Where did the monogram come from?

Some monograms are known to everyone in the world. Iconic LV, YSL, DG or DKNY. There are also initials that we all immediately associate with a particular person. Like B.B., J.F.K., or T.G.M. And some of them are only known to you. Even so, they are much more important...

In the beginning it was… Letters!

The history of monograms dates back almost four hundred years before our time. The letters of the Greek alphabet alpha and chí marked clay coins from the Achaia region of the Peloponnese. Then the Christograms, or the abbreviation of Jesus Christ, are a chapter in themselves. There are a number of Christograms and they are an important part of Christian symbolism. Some of the best known are IHS, XP, or IX. Often, they were also calligraphically modified and thus formed a separate symbol.

In the Middle Ages, monograms played an even more important role.

Since not everyone could write, it was sufficient to use only simple initials as a signature. At the same time, a certain practicality of monograms came into play – they can be used to mark coats of arms, flags and also property. The ladies easily recognised their scarf or parasol. Personalised wine glasses were also a matter of course. But we can probably imagine, unfortunately, how easily this could be abused at a medieval banquet if someone brought a bottle of poison in the spirit of BYOB...

Letters as art and art as letters?

It is also worth mentioning the initials at the beginning of the text, page or chapter. In the typography of the early Middle Ages, it was a very important element that served both to separate the text, but also made it more distinctive, emphasised and personified. Various print shops had their own manuscripts and the possibilities of the typeface expanded into an art object.

Monograms were also widely used in the visual arts.

Painters used them to sign their works. While Albrecht Dürer made do with a simple AD, Dutch painter Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn only used R to sign at the beginning of his career, later RH and finally added RHL. It is thus relatively easy to distinguish the periods of his work.  

There are a large number of paintings and graphics, mostly from the early modern era, which are marked only with a monogram. If their name is not known, they speak of them only as a monogrammer.

Contemporary monograms

Is it any different nowadays? On the contrary! It's like Pandora’s box has been opened full of monograms. Collars, shirt cuffs, expensive pens as well as less expensive ones, cool sneakers marked on the back forever, initials engraved on the other side of your mobile phone or the possibility to have something personal written on your lipstick. And no, it's not just so you can recognise your stuff.  

It's your personal brand. 

An item we use every day in our lives becomes a matter that concerns only you thanks to this small detail. No one else. It will remind you of what is important to you or remind someone else of how important you are to them.

We have a simple example of this, maybe it's a tad personal :)

When you give someone high-quality and minimalist bed linen for their wedding, it's a really nice and practical gift that will find its use. However, if you embroider such bed linen with initials, you will suddenly elevate it to a gift of completely different dimensions, although the dimensions of the quilt will remain the same. It's already bed linen that is really just yours, reminding yourself of an important moment and a vital connection. Something that you will always have and that someone can inherit from you. 

 

Don't be afraid to personalise the things , that matter to you. . You will not remain an anonymous monogrammer. On the contrary, you are creating a really personal affair. 

And that's what we're all about.