| Embroidery though had a long history, but it | | | | Eighteenth-century furniture with its |
| very difficult to find them now because they | | | | original (or contemporary) hand-worked |
| could not last that long. English embroidery | | | | covering is, of course, rare, but the value |
| was one of the most popular one. | | | | of a piece is increased greatly by its |
| | | | presence. |
| Embroidery | | | | |
| | | | In the third quarter of the eighteenth |
| Although the art of embroidery was practiced | | | | century there was a vogue for pictures, |
| very many centuries ago, the collector is | | | | square, oblong, round and oval, worked in |
| unlikely to be able to acquire much that was | | | | colored silks on a silk background; the |
| made prior to about 1650. Pieces of earlier | | | | latter often embellished with touches of |
| date are extremely rare; not only are the | | | | water-colour. Most of these have faded, |
| majority of them preserved carefully in | | | | others are found to have backgrounds rotted |
| cathedrals, churches and museums, but | | | | with age and neglect, but perfect examples |
| understandably time has taken its toll. | | | | may sometimes be found and are very |
| | | | decorative. Subjects varied from imitations |
| English work of the middle Ages was famous | | | | of the patterns on Chinese porcelain to |
| throughout Europe, and the remaining examples | | | | renderings of willowy ladies weeping at the |
| show how justly its admiration was earned. | | | | tomb of Shakespeare, or at that of Werther |
| | | | following the publication of Goethe's Sorrows |
| The work most likely to attract the collector | | | | of Werther in 1774. A lady named Mary |
| is the type that was popular in the | | | | Lin-wood of Leicester, achieved fame towards |
| mid-seventeenth century, and known for no | | | | the end of the eighteenth century by working |
| explicable reason as stump work. It consists | | | | elaborate embroidery pictures, mostly |
| of embroidery on a panel of silk (usually | | | | imitating well-known paintings, sixty-four of |
| white) in colored silks with some of the | | | | which she exhibited in London for many years. |
| principal features padded out, and often | | | | |
| having human figures with carved wood heads, | | | | The familiar sampler began as a reference |
| hands and feet. | | | | panel of patterns and stitches, but by the |
| | | | eighteenth century it had become an exercise |
| This type of work was made in the form of | | | | for children. They were embroidered with the |
| pictures, for covering the frames of mirrors, | | | | letters of the alphabet, mottoes, verses, |
| and for covering boxes; the latter usually | | | | texts, and the date of execution together |
| fitted with numerous small drawers (some of | | | | with the name of the worker. Late in the |
| them 'secret'), a mirror, and lined with pink | | | | century the making of maps became popular. |
| paper bordered with silver tape. | | | | These were drawn in outline on silk, and the |
| | | | whole, including county boundaries and names, |
| Straightforward tent-stitch embroidery worked | | | | then stitched carefully in appropriate |
| on a canvas backing, dating from the | | | | colors. |
| seventeenth century onwards, was stitched in | | | | |
| both wool and silk, and occasionally with | | | | The embroidery was used in the silk clothes |
| threads of gold and silver. Much of it has | | | | and later on other types of clothes. Then |
| been preserved during the past 250 years, and | | | | embroidery was taken the wooden furniture. |
| a proportion retains much of its original | | | | The eighteenth century wooden furniture has a |
| brilliant coloring. | | | | vogue for pictures, square, oblong, round and |
| | | | oval. Embroidery has come a long way to its |
| By reason of its attractive appearance and | | | | present stage. We can still find some of the |
| its durability it is not surprising that this | | | | early embroidery in different museums, |
| type of work continues to be done today. | | | | churches, and cathedrals. |