Hunting festive coat

Needlework from the Amalie Hayduck workshop

Graz, 1838

A very special kind of coat can be seen in the permanent exhibition at Schloss Stainz Hunting Museum. The size of the garment suggests that it was tailored for a boy, while the embroidered motifs suggest that the owner was a hunter. The details appear to have been influenced by a botanist or zoologist.

This festive hunting coat was elaborately made by ‘Amalie Hayduck Grätz den 16. Juny 1838’.

The grey, fitted men's skirt with a smooth-fitting top has a wide turn-down and lapel collar. The long sleeves have cuffs made of dark green, richly embroidered cloth. The outer fabric is made of fine loden, the lining in the front is made of cloth. Silk fabric was used for the back sections.

The special feature of this piece is the type of silk embroidery in a variety of colours. This flat embroidery is also known as ‘needle painting’ as it gives the impression of a painting.

Material/technique: Skirt made of loden and cloth; flat embroidery/needle painting in silk

Permanent loan, Agricultural Collection, reg. no. 0004/02

Image Credits

What do the embroidery motifs show?

On the left reverse, the hunting scenes show a hunter with two hounds hunting hares. The right reverse shows a hunter hunting chamois. How do we know this type of depiction? The resemblance to the well-known depiction of Archduke Johann in Alpine dress is obvious; the traditional ‘Archduke Johann hat’ with the chamois wheel is striking.

The particularly detailed cuffs are also interesting. They show the Archduke Johann's cabbage (Nigritella archiducis-joannis), named after Archduke Johann and only found in a few places in the Salzkammergut, on the Koralpe and on the Hochobir - ‘perhaps the rarest orchid in Austria’.

Whose festive coat was it?

Johann Dulnig was a miner who had trained at the mining college in Schemnitz and was brought to Vordernberg in 1830 by Archduke Johann as a mining administrator due to his expertise in the field of construction technology. He was commissioned to build transport facilities there for the delivery of the iron ore mined on the Styrian Erzberg to Vordernberg. This is also how Dulnig met Anna Plochl's sister Marie, whom he married in 1837 with Archduke Johann as his attendant in the course of a double wedding in Vordernberg.

As Johann Dulnig's physique was small and delicate, the hunting dress is relatively small for an adult man.

The mystery of who commissioned this splendid garment seems to have been solved: Archduke Johann was intensely interested in the natural sciences, especially botany, and hunting in particular. This coat was his gift to Johann Dulnig (1802-1873), a particularly esteemed friend.

Text: Karlheinz Wirnsberger