Creative redwork embroidery designs

British Museum, the, report on the Historical Exhibition at Madrid, 1892, note, 37 ; remarkable em- broidered panel in, 41 ; two four- teenth-century panels in the bind- ing of a Psalter at, 48 ; unusual example of embroidery in the book known as Queen Mary's Psalter, at, 65 ; manuscript in embroidered binding, supposed to have been written and worked by Queen Elizabeth

" Black work," or " Spanish work," a style of embroidery said to have been introduced by Cathe- rine of Aragon, 70 ; very popular during the reign of Queen Eliza, beth, 71, 73 ; jacket or tunic of, given to Viscountess Falkland by William IV., Plate xxxv, 70, 78, 79 ; pillow-cover in the posses- sion of Viscount Falkland, Plate xxxvii, 74, 79 ; sleeves for a tunic, Plate xxxviii, 76, 79 ; coverlet belonging to Viscount Falkland, 79; a portrait of the Earl of Surrey at Hampton Court, illus- trating, 80 ; specimens anterior to Henry VIII. period in several private collections, ib. \ caps and head-dresses, ib.

Copies of oil-paintings in wool-work, such as were produced by Miss Mary Linwood (b. 1755, d. 1845) an d Miss Knowles (b. 1733, d. 1807), "the Quaker, that works the sutile pictures," * represent the climax of this mis- taken art. A single illustration (Plate 60) exemplifies the extent to which embroidery was used for the decoration of costume in the eighteenth century. It is a gentleman's coat, of the latter half of the century, worked in floss silks of several colours. Of the nineteenth century we must say very little. Taste during the earlier part of the century was not good. Since then a revival has set in. Excellent results have already been attained, and there is good promise for the future.

Maps of the world, of conti- nents, or of our own country, often bear dates as far back as the later years of the eighteenth century. The popularity of the sampler appears to have greatly declined after the first two or three decades of the nineteenth century. One sampler* of the earlier part of that century may be described. Besides the customary house, with trees, animals, and birds, it has the quaintly designed figure of a man in a red coat perhaps an army pen- sioner. The little embroideress has supplied the means of identification by working the following inscription above the figure : " This is my Dear father."

Mary Wakeling's sampler, dated 1742, bears some doggerel lines, the theme being that "poor wretched life's short portion flies away." Ann Woodgate, in 1794, after de- scribing the inevitable withering of flowers, concludes that " Such and so withering are our early joys, Which time or sickness speedily destroys." The quotations are sometimes more hap- pily chosen. Extracts from hymns and from metrical versions of the Psalms are met with, besides the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Com- mandments, the Creed, and quotations from different books of the Bible.

The panels are generally made in shapes to fit the backs, seats, and sides of settees and chairs, and there are sometimes also square pieces for cushions. The work is usually in wools, with silks for the high lights, on coarse linen or canvas. The favourite designs are land- scapes, with shepherds and shepherdesses or other figures. Sometimes the armorial bear- ings of the family are represented, and occa- sionally a vase of flowers or some such ornament takes the principal place. It is not unusual to find on these panels the name of the worker and the date. An embroidery in the Victoria and Albert Museum (No. 269, 1893, see Plate 59) represents a vase of flowers in colours, the ground being covered all over with a diaper pattern in cream- white silk. Underneath the basket is worked the name ELIZABETH RVSSELL, with the date 1730. This panel may have been intended for a cushion-cover.

It is a linen coverlet, quilted with white thread and embroidered with coloured silks. One of the border compartments contains a shield of arms with the initials E S and the date 1703; in the others are such designs as the following : a griffin, a lion, a horse, a standing figure, a mermaid, a merman, a castle, a three-masted ship, a camel, a hound, rabbits, a duck and other birds, and fishes. Worsted work for large coverlets and hangings survives the seventeenth century, but the designs are of a different character. The cover partly reproduced in colour (Plate D) belongs to the best type of the earlier half of the century. In other examples the stems are arranged in a less ordered manner, and run over the whole field. The use of silk for embroidery gradually replaced that of worsteds, in the eighteenth century, for these large pieces. There still exist a great number worked in the former material, sometimes on a linen ground, and at other times on silk. The coverlet illustrated in Pla...

Even embroideries did not escape the influence of the Celestial empire. Gay birds, with tails resembling flames, like the mythical Chinese phoenix, fly amid flowers designed on Chinese models. This influence gradually died out as the eighteenth century advanced. The most noticeable change is the increasing tendency to produce a de- ceptive resemblance to nature there is less of design and more of direct imitation. Flowers are shaded to have the appearance of relief, and embroidery encroaches on the province of the painted picture.

From this ground at regu- lar intervals rise large trees whose trunks generally assume a serpentine form. The flowers of various kinds and large leaves growing from the trunks are designed with great boldness. Birds are frequently scat- tered among the branches, which intertwine so as to cover the whole upper part of the hanging. It is probable that none of these hangings are earlier than the middle of the seventeenth century, and the greater part belong to the latter half of that century.* They are sometimes in sombre colours, green being predominant. Occasionally a piece is found worked entirely in shades of red. In the later years of the century, large numbers of embroideries were produced in England chiefly small panels and articles of costume worked only in yellow silk. The designs are usually floral, the linen ground being quilted in small diaper patterns. A ground quilted in this way is sometimes worked with sprays of flowers in bright colours.

On each is repre- sented part of an arcade supported by round columns, with capitals of a foliated type. Round the columns trail stems with large flowers and leaves. Birds of gay plumage are to be seen among the foliage, and on the ground below are various animals, including elephants, camels, a lion, a horse, hounds, a goat, deer, foxes, sheep, rabbits, a squirrel, a unicorn, and a dragon. The panels are of great decorative value, and the large scale is well suited to the purpose for which they were designed. Many large embroideries, used as hang- ings, curtains, and valances, have survived from the seventeenth century. They are generally of linen, or a mixed material of linen and cotton, worked with large patterns in bright-coloured worsteds. The designs may be classed in three varieties. Some have isolated sprays of flowers at intervals over the whole surface ; others are divided into narrow upright panels by borders of flowering stems, with a row of floral sprays running down the m...

The development of the sampler in the following century will be referred to in the next chapter. Some embroideries of the seventeenth century, designed on a far larger scale, remain to be briefly described. A few years ago there was discovered, behind an accumulation of wallpapers in an old house in Hatton Garden, a series of hangings, of a remarkable character, probably embroidered soon after the middle of the seventeenth century. When the stripping of the walls brought them to light, they were so dirty as to be hardly recognizable ; but a careful process of cleaning led to a very satis- factory result. The hangings are six in number, each measuring about 7 feet 9 inches high by 4 feet wide. The canvas ground is completely hidden by embroidery of coloured wools in varied stitches.

The work is generally in coloured silks, with a few illustrations of cut and drawn work in linen thread. Specimens of lettering are added, as a rule, with perhaps the name of the worker and the date of the production. Many of the cut-work patterns resemble Italian work of the time, giving rise to the conjecture that some of the ruffs and falling bands worn in this country may have been the work of English needlewomen. Raised work is not altogether wanting in samplers, but it is usually employed in a restrained manner. The sampler above men- tioned, bearing the date 1643, is reproduced in Plate 52. It illustrates both the floral embroidery in silks, and the geometrical openwork in white linen threads. Some- times the sampler is devoted entirely to the latter class of work. The name " Margreet May," with the date 1654, occurs on one such piece.* In another sampler, f dated 1666, coloured silks alone are used

The box illustrated in Plate 50 is from the collection of Lord Zouche.* The ground is of cream-white satin, a material almost invariably used. The figures are in extremely high relief, and have suffered accordingly. The subjects include the Visit of the Queen of Sheba, the Judgment of Solomon, Susanna surprised by the Elders, and the Sacrifice of Isaac. The female figures round the slope of the cover symbolize the five senses. Various flowers and other designs are worked on the drawers and compartments inside. A mirror frame in the Victoria and Albert Museum (No. 247, 1896) is unfinished, and is more interesting in this condition as it illustrates the method of procedure. The whole design has been first outlined in ink on the satin ; parts of the flat embroidery have been then completed, and the relief work has, in a few instances, been added. There is at the Guildhall Museum in London, an embroidered panel also unfinished, the outline of the whole design having been similarly traced i...

The box illustrated in Plate 50 is from the collection of Lord Zouche.* The ground is of cream-white satin, a material almost invariably used. The figures are in extremely high relief, and have suffered accordingly. The subjects include the Visit of the Queen of Sheba, the Judgment of Solomon, Susanna surprised by the Elders, and the Sacrifice of Isaac. The female figures round the slope of the cover symbolize the five senses. Various flowers and other designs are worked on the drawers and compartments inside. A mirror frame in the Victoria and Albert Museum (No. 247, 1896) is unfinished, and is more interesting in this condition as it illustrates the method of procedure. The whole design has been first outlined in ink on the satin ; parts of the flat embroidery have been then completed, and the relief work has, in a few instances, been added. There is at the Guildhall Museum in London, an embroidered panel also unfinished, the outline of the whole design having been similarly traced i...

Among animals, birds and insects are the lion, unicorn, leopard, stag, camel, hound, sheep, squirrel, rabbit, peacock, parrot, hoopoe, pheasant, swan, robin, butterflies, caterpillars, snails, and moths. It has been thought that special meanings should be attached to some of the smaller creatures, but it is probable that their chief function was to fill small gaps in the designs. The flowers and fruits are largely those found in Elizabethan work, and include roses, columbines, carnations, pansies, tulips, lilies, daffodils, honeysuckle, apples, pears, strawberries, nuts, and acorns. The scenes generally have landscape backgrounds with castles, houses, tents, mounds, rockeries, wells, fountains, and fishponds. Clouds and smoke are in full force; the sun and moon often shine together, and an angel frequently hovers over the scene. As regards materials, silk and metal threads are used ; pearls and beads often enrich the designs, and pieces of glass and mica fill subordinate offices. A pic...

The favourite subjects are those connected with the royal house of Stuart. Charles I. and Henrietta Maria, and Charles II. and his queen, are frequently pourtrayed. Even when Biblical, mythical, or allegorical scenes are represented, the principal figures often take the likenesses of these royal personages. The work is aristocratic and royalist through- out. The shepherd playing the pipes, and the shepherdess with her crook, are dressed in the fashionable costume of the time. The following are the principal among Biblical subjects : Adam and Eve in the Garden, Abraham entertaining the Angels, Abraham and Hagar, the Offering of Isaac, Isaac and Rebekah, Joseph and Potiphar's wife, Moses found among the bulrushes, David and Abigail, David and Bathsheba, the Judgment of Solomon, the Visit of the Queen of Sheba, Jehu and Jezebel, Esther and Ahasuerus, Susanna and the Elders, and the Daughter of Herodias before Herod. The favourite classical subjects are the Judgment of Paris and Orpheu...

Its most patent characteristic is perhaps its grotesque ugliness ; but another, which more effectually differentiates it, is the high relief, produced by stuffing and padding, introduced into many parts of the design. Tent curtains, draperies, etc., are so made that they can be pulled aside, the arms of the figures are modelled in the round, and rockeries are thrown into deep relief. The work is, in fact, a mockery of sculpture, and departs altogether from the legitimate province of the needle. It is not considered necessary to enter far into the history of this branch of our subject. A summary of its principal characteristics, and a short descrip- tion of a few examples, is all that will be attempted.* A large number are in the form of caskets and work-boxes. Many of these are fitted with cupboards, sliding drawers, and secret recesses, and provided with ink- wells, glass bottles, and other requisites for toilet and writing purposes. Mirror-frames are frequently embroidered in this wa...

The scarf belonged to Charles I., who wore it at the battle of Edgehill, and gave it after the battle to Mr. Adam Hill of Spaldwick, who rallied his troop of horse, and is said to have thereby preserved the life of the king.* Souvenirs of this king must have been carefully treasured by the Royalist party. A needlework portrait of Charles I.,f in a small oval medallion, was formerly in the collection of Lord Zouche. The king wears a white falling collar, and has the ribbon of the Garter. The portrait, entirely of silk embroidery, is a work of great skill. It may be compared with another representing his favourite, the Duke of Buckingham, which adorns the cover of a volume of " Bacon's Essays," given by the author to the duke, and now in the Bodleian Library at Oxford.

The larger cushion, of the same style and period, has a pattern of flowers, fruit, birds, and insects, in coloured silks, on a canvas ground embroidered with silver thread. The lady's jacket reproduced in Plate 49 f belongs to a valuable collection of costumes, worn by various members of the Isham family of Lamport Hall. The costumes range from the time of Elizabeth to the end of the seventeenth century, and form a unique collection. The jacket, which is of pink silk, finds a place in this volume | on account of the embroidery. The scrolling pattern is formed by an outline of blue silk ! entwined with silver thread. An embroidery of some historical interest belonging to the next reign was presented to the Victoria and Albert Museum by Sir Edward Denny, Bart., together with other things, in 1882 (see p. 77). It is a military scarf,J such as may be seen in many portraits of the seventeenth century, worn across the cuirass and passing over one shoulder.

A favourite device in the reign of James I. is the obelisk or pyramid. It frequently occurs in architecture, wood-carving and silver-work, and sometimes it is to be seen in embroideries of the period. A small canvas panel in the Victoria and Albert Museum t has a pyramid rising from a crown, with rows of flowers between. In another piece, a bag or purse,J the pyramids rest on pedestals. Small bags of this nature, generally square or oblong, are frequently met with. Some were intended to contain books ; others may have been used for holding embroidery materials and such articles. They generally have a string for drawing the open side to- gether. The usual ornament is a spray of flowers. Such a bag is illustrated in Plate

Both sides are broken up into small panels with a curious combination of devices. On one side may be seen a lady wearing a ruff, a mermaid, and a man surrounded by stags and rabbits. On the other are lions, unicorns, a rose, a crown and the letters I R (Jacobus Rex). There are also clasped hands, fleurs-de-lys, honeysuckle, pansies, acorns, strawberries and interlacing and geometrical patterns, on embroidered grounds of different colours. A piece of work in the Maidstone Museum belongs to the beginning of the century. It is evidently intended to illustrate the progress of the Reformation in England. King Henry VIII. is seated in the middle with his foot on the prostrate figure of a friar. On his right stands his son and successor Edward VI., crowned and holding a sceptre in his right hand and a Bible in his left. Beyond is Queen Mary holding a rosary, with a dragon at her feet.

The characteristic patterns of Elizabethan work survive her reign, but they gradually degenerate into a stiffness and sameness which at last finds expression in some of the ugliest and most trivial work that ever occupied the needle. We are obliged to take the grotesque stump work, so popular in its day, as the general expression of taste among needlewomen of the seventeenth century. It is a relief to turn from these to the samplers which first found favour at this period, and prove that better taste was not altogether wanting. Many of the latter are of excellent design and evince considerable technical skill. Designs on a larger scale, for curtains, hangings, etc., are sometimes boldly drawn, and effective when put to their proper use.

The characteristic patterns of Elizabethan work survive her reign, but they gradually degenerate into a stiffness and sameness which at last finds expression in some of the ugliest and most trivial work that ever occupied the needle. We are obliged to take the grotesque stump work, so popular in its day, as the general expression of taste among needlewomen of the seventeenth century. It is a relief to turn from these to the samplers which first found favour at this period, and prove that better taste was not altogether wanting. Many of the latter are of excellent design and evince considerable technical skill. Designs on a larger scale, for curtains, hangings, etc., are sometimes boldly drawn, and effective when put to their proper use.

The members received much employment for ceremonial and festive occasions. By the time of Charles I. the company seems to have fallen upon evil days. A petition was presented to that monarch in 1634 pleading that " trade was then so much decayed and grown out of use, that a greater part of the company, for want of employment, were . . . much impoverished." The company still exists, but in common with most of the other livery companies of London, it has gradually become dissociated from the work for which it was incorporated.* * See Hazlitt's " Livery Companies of the City of London." The company has lately given a stimulus to the embroiderer's art by holding competitive exhibitions of needlework and offering prizes (see The Art Workers' Quarterly, vol. ii. p. 103.)

One of the larger embroideries at Hard- wick, worked on canvas in coloured silks and silver-gilt thread (Plate 46), bears in the middle the arms of Talbot impaling Hardwick, surrounded by the Garter. The armorial devices in the corners are as fol- lows : (i) a shield, Talbot impaling Hardwick, within a wreath having the initials E.S., G.S. ; (2) The Hardwick crest, a stag trip- ping, with initials E.S.; (3) the Talbot badge, a Talbot dog, with initials G.S. ; (4) the Cavendish crest (an intertwined serpent) sur- rounded by the motto CAVENDO TVTVS, still borne by the Dukes of Devonshire. The complicated heraldry of this piece is explained by the short biographical reference to Elizabeth of Hardwick (p. 82). This description of Elizabethan embroidery may be closed by a short reference to the Broderers' Company, incorporated by the queen three years after her accession to the throne. The company, however, is men- tioned at an earlier period, and it was pro- bably in existence three ce...

The design, too, composed of the English rose, the Scotch thistle, and the French lily, tends to strengthen the theory that we have here an actual example of the queen's handi- work (Plate 43). The small subjects in the ovals may have' been copied from some illus- trated book of fables. There is another panel belonging to the same set. If these be the work of the Queen of Scots, there are others which have an un- doubted connection with her jailer. A set of small velvet panels bears, besides various symbolic devices, the initials E. S. (Elizabeth Shrewsbury) and the date 1590. Two other panels of appliqud work on red velvet, with designs of scrollwork inter- laced with flowering stems have, in one case, the same initials ensigned with a coronet (Plate 44), and, in the other, a stag tripping, the crest of Hardwick (Plate 45).

Hardwick is one of the many fine man- sions erected by Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury, the famous " Bess of Hard- wick." Within, it is full of the memorials of this remarkable woman, and of another who claims a higher place in history, the ill-fated Queen of Scots. Elizabeth was the daughter of John Hardwick, and was born in the year 1518. She was married succes- sively to John Barlow, Sir William Caven- dish,* Sir William St. Loe, and George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury. Shortly after this last marriage, the custody of Mary Queen of Scots was confided to the earl by Elizabeth. Mary is well known to have been an expert needlewoman, and the tradition that some of the embroideries now at Hardwick are her handiwork, is corroborated by the examples themselves. The mansion was not completed until s after 1590, and consequently could never have been her prison-house ; but it replaced an older mansion, the ruins of which are still standing hard by.

Another class of embroidery, requiring a great deal of time and patience for its execution, found favour in the reign of Elizabeth, and, with certain modifications, has never since quite lost its popularity. It is known in France as " petit point," a term for which there is no satisfactory English equivalent. The work is usually in wools and silks of various colours on a canvas or coarse linen ground, which is entirely hidden by the needlework. The effect pro- duced somewhat resembles that of a tapestry, although the dimensions are generally small, and the stitching is fine (Plate 41).* It is not possible to enter, to any extent, into the attractive subject of needlework as associated with the mansions and manor- houses of England. Some of these are well known to contain embroideries which have been associated with them and their occu- pants for many generations.

A very considerable number of caps and head-dresses worked in this way are still existing. The caps are almost invariably of rounded form, with turned-up edges trimmed with gold lace. There are several in the museum at South Kensington, including one from the collection of Lord Zouche, and two from that of Sir Thomas Isham of Lamport Hall. The two latter (Plate 40) may belong to the early part of Elizabeth's reign. The ladies' head-dresses are commonly of a hooded shape, drawn together by a string at the back (Plate 40). The embroidery is sometimes in black alone, but oftener the stems are of plaited gold thread. It seems probable that these caps did not go entirely out of fashion until the reign of Charles I. Black was not always the colour chosen. A cap of the same form, with a pattern of roses, pansies, and strawberries in colours, the stems in gold, is in the museum (No. 2016, 1899). Several private collections contain ex- amples of black work of an earlier period, that of ...

The jacket was given by William IV. to the Viscountess Falkland, wife of the tenth viscount. It is recorded to have belonged to Queen Elizabeth. A large coverlet and a pillow-cover (Plate 37) of " black work," also belonging to the Viscount Falkland, may perhaps date from a little earlier in the same century. Each has a running pattern of vine- stems, the large leaves being filled with tiny diaper patterns. An embroidery of a similar class has lately been acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum (No. 252, 1902). The panels are shaped to form the parts of a tunic, which has never been made up (Plate 38). The pattern is almost entirely floral ; it consists of columbines, pansies, acorns, filberts, birds, butterflies, and insects. There is a tradition that this work was done by Mary, the daughter of Sir Henry Pierrepont and sister of the Earl of Kingston, who was married to Fulk Cartwright of Ossington in 1606.

The jacket or tunic of " black work " belonging to the Viscount Falkland has already been mentioned. By his permission it is illustrated in this volume (Plate 35). It is of linen, the embroidery being entirely in black silk. Amid characteristic floral work of the period are a number of devices of a quaint nature. A little flying-fish, which has leaped out of the water in order to avoid the gaping mouth of a large fish below, is attacked by a sea-bird from above ; a man of Herculean type, astride a crocodile, holds a writhing serpent in each hand. Other sub- jects are Actaeon devoured by his hounds, Bacchus beating a drum, a man on a lion, a stag pierced by an arrow, another pursued by a hound, a pelican in her piety, prancing horses, a camel, an elephant, a sea-horse, unicorns, monkeys, foxes, squirrels, birds, and fishes.

Tradition assigns an earlier origin to another pair, presented, together with other works of art associated with the Denny family, by Sir Edward Denny, Bart., to the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1882. They are of leather, with white satin gauntlets elaborately em- broidered and enriched with numerous seed- pearls. It is believed that they are the gloves recorded to have been given by Henry VIII. to Sir Anthony Denny, who was successively Groom of the Stole, a Privy Councillor, and an Executor of the King, and afterwards one of the guardians of the young king Edward VI. The design, however, seems to point to a later origin, and it is perhaps more likely that they are the pair given by James I. to Sir Edward Denny (afterwards Earl of Norwich), who, as Sheriff of Hertfordshire, received the king during his journey from Scotland. A pair of mittens (Plate 34) of crimson velvet, with embroidered satin gauntlets, was given by Queen Elizabeth to her Maid of Honour, Margaret Edgcumbe, wife of ...

The large cream -white satin coverlet* from Ireland, partly reproduced in Plate 42, is an important example of late Elizabethan work. It has a deep floral border, and a pattern of floral sprays in the middle. The materials used for the embroidery are silver- gilt and silver thread and silks of various colours. A practice not altogether commend- able is exemplified here. Some of the petals of the flowers have been separately worked, and afterwards fixed to the satin by one edge only, so as to stand away from the ground. Such devices are not infrequently found in Elizabethan work. It is doubtful whether they should be employed at all. At any rate, we may condemn without hesitation the exaggeration to which the practice was carried in the succeeding period.