Asylum embroidery

I’m touched by annekata‘s post about the embroidered works of patients in European psychiatric institutions during the 1800s. This is the first I’ve heard of the Prinzhorn Collection, but I want to know much more. Of the garment shown here, annekata says,

The  linen jacket above was made by Agnes Richter, a seamstress and patient in an Austrian asylum during the late 1800’s. She constructed the jacket from cloth typically used in the institution and embroidered her story onto the jacket.

There is no clear inside or outside of the garment. Only the words on the arms are legible from the outside, the rest can be read from the inside, where she placed them close to her skin.

Read more and follow links at annekata’s blog post.