Embroidered Silk Handkerchief
What does a silk handkerchief embroidered with small flowers have to do with Pierre Cuypers? It was embroidered by his daughter! Catharina Wilhelmina Maria Cuypers (also known as Katrina or Katy) was the fourth child of Pierre and Antoinette Cuypers. She was born in 1866, the younger sister of Joseph and Mia; Annie was born later. A year earlier, Theo, who was 2 years old at the time, had passed away.
From 1893 to 1896, as part of her teacher training, Katrina attended the decorative needlework department at the Rijksschool voor Kunstnijverheid (National School of Applied Arts) in Amsterdam. Later, she worked at a decorative needlework studio in Roermond, likely affiliated with her father’s workshops. She was invited to participate in the exhibition “De Vrouw 1813–1913” in the category of ecclesiastical embroidery and to help organize it. She ultimately declined the request because she was too busy with her own work.
In 1916, at the age of 50, she entered the Redemptoristine convent in Velp near Grave as Sister Maria Benedicta. She gave her beautiful handmade lace as a gift to her friend Trinette Westermann-Smithuysen, since she was not allowed to bring any personal belongings with her. Katrina and Trinette had known each other from boarding school.
In 2013, Trinette’s granddaughter donated a box containing as many as 29 pieces of needlework to the Cuypershuis. Three of these pieces—including the embroidered handkerchief—are on display in the “At Home with Cuypers” gallery, next to a photograph of Katrina at age 22.
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