ring at the bottom. Roman, 2nd-3rd century CE.

Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· 11d

Anyway, here I am showing a wee lass how to spin those short fibres to create yarn.

Kay, dressed in a 4th century mustard dolmatica, sits on the ground holding a hand distaff in one hand and a spindle in the other, demonstrating wool spinning to the young girl sitting before her.

Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· 11d

The treasures you find whilst walking to the Roman dig. #petuariarevisted

A small crocheted Roman legionnaire standing beside various soldierly regalia, like a spear and a shield, and a small standing sign reading PETUARIA gathered atop a red Post Office mailbox.

Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· 17d

Favourite parts of a dig? Roman walls and ladybirds. 🥰 #petuaria #Roman #romanobriton

A trowel, laying on its side on the dusty ground beside the edge of a row of buried Roman stone wall, with a wee ladybird sitting on the metal upward facing edge.

Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· Jul 10

For #FindsFriday I'm sharing a bit of my current research: late #Roman rigid heddles! I had the immense honour of being invited to view 1 of 9 known Roman heddles at the @londonmuseum.bsky.social/MOLA archives. This wee guy dates from about 63CE and was found at a villa site along the Thames. 1/4

Kay, in a black and white and yellow checkered top, leans over a table and examines a small bone heddle. She is wearing blue nitrate gloves and a black face mask, and the lab light illuminates her face and the white table surface she bends over.

A closeup of the bone heddle, held gently between Kay's blue-gloved fingers. The heddle is about five centimeters long, about two centimeters wide, and just a few millimeters thick; the bone it is made of has turned a chocolately brown, and the surface is smoothed, even with wear scratches. It is being held at an angle so that all sides can be seen.

Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· Jun 17

Just a cute lil' guy!!! (Not a needle).

A side view of a stylised ceramic or clay hippopotamus figurine. It is grey with terracotta highlights about the pointed ears and eyes, nose, and tail, and its mouth curls upwards into an open smirk.

Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· Jun 17

Forever obsessed with deep-diving into online collections because you find gems like this. Cue Inigo Montoya, “you keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” #archaeology #archives

An online collections page for a “needle” but it is displaying a photograph of a grey ceramic hippopotamus figurine. The collections text reads:
Basic info: Needle
Collection: Archaeology
Object name: Needle
Object category: Roman
Description: Needle with a flat, spaulate head. Rectangular perforation on head.
Production date start: 43
Production date end: 410

Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· Jun 3

Omg it got BETTER! 😍 #historicalfashion

A poster issued by the National Savings Scheme from the 1960s featuring five rows of colourful women’s fashion from major fashions shifts between 950-1954. It reads: “Fashion through the ages. Fashions change, but not the need for National Savings. Save at school through National Savings.”

A brightly coloured poster issued by the National Savings Scheme from the 1960s featuring four rows of men’s fashion from major fashions shifts between 950-1954. It reads: “Men’s fashion through the ages. Fashions change, but not the need for National Savings. Join your school savings group.”

Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· Jun 3

Incredible things happening in the archives today. National Savings Scheme does Roman Britain? Obsessed. This is a poster from the 1960s advertising the initiative, but the savings movement was originally begun as a wartime campaign during WWI. #romanbritain #maps

A poster of the UK, landmass in a soft butter yellow, Roman sites and roads in orange, and the sea in a deep navy, surrounded by white rectangles positioned over the blue. Within each rectangle is a black and white line drawing of different Roman sites across the Isle. In the top right is an oval that reads “Roman Britain” and in the bottom left corner is a rectangle that reads “National Savings: Your road to prosperity.”

Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· May 30

Just casually reminded of my deep loathing for Freud as I write a research paper about weaving.

An excerpt from Freud's 'New introductory lectures on psycho-analysis' reading: "We do not forget that, later on, it takes over other functions. People say that women contributed but little to the discoveries and inventions of civilisation, but perhaps after all they did discover one technical process, that of plaiting and weaving. If this is so, one is tempted to guess at the unconscious motive at the back of this achievement. Nature herself might be regarded as having provided a model for imitation, by causing pubic hair to grow at the period of sexual maturity so as to veil the genitals. The step that remained to be taken was to attach the hairs permanently together, whereas in the body they are fixed in the skin and only tangled with one another."

Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· May 27

I know it’s #HillfortsWednesday, but I’m going to be contrarian and do #WeirdHeadsWednesday! Starting strong with this fab display from the Tower of London of wooden kings’ heads dating from 1685-1688 CE. Obsessed with William the Conqueror (to the left of Henry) looking so much like Peter Lorre.

A long, narrow glass display case within the stone wall of the Tower displaying ten historical kings’ heads and four hands, all carved of wood and painted realistically.

Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· May 26

A still of Wesley from Princess Bride, wearing all black with a black half mask and arms behind his head, addressing Buttercup, "Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something."

Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· May 25

Another aspect I adore about this era is the shift into faunal embellishments, which we see preserved exceedingly well through Egypt and the surrounding arid countries through Coptic #textiles. Many of the bands of trim feature animals, and they are absolutely delightful! 3/3

A tapestry trim fragment from the 4th c. CE featuring black woven rabbits, leopard, and hunters framed in individual circles (via the Met collections).

A closeup of Kay's dalmatic with black woven trim edge of peacocks, her hand resting atop the fabric showcasing a bronze owl head ring, and peacock fan settled to the side.

Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· May 25

The dalmatic was generally an over-tunic in the earlier eras, but once the 3rd and 4th century hit, we start to see different variations on it, including several types that open more like robes but are worn belted over. 2/3

A 4th c. CE mosaic featuring six women playing musical instruments, each in a different colorful variations of the dalmatic and under tunic ensemble.

A 5th c. CE painted figurine of a woman wearing a similar version of this open-front, belted ensemble (via the Met collections).

Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· May 25

Spent yesterday with the #Roman invasion of York. Quick threw together a version of a current obsession: a Late-Roman/Byzantine ensemble from 4th c. CE which consists of a belted dalmatic with a narrow tunic dress underneath, featuring woven decorative trims or tapes. 1/3 #livinghistory #eboracum

Kay, standing in front of the fluted Doric columned entryway of the Yorkshire Museum, wearing a deep mustard 4th century Byzantine gown with woven black patterned edges, holding a peacock fan up over her mouth and nose.

Kay standing in the grass in front of the old Roman fort walls of Eboracum wearing a deep mustard 4th century Byzantine gown with woven black patterned edges, holding a peacock fan.

Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· May 22

Fieldwork just being it’s magic self. 🥰

A trowel on its side, laying on hard-packed ochre clay earth, with a little ladybug crouched in its shadow.

Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· May 2

This has long been a favourite find, and I am always reminded of Victorian hair art when I see it. A fine example is this family portrait display from the 1850s at the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia.

A daguerreotype of a family, featuring a man standing while two ladies sit in front of him, are framed in an oval opening rimmed in gold while a wreath of woven flowers and leaves made of various colours of human hair surrounds this.

Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· May 1

For #FindsFriday, here is one of my favourite items to come from the Roman fort at Malton, established in about 70-80 AD. 🪡 Most likely a bone needle used for knotless knitting, or nålbinding. Knit items were in sartorial rotation for the Romans while stationed in the UK (see Vindolanda for more).

I hold in my open palm a thick bone needle, slightly dirty and scratched up from burial. It is about 4.5cm long with a rounded tip at each end, and a thread hole drilled into the top end.

Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· Apr 20

Oh nothing. Just once again casually thinking about the men of Much Ado About Nothing and their pleather pants.

A still of the Prince’s entourage in the devastatingly sexy 1993 production of Much Ado About Nothing. At the centre is Denzel Washington, flanked on his left by Robert Sean Leonard as Claudio and Kenneth Bran-ass as Benedick; on the right is Keanu Reeves as Don John and a couple of others. They’re all wearing military jackets in white leather detailed with blue collars and dark buttons, and their trousers are of dark blue pleather. Everything is slightly shiny and sweaty and tight.

Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· Apr 19

Oh, Byron, you weird sonuvabitch. I will forever be haunted by your homoerotic boxing screen at the National Portrait Gallery.

A four-panel folding screen decoupaged in illustrated prints of boxers in various stages of undress from 1814. Made for Byron by his fencing teacher, Henry Angelo, and displayed at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· Apr 18

Currently working on a paper about provenancing Late Antiquity textiles and remembering fondly this bit of textile from the Whitby Museum. No context, no provenance, no way to know for sure if it is, in fact, Romano-Briton. Just ✨vibes✨ and wells. 💅 #textiles #archaeology #smallfinds

A closeup of a piece of old woven textile in a black frame. The textile is ragged and brown with a handwritten note below which reads “piece of Romano-British Cloth from the Well. Goldsborough.”

Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· Feb 7

The ice trail is so much fun! My neighbor for the next couple of days is this delightful sewing machine. 🥺🥰

A carved ice sculpture of a sewing machine sits proudly atop a black felt dais. It is labeled with “Gillie”s Fabrics,” the name of the fabric store it sits in front of.

Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· Jan 30

Gotta hand it to ya! 🗡️ Love stumbling across these little details while cataloguing. This shard is #medieval #stainedglass from the 16th century originating from a church site in West Yorkshire. #FindsFriday

A blue gloved hand holding up to the light a shard of yellow medieval stained glass with painted detailing of a hand holding the hilt of a blade.

Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· Jan 28

Did someone say meeces?! One of my favourite things in the whole world is this mouse offcut we have at Vindolanda. Just a wee bit of #RomanoBriton joy.

A display of a Romano-Briton cut leather mouse figure from Vindolanda Roman Fort. The placard beside it reads: “Leather Mouse. This small piece of leather was found in a bag of offcuts and scraps. The maker has shaped it into an animal, most likely a mouse. It could have been a toy or practical joke due to its realistic size and shape. Small cuts have been made into the surface of the object to represent fur and eyes.”

Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· Jan 27

I am oscillating between delightful magical fantasy in 'The Guinevere Deception' by @kierstenwhite.bsky.social and deeply gripping textile archaeology in 'Textiles and Textile Production in Europe, From Prehistory to AD 400' edited by Margarita Gleba and Ulla Mannering.

The cover of Kiersten White's Arthurian fantasy novel, 'The Guinevere Deception,' featuring a dark haired queen wearing a gold crown, clutching at her cloak neck, and swirled about in gold leaves and indigo shadows.

The cover of 'Textiles and Textile Production in Europe, From Prehistory to AD 400' edited by Margarita Gleba and Ulla Mannering. It is a solid olive green with a four-square grid featuring images of extant textile remains.

Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· Sep 27

A most magical time of year: ghost season in York! ✨ (Also, a slight cheating nod to #RomanSiteSaturday with a quick peek of the Eboracum fortress walls. 👀)

A ghostly wire figure depicting a woman in a dress playing a violin standing in the lush garden of the Yorkshire Museum with a bit of stone wall peeking out from the trees behind her.

Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· Sep 20

Going to bump this search with some #RomanSiteSaturday eye candy: the stunning stonework at Vindolanda Roman fort in Northumberland, in use from the 1st-4th c. AD. The fort is associated with Hadrian's wall and may very well have served as a an oversight hub during the wall's construction. 📸: me

Set against a moody backdrop of grey, rain-laden clouds and emerald quilted hills, the stonework remains of a Roman fort nestle into the sodden clay and grass.

Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· Aug 31

Caught @merchantshallyork.org wearing a puffball hat this afternoon.

A view from the gardens of the brick and sandstone chapel of the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, sitting against a bright blue sky with a wee puff cloud centered directly atop the roof point.

Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· Jun 11

Just a reminder, this is a WWIJD page: What would Indiana Jones do? Punch Nazis and archaeology on.

Indiana Jones in a rumpled, sweaty jacket and hat, kneeling in a boat deck over a Nazi with fist raised about to punch the soldier.

Kay Beecraft@kaybeecraft· May 3

Just a small thing: there is a cricket, possibly several (who’s to say), that resides in the soft petals of my neighbor’s roses. Today I finally took a photo. He had surprised me the other day when I went to sniff, and he was staring back at me like 👁️👄👁️