Embroideries in the Manner of Tapestry Pictures
The Exhibition at The Fine Art Society's included, besides samplers, a
gallery containing embroideries, the like of which had not previously been
seen together, and as to the history of which text-books were altogether
silent. Exhibited collectively, they not only formed a most interesting
and unusual whole, but they were clearly the result of a widespread
fashion. Specimens were forthcoming in considerable numbers, and were
regarded by their owners with a proper appreciation of their archæological
value, but with a diffidence as to their history and origin which was not
surprising. Under these circumstances it seemed that the occasion of
their being brought together should not be lost, and that some
illustration of representative specimens, some setting down of any
deductions which might be arrived at from their examination and
comparison, and some collation of the information which was supplied by
their owners should be taken in hand.
It was, however, at the outset a matter of no little trouble to find a
title which, while it identified and included them, yet excluded those
that it was felt necessary to omit. Had a shortened phrase, such as
"Embroidered Pictures," been selected, readers would reasonably have
expected to find a survey of that large class of embroideries, now
somewhat in vogue, which imitate the coloured engravings of the late
eighteenth century, and, perhaps, even of the Berlin wool-work travesties
of Landseer and his contemporaries. "Stuart Embroidered Pictures," or
"Seventeenth-Century Embroidered Pictures," would have better served the
purpose were it not that some of the examples precede, and some follow,
the period covered by either. Besides, some pieces are not pictures,
whilst others, though pictorial in subject, are covers to caskets, etc.
The majority, however, have this in common, that they represent a phase of
embroidery which, curiously enough, originated contemporaneously with the
introduction of the manufacture of tapestry into this country, became
popular concurrently with it, and passed out of favour when the production
of that textile ceased in England for lack of support. It was this
relationship, which I shall shortly proceed to establish, that decided the
title which is found at the heading of this part.
In endeavouring to trace the origin of these embroideries I have been,
curiously enough, confronted with exactly the same difficulties that I
encountered in dealing with samplers, namely:--
1. The industry has no apparent infancy, all the pieces having the same
matured appearance.
2. No specimen earlier than the reign of Elizabeth has come under my
notice. This does not arise from the decay inseparable from the life of a
fairly perishable article, for amongst the earliest specimens may be
counted the best preserved; besides, similar work, as, for instance, the
embroidery of book covers which was subjected to harder usage, extends for
centuries further back.
[Illustration: PLATE XV.--TAPESTRY EMBROIDERY. THE STORY OF HAGAR AND
ISHMAEL. ABOUT 1630.
The common subject amongst Tapestry workers of Hagar and Ishmael is told
somewhat fully here in three scenes. In the first we have Sarah and Isaac
at the tent door, in the second Abraham dismissing Hagar, and in the third
the angel visiting Ishmael in the desert.
The embroidery is one of those where flat and raised work are conjoined.
The sky might be woven, so fine are the stitches, the landscape is made up
of a variety of open stitches which are used in lace, but in this instance
have been worked on the canvas, the faces are modelled in cotton wool and
covered with silk, and the animals (lion and stag) are similarly modelled.
The piece is the property of Miss Taintor, of Hartford, U.S.A. Size,
14-1/2 × 19-1/2.]
It is for these reasons that I am disposed to attach importance to the
theory that the fashion originated with the introduction into England of
tapestry, that, like tapestry, it quickly sprang into vogue, and like that
article as quickly died out, having for some half a century been an
agreeable occupation for deft hands to busy themselves about.
If we glance for a moment at the history of tapestry in this country, it
will be seen how entirely it mirrors that of the embroideries under
notice. Tapestry, as an English manufacture, and tapestry of sufficient
amount to afford opportunities to any but a few to imitate it, can hardly
be said to have existed in this country prior to the seventeenth century.
In the king's palaces, and in those of his wealthy ministers and nobles,
this form of decoration was undoubtedly in use in remote times, perhaps as
early as in those of other nations, but small interest was taken in its
production in comparison with that by foreign countries, even those so
contiguous as France and the Netherlands. In fact, until the close of the
sixteenth century, but one manufactory is known to have existed in
England, namely, that of Burcheston, founded towards the end of the reign
of Henry VIII. by William Sheldon, styled "The only author and beginner of
tapestry, within this realm." It was not until the year 1620 that James
I., stimulated by the example of Henri IV., enlisted in his service a
number of Flemish workmen and established at Mortlake the factory which
quickly attained to a success which was only rivalled by that of the
Gobelins. The industry on the banks of the Thames developed rapidly, and
secured European recognition, thanks to the extreme interest taken in it
by James I., and still more so by Charles I., aided, as he was, by the
invaluable co-operation of Rubens and Vandyck. Tapestry made under royal
patronage quickly became the fashion and hobby, and although under the
Commonwealth its continuance was threatened, it received fresh favours and
subventions under Charles II., at the end of whose reign, however, it not
only declined, but practically ceased to exist.
It can readily be understood that the prevalence of such a fashion,
coinciding with a period when every lady in the land was an adept with her
needle, would stimulate many to imitate on a smaller scale the famed
productions of the loom, for nothing would better accord with the
tapestry-covered walls, than cushions for the oaken chairs, or pictures or
mirrors for panelled walls, worked in the same materials. Hence it is
probable that all the earlier embroideries were in imitation of tapestry,
and worked only in stitches which resembled those of the loom, and that
the pieces where we find varieties of stitches introduced, as well as
figures, dresses, and animals in relief, are subsequent variations and
fancied improvements on the original idea.[10] This is borne out by an
examination of dated pieces, none of those bearing these additions being
contemporaneous with the introduction of the tapestry industry, whilst
only those having a plain surface are found amongst the earliest
specimens.[11]
[Illustration: Plate XVI.--Tapestry Embroidery. Charles I. and his Queen.
About 1630.
None of the Embroideries reproduced in this volume approach this in their
imitation of Tapestry, it being a facsimile on a small scale in needlework
of a large panel. Its resemblance is increased by the border, which adds
considerably to its interest and value. Both Sovereigns are crowned, the
King wearing a cloak, a vest and breeches which would appear to be all in
one (the latter garnished at the knees with many points), boots with huge
tops, and big spurs. On either side of the royal pair stand a chamberlain
and a lady of honour. The house in the background points to the Tapestry
having been designed by a Netherlander.]
Embroidery probably reached the zenith of its popularity in the late
sixteenth century. It was then of so much importance that Queen Elizabeth
granted a charter of incorporation to an Embroiderers' Company who had a
hall in Gutter Lane. In order to encourage the pursuit foreign
embroideries were in this and the following reigns considered to be
contraband, but this protection, instead of improving, practically rang
the death knell of the Art.
It will be seen from the foregoing that these little embroideries have an
abiding interest of a threefold nature. First that arising out of the
subjects that are depicted thereon, and which, though limited in range,
present considerable differences when compared one with another, quite
sufficient to make them individual in character. Next they afford, upon
examination, a large amount of historical material, some of it of a
valuable kind, concerning the fashions and cranks of the time, material
which has not hitherto met with recognition such as it deserves. Lastly,
they are admirable specimens of needlework, and in this are quite as
noteworthy as samplers, a single piece often containing as many varieties
of clever stitches as may be found in a dozen samplers. All that concerns
them on this last-named account will be found in the section devoted to
"Stitchery." I will, therefore, proceed to examine them collectively from
the two first points of view, leaving any remarks which they may
separately call for to the notes which accompany the reproductions.
The Subjects of Tapestry Embroideries
These are, as we have noted, somewhat limited as regards range, and
somewhat limited within that range. This is, perhaps, even more so than in
the case of the parent tapestries, for whilst they frequently travel into
the realms of mythology, the reverse is the case with the embroidered
pictures. In the royal palaces of Henry VIII. we find the Tales of Thebes
and Troy, the Life and Adventures of Hercules, and of Jupiter and Juno,
depicted in tapestry more often, perhaps, than sacred subjects, but this
is not so with our little pictures. For instance, there were but two
profane subjects in the Embroidery Exhibition, "Orpheus charming the
animals with his lute," and the "Judgment of Paris" (Fig. 56); whereas
there were at least half a dozen of "Esther and Ahasuerus," and more than
one "Susannah and the Elders," "Adam and Eve," "Abraham and Hagar,"
"Joseph and Potiphar," "David and Abigail," "Queen of Sheba," and "Jehu
and Jezebel."
Our first parents naturally afforded one of the earliest Biblical subjects
for tapestry. Thus a description of a manor house in King John's time
states that in the corner of a certain apartment stood a bed, the tapestry
of which was enwrought with gaudy colours representing Adam and Eve in the
Garden of Eden, and we read in a fifteenth-century poem by H. Bradshaw,
concerning the tapestry in the Abbey of Ely, that:--
"The storye of Adam there was goodly wrought
And of his wyfe Eve, bytwene them the serpente."
In embroidered pictures the working of the nude figures on a necessarily
much smaller scale would appear to have been a difficulty it was hard to
contend with, and we consequently find the subject treated for the most
part rather from the point of view of the animals to be introduced than
from that of our first parents.
Curiously enough, Adam and Eve came to the front again as a most popular
subject in samplers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, at a time
when a knowledge of the draughtsmanship of the human figure appeared to be
even slighter than heretofore. Consequently, they were usually of the most
primitive character, standing on either side of a Tree of Knowledge, from
which depends the serpent.
[Illustration: FIG. 56.--THE JUDGMENT OF PARIS. ABOUT 1630. _Late in the
Author's Collection._]
Passing onwards in Bible history we find in tapestry embroideries several
incidents in the life of Abraham. First the entertainment of the angels
and the promise made to him; next the casting forth of Hagar and Ishmael
(Plate XV.), oft repeated, perhaps, because of the many incidents in the
story capable of illustration; then the offering up of Isaac, as
illustrated in Plate IV. "Moses in the Bullrushes" (Fig. 57) completes the
illustrations from the Pentateuch. Few other subjects are met with until
we reach the life of David as pictured in "David and Goliath" and "David
and Abigail." To these follow the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon,
and the judgment of that ruler. But the most popular subject of all would
seem to be the episode of Queen Esther and King Ahasuerus (Plate XVIII.),
from which Mordecai sitting in the King's Gate, Esther adventuring on the
King's favour, the banquet to Haman, and his end on the gallows, furnished
delightfully sensational episodes, although the main reason for its
frequency doubtless depended upon its offering an opportunity of honouring
the reigning kings and queens by figuring them as the great monarch
Ahasuerus and his beautiful consort, a reason also for the frequent
selection of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. The only incident subsequent
to this is one hardly to be expected, namely, "Susannah and the Elders,"
from the Apocrypha (Plate XIV.). The New Testament, curiously enough,
seems to have received but scant attention, even the birth of Christ being
but seldom illustrated.
If space permitted it would be a matter of interest to trace the reasons
for this unexpectedness of subject. It may have arisen from the fact that
the English at this time were "the people of one book, and that book the
Bible." It is, however, more readily conceivable that the selection was a
survival of the times when the mainstay of all the Arts was the Church,
and the majority of the work, all the world over, was produced in its
service, and therefore naturally was imbued with a religious flavouring.
Again, the pieces being in imitation of tapestries, the subjects would
naturally follow those figured thereon. Now we find, curiously enough, in
the "Story of Tapestrys in the Royal Palaces of Henry VIII.," that whilst
there were a few such subjects as "Jupiter and Juno," and "Thebes and
Troy," the majority were the following: In the Tower of London, "Esther
and Ahasuerus"; in Durham Palace, "Esther" and "Susannah"; in Cardinal
Wolsey's Palace, the "Petition of Esther," the "Honouring of
Mordecai," and the "History of Susannah and the Elders," bordered with the
Cardinal's arms, subjects identical with those represented in our little
embroidered pictures.
[Illustration: PLATE XVII.--LID OF A CASKET. THE JUDGMENT OF PARIS. ABOUT
1630. _Formerly in the Author's Collection._
Reproduces the gay and well-preserved top of a writing box. The figures
which stand under a festooned bower may represent Paris handing the apple
to Venus. The dress of the female is of the time of Charles I., which is
the date of the casket, the interior of which is lined in part with that
beautiful shade of red so popular at this time, and in part with mirrors
which reflect a Flemish engraving which lines the bottom. An upper tray is
a mass of ill-concealed secret drawers. Size, 12 × 11 inches.]
It has been claimed for many of these pieces that they are the product of
those prolific workers the nuns of Little Gidding, but the assertion rests
on as little basis as does that which ascribes all the embroidered book
covers to the same origin. The subjects, although sacred in character, are
too mundane in habit to render it at all probable that they were worked in
the seclusion of a country nunnery.
The foreign origin of the tapestries (even those which were manufactured
in England being made and designed by foreigners) accounts for the foreign
flavour which pervades their backgrounds and accessories. It has,
consequently, been asserted that the inspiration of these embroidery
pictures is also foreign, the assertion being based on the fact that the
buildings are for the most part of Teutonic design. This is not my
opinion. The buildings, it is true, for the most part assume a Flemish or
German air, but this is probably due to the reason given at the
commencement of this paragraph. It might, with equal force, be held that
the pieces are Italian in their origin, as their foregrounds, as we shall
presently show, largely affect that style. That either of these
suppositions is correct is negatived by the thoroughly English
contemporary costume that apparels the principal figures, which also
proves that the majority of the pieces were in the main original
conceptions, the designers following in the footsteps of their forerunners
from the times of Greece downwards, and clothing their puppets, no matter
to what age they appertained, in the contemporary dress of their own
country. This brings us to the most interesting feature of these little
pictures, namely, their value as mirrors of fashion.
Tapestry Embroideries as Mirrors of Fashion
In this respect they are hardly inferior, as illustrations, to the
pictures of Vandyck or the engravings of Hollar; whilst, as sidelights to
horticultural pursuits under the Stuart kings, and of the flowers which
were then affected, they are perhaps more reliable authorities than the
Herbals from whence it has been erroneously asserted that they derived
their information. In these respects their value has been entirely
overlooked. Authorities on dress go to obscure engravings, or to the
brasses or sculptural effigies in our churches, for examples, which have,
in every instance, been designed by a man unversed in the intricacies of
dressmaking. They have failed to recognise the fact that these
embroideries are the product of hands which very certainly knew the cut of
every garment, and the intricacy of every bow, knot, and point, and which
would take a pride in rendering them not only with accuracy, but in the
latest mode. It was probably due to this desire to make their work
complete mirrors of fashion, that the embroideresses gave up illustrating
the figure in the flat, and stuffed it out like a puppet, upon which each
portion of the dress might be superimposed. An illustration of this may be
seen in the reproduction on a large scale, in the text of Part III., of
some of the figures from the piece of embroidery illustrated in Plate
XXIII.[12]
As Sir James Linton, an eminent authority upon the dress of the period
under review, has pointed out, these embroideries bear upon their face an
impress of truth, for they usually, in the same picture, illustrate
fashions extending over a considerable period of time. This, instead
of being an inaccuracy, is unimpeachable evidence as to their correctness,
for the fact is usually overlooked that in those times a man (and a woman
also) almost invariably wore, throughout life, the costume of his early
manhood, and that in such a piece as that illustrated in Plate XIV. it is
quite accurate to represent the old men in the costume of the reign of
James I., and the young women in that of Charles I.
[Illustration: PLATE XVIII.--TAPESTRY EMBROIDERY. THE STORY OF QUEEN
ESTHER. ABOUT 1630.
This remarkably well-preserved piece of Embroidery represents various
incidents in the life of Queen Esther. In the centre the King stretches
forth his sceptre to the Queen; in the various corners are portrayed the
banquet, the hanging of Haman, and Mordecai and the King. It will be
noticed that the King and Queen are likenesses of Charles I. and Henrietta
Maria, and the costume is that in vogue towards the end of his reign, when
the big boots worn by the men came in for much ridicule, the tops of the
King's being "very large and turned down, and the feet two inches too
long." The needlework is of the transition period, when a better effect
was sought for by appliquéing the faces in satin, outlining the features
in silk, and making the hair of the same material. The collars and bows
are also added, and the Queen's crown is of pearls, the dais on which the
King sits being also sown with them. Size, 16-1/2 × 20-1/2.]
The repetition, amounting almost to monotony, in the subjects of these
tapestry pieces has been urged against them, but the force of this
depreciation is considerably lessened if this question of costume and
accessories is taken into account, for a comparison even of the few pieces
which are illustrated here will show how much variety is afforded in
matters of dress, even if that of a single individual, such as Charles I.,
is selected for study, although in the case of a royal personage, such as
the king, it would only be natural if there was a sameness of costume. He
may probably never have been seen by the embroiderer, who would
consequently dress him from some picture or engraving. But even here the
differences are many and interesting.[13]
[Illustration: FIG. 57.--TAPESTRY EMBROIDERY. THE FINDING OF MOSES. ABOUT
1640. _Lady Middleton._]
They may therefore be deemed worthy of further examination than is usually
given them, and this we have accorded in the description attached to each.
We embody, however, an instance here as it is not only an apt illustration
of the use of these little pictures as illustrations of dress, but of how
their age may be thereby ascertained. The work in question belongs to Lady
Middleton, is illustrated in Fig. 57, and its frame bears an inscription
that it dates from the sixteenth century. The condition of the needlework,
and the stitches employed, might well lead to this supposition, but the
dress of the attendant to the left of the picture almost exactly
corresponds with that on the effigy of one Dorothy Strutt, whose monument
is dated 1641. The hair flows freely on the shoulders, but is combed back
from the forehead; it is bunched behind, and from this descends a long
coverchief which falls like a mantle; the sleeves are wide at the top, but
confined at the wrist; a kerchief covers the bust, whilst the gown pulled
in at the waist sets fully all round. It will be noted that the chimneys
of the house in the background emit volumes of black smoke, a tribute to
the Wallsend coal which came only into general use in the early
seventeenth century. The greater part of the strong darks in this picture
are due to the silk having been painted with a kind of bitumen, which has
eaten away the groundwork wherever it has come into contact with it.
The frequent selection of royal personages for illustration is one of the
features of the industry, and is probably accounted for by the majority of
the workers being persons in the higher walks of life, to whom the divine
right of kings and devotion to the Crown were very present matters in
those troublous times. It will be further noted that the only pre-Stuart
embroideries which are reproduced here (_Frontispiece_, and the covering
for a book [Fig. 58]) deal with them.
As I have stated, yet another value attaches to these tapestry
embroideries, namely, as illustrations of the fashions in horticulture
under the Stuarts. Those who take an interest in gardening will not be
slow to recognise this, and they may even carry that interest beyond this
Stuart work to the samplers, whereon instances are not wanting of the
formal gardening which came over from Holland with King William, and
continued under the House of Hanover.
[Illustration: FIG. 58.--PORTION OF A BOOK COVER. 16TH CENTURY. _Author's
Collection._]
[Illustration: FIG. 59.--PURL AND APPLIED EMBROIDERY. LADY WITH A RABBIT.
ABOUT 1630. _Formerly in the Author's Collection._
An illustration of purl work, the whole of the smaller decorations being
in tarnished silver thread sewn upon the original satin. The figure in the
centre with a rabbit on her knees, as well as the other flowers and birds,
are appliquéd, and are in very fine coloured silks. The date of the piece
is, judging from the costume, the early part of the reign of Charles I.]
In the embroideries we see repeated again and again the hold that Italian
gardening had obtained in this country at the time when they were
produced, owing to the grafting of ideas carried from the age of mediæval
Art. Note, for instance, the importance attached to the fountain, which
Hertzner, a German, who travelled through England at the end of the
sixteenth century, remarked upon as being such a feature in gardens. The
many columns and pyramids of marble and fountains of springing water to
which he alludes are repeated again and again in tapestry pictures. The
pools of fish which are also found in embroideries of the time were a
common feature of the gardens. We read that "A fayre garden always
contained a poole of fysshe if the poole be clene kept." (Plate XVIII.,
Fig. 64, and Fig. 68.) The garden also had green galleries or pergolas
formed of light poles overgrown with roses red and white. These are
illustrated in Plate XIV. The little Noah's Ark trees did not originate in
the brain of the sampler designer, but were actualities which he saw in
the garden of the time, being as old as the Romans, who employed a
topiarius or pleacher, whose sole business was the cutting of trees into
fantastic shapes. This practice was in full swing in Italy in the
fifteenth century, and was familiarised in England by the "Hyperotomachia
Poliphili," published in 1592, although this book did not introduce it,
for Bacon in his essay on "Gardens" says that the art of pleaching was
already well known and practised in England. They are quite common objects
on the samplers of the eighteenth century, when the cult was increasingly
fostered, William and Mary having brought over the Dutch fashion of
cutting everything into queer little trifles. An illustration in
Worlidge's "Art of Gardening" might almost be a reproduction of the
sampler of 1760 (Plate IX.) with its trees all set in absolutely similar
order and size. This style, it may be remembered, was doomed upon the
advent of Capability Brown with his attempts at chastening and polishing,
but not reforming, the living landscape.
The embroidered pictures are also interesting as showing the flowers which
found a place in the parterres of English gardens. A nosegay garden at the
beginning of the seventeenth century consisted, we read, of "gillyflowers,
marigolds, lilies, and daffodils, with such strange flowers as hyacinths,
narcissus, also the red, damaske, velvet, and double province rose, double
and single white rose, the fair and sweet scenting woodbind, double and
single, the violet nothing behind the rose for smelling sweetly."
Figs. 59 and 60 show many of these flowers naturally disposed, as an
examination of the samplers of the period displays almost all of them in a
decorative form.
A curious feature of these little pictures is the fondness of their makers
for introducing grubs of all kinds. This was not altogether fortuitous, or
done simply to fill a void, for some of them were certainly as much
emblems as the lion and unicorn. The caterpillar, for instance, was a
badge of Charles I.
It speaks somewhat for the difficulty of imitating these little pictures,
that although their price has increased since this book was first
published, from a moderate to a high figure, there are as yet few spurious
or much restored pieces on the market, and the same remark may apply to
samplers.
[Illustration: FIG. 60.--EMBROIDERY PICTURE. CHARLES I. AND HIS QUEEN.
DATED 1663. _Lord Montagu._
This picture is signed "K.B.," and bears the date 1663, and is, through
its composition and subject, of much interest. The king and queen stand
under an elaborate tent, on the canopy of which is emblazoned the Royal
Arms, the rose and the thistle, in heavy gold and silver bullion. The
robes of both their majesties are ornamented with coloured flowers in a
heavy silver tissue. The king is crowned and has an ermine cloak, and his
spurred white boots have pink heels.]
[Illustration: PLATE XIX.--LID OF A CASKET. ABOUT 1660.
We have here the top of the lid of the best preserved casket it has been
our fortune to encounter, the reproduction in no way exaggerating the
brilliancy or freshness of its colouring. The whole of the embroidery is
in high relief, and as the shadows show, much of it is detached from the
ground, as for instance the strawberries, the apples on the tree on which
the parroquet with his ruffled feathers is seated, and the pink and tulip.
For some reason not apparent, the gentleman has two left arms and hands,
in each of which he holds a hat. It is possible that the figures may be
intended for Abraham and Sarah, the latter with her flock at the well.]
[Illustration: FIG. 61.--HOLLIE POINT LACE FROM TOP OF CHRISTENING CAP.
1774. _Formerly in the Author's Collection._]