months I was invited to see the "works" of a wonderful needlewoman in a
little Middlesex village. The local clergyman and doctor were
sufficiently benighted even in these days of universal culture to admire
her work, and her fame had spread. Room after room was filled with 10 by
8-feet canvases; every drawer in the house was crammed with the result
of this clever woman's work--for clever she undoubtedly was. After
exhausting all the known subjects of Landseer and his school, she had
struck out a line for herself, and had copied the _Graphic_ and
_Illustrated London News_ Supplements of the stirring scenes from the
South African War, such as "The Siege of Ladysmith," "The Death of the
Prince Imperial" in all its gruesome local colouring, were worked on
gigantic canvases. Her great _chef d'oeuvre_ was, however, the
memorial statue of Queen Victoria, copied from the _Graphic_ Supplement
_in tones of black, white, and grey_, a most clever piece of work;
but--well, she was happy and more than delighted with my perfectly
honest remark that I had _never seen anything like it_!
Ah! if only this dear woman and the many others who are wasting their
time and eyesight over fashions which perish could only be reached and
aroused by the influence of the lovely old English stitchery of our
great period! If only the purblind authorities and custodians of our
National collections could awaken to the infinite possibilities which
they hold, once again "Opus Anglicum" might rule the world, and the
labour of even one woman's life might be of lasting value. It is useless
to refer to the many schools of embroidery there are in different parts
of the country, where fine work is being done on the best lines. These
schools, from the Royal School of Needlework downwards, are "closed
corners," and no attempt is made to reach the great public. The Royal
School of Needlework is maintained by no subsidy as it ought to be, but
by the many ladies of position and taste who liberally support it, both
for the instruction and employment of "ladies of reduced circumstances,"
and for _the disposal of its work at very high prices_. Other schools in
town are simply private adventure institutions, run at a considerable
profit to the principals.
The superb collection at South Kensington might as well be buried in the
crypt of Westminster Cathedral for all the value it is to the general
public. There is not the slightest attempt to allow these unique pieces
of "Opus Anglicum" to point a moral or adorn a tale. The magnificent
copes and vestments, of which there are some score, are merely
tabulated, paragraphed, and photographed, and there is an end of them.
During my constant visits to these treasures of English Art I have not
once discovered another interested visitor amongst these beautiful
vestments; and the officials, when interviewed, though perfectly
courteous, apparently resent inquiries; and woe betide the unfortunate
inquirers who _might_ have found the required information from the tiny
little printed card hidden either too low or too high in the dark
recesses of the corridors, and so spared these _savants_ the trouble of
an interview!
Why a continuous course of lectures on this and every kindred Art
subject is not made compulsory at the Victoria and Albert Museum is one
of the burning questions of the hour among the cultured collectors of
the day. The custodians are supposed to be men of special insight in the
branches over which they preside, yet for all the advantage to the
public they might as well be waxwork dummies. What we want as a nation
is "culture while we wait," and writ so large that those who run may
read, and until this consummation is attained we shall ever remain in
the Slough of Despond, and Art for Art's sake will continue dead.
XIII
EMBROIDERY IN "COSTUME"
XIII
EMBROIDERY IN "COSTUME"
Early Greek garments--Biblical references to
embroidery--Ecclesiastical garments--Eighteenth-century
dresses, coats, and waistcoats--Muslin embroideries.
The subject of Costume has been most admirably treated in another volume
of this series, but a reference must be made to it as affecting our
topic, English Embroidery, as costume has played no little part in its
history.
From the earliest ages embroidery has been used to decorate garments.
The ancient Greeks embroidered the hems of their graceful draperies in
the well-known Greek fret and other designs so invariably seen on the
old Greek vases. The legend that Minerva herself taught the Greeks the
art of embroidery illustrates how deeply the art was understood; and the
pretty story told by an old botanist of how the foxglove came by its
name and its curious bell-like flowers is worth repeating. In the old
Greek days, when gods and goddesses were regarded as having the
attributes of humanity in addition to those of deities, Juno was one
day amusing herself with making tapestry, and, after the manner of the
people, put a thimble on her finger. Jupiter, "playing the rogue with
her," took her thimble and threw it away, and down it dropped to the
earth. The goddess was very wroth, and in order to pacify her Jupiter
turned the thimble into a flower, which now is known as Digitalis, or
finger-stole.
This little fairy tale can scarcely be taken as proof conclusive of the
existence of either needle tapestry or thimble use, but its telling may
amuse the reader.
In all ancient histories we find continuous references to the
embroidered garment worn by its people. It was well recognised that no
material was sufficiently beautiful not to be further embellished with
rich embroideries. In the Psalms we find that "Pharaoh's daughter shall
be brought to the king in a raiment of needlework," and that "her
clothing is of wrought gold."
Phrygia was above all the country most noted for embroideries of gold,
and for many years the name "Phrygian embroidery" was sufficient to
describe any highly decorated specimen. It is said that the name of the
vestment or trimming, the "orphry" is derived from the word
"Auri-phrygium," meaning "gold of Phrygian embroidery."
The Phrygians are credited with having taught the Egyptians the art,
while the Hebrews, while sojourning in the land of Egypt, learned the
art from their captors, and carried it with them all through their
journeys to the Promised Land, and their final settlement in Palestine.
The mention of gold and purple embroideries, both as garments and
hangings, is conspicuous throughout all Bible history. The Egyptian and
Greek arts are in almost all respects concurrent. The Phoenicians
carried examples of each country's work from one to another. After the
conquest of Greece the Romans absorbed her art, and developed it in
their own special style. They in turn carried their arts and crafts to
Gaul and Britain, and by degrees needlecraft permeated the whole of
Europe.
Dealing with the embroidered costumes of our own country, the ancient
records, illuminated Missals, and other contemporary data show that very
sumptuous were both the ecclesiastical and lay garments. Heavy gold
embroideries were worked on the hems of skirts and mantles. The Kings'
coronation robes and mantles were beautiful specimens of handicraft,
often after a king's death being given to the churches for vestments.
From Anglo-Saxon to Norman times extensive use was made of the work of
the needle for clothing, but after the Conquest till quite late in the
Tudor period little has been found to throw light upon the use of
embroidery for the lay dress of the time. All woman's taste and energy
seem to have been devoted to make monumental embroideries for church
use.
It was, indeed, not until the gorgeous period of Henry VIII. that
embroidery, as distinct from garment-making, appeared; and then
everything became an object worthy of decoration. Much fine stitchery
was put into the fine white undergarments of that time, and the
overdresses of both men and women became stiff with gold thread and
jewels. Much use was made of slashing and quilting, the point of
junction being dotted with pearls and precious stones. Noble ladies wore
dresses heavily and richly embroidered with gold, and the train was so
weighty that train-bearers were pressed into service. In the old
paintings the horses belonging to kings and nobles wear trappings of
heavily embroidered gold. Even the hounds who are frequently represented
with their masters have collars massively decorated with gold bullion.
The skirts of the ladies of this time were thickly encrusted with
jewels, folds of silk being crossed in a kind of lattice-work, each
crossing being fixed with a pearl or jewel, and a similar precious stone
being inserted in the square formed by the trellis. The long stomachers
were one gleaming mass of jewelled embroidery, the tiny caps or
headdresses being likewise heavily studded with gems.
During the reign of Charles I. a much daintier style of dress appeared.
Velvet and silken suits were worn by the men, handsomely but
appropriately trimmed with the fine "punto in aria" or Reticella laces
of Venice; and in this and the three succeeding reigns dress was of
sumptuous velvets, satins, and heavy silks, unembroidered, but trimmed,
and in Charles II.'s time _loaded_ with costly laces. It will be noted
that whenever lace is in the ascendant, embroidery suffers, as is
quite natural. Lace itself is sufficient adornment for fine raiment.
[Illustration: _Photo by E. Gray, Bayswater._
MRS. TICKELL AND HER SISTER, MRS. SHERIDAN, BY GAINSBOROUGH, SHOWING HOW
LACE WAS SUPERSEDED BY FILMY MUSLINS.
(_Dulwich Gallery._)]
As the use of the fine Venetian and Flemish and French laces declined,
and tuckers and frillings of Mechlin, Valenciennes, and Point
d'Angleterre appeared, the use of embroidery asserted itself, and the
pretty satins and daintily coloured silks of William and Mary, Queen
Anne, and more specially the earlier Georges, began to be embroidered in
a specially delicate fashion. Fine floss silk was used in soft
colourings, and whole surfaces were covered with tiny embroidered sprays
of natural-coloured flowers. Really exquisite stitchery was put into the
graceful honeysuckle, the pansy, carnation, and rose clusters which
decorated the dresses. The bodices, sacques, and skirts of the early
eighteenth-century ladies were embroidered with real artistic taste and
feeling. Some of the old dresses kept at South Kensington show the
exquisite specimens of this class of needlework; while the coats and
waistcoats of the sterner sex are not a whit behind the feminine
garments in beauty. The long waistcoats were most frequently made of
cream, pale blue, or white silk or satin, delightfully embroidered with
tiny sprays of blossoms, and fastened with fine old paste buttons; while
the coat, frequently of brocade, was heavily embroidered down the front
with three or four inches of solid embroidery of foliage and flowers,
oftentimes mixed with gold and silver threads. The tiny cravat of
Mechlin, cuff ruffles, knee breeches, silken hose, and buckled shoes,
along with the powdered hair, complete a costume that has never been
equalled, either before or afterwards, in beauty, grace, and elegance.
During the William IV. and the long Victorian period, with the exception
of a very fine embroidery on muslin, in the earlier part of it, nothing
but fine stitchery for the use of underwear was made, if we except the
hundreds and thousands of yards of cut and buttonholed linen which
seemed to have been the solace and delight of our grandmothers when they
allowed themselves to be torn away from their beloved Berlin-wool work.
To sit on a cushion and sew a fine seam appears to have been the
amusement of the properly constituted women of the early and
mid-nineteenth century.
XIV
SALE PRICES
XIV
SALE PRICES
Ancient embroideries so seldom come into the salerooms that it is rarely
an opportunity occurs for obtaining market prices, therefore Lady
Wolseley's sale on July 12, 1906, must be accepted as a standard.
Immense prices are asked at the antique shops, the dealers apparently
basing their prices on this sale by auction and _doubling_ them. I have
visited every shop in the trade in search of prices for this book before
procuring the auctioneer's catalogue, and was aghast at the terrific
sums asked for oftentimes indifferent specimens in comparison to what
was paid in the auction-room. During the past year anything from £15
15s. to £40 has been paid at Christie's for specimens of varying degrees
of perfection of work and condition. The latter state is even of greater
importance than the first, as no matter how good the work originally, if
discoloured and frayed, prices go down and down. Nearly all the finest
specimens of the Stump-work period are marred by the tarnishing of the
gold and silver threads. Instead of these being a glory and a great
enhancement to the embroidery, they prove a great disfigurement, and
thereby cause a considerable reduction in value.
The earlier petit point pictures, having little or no bullion in their
execution (and when cared for and not exposed to too much sunlight),
have kept their condition very well, and now are quite the favourite
kind for collection. It speaks much for the quality of the silks used
and the dyes of nearly three hundred years ago that the fugitive greens
and blues and delicate roses in these little works of art, as in the
superb tapestries of the same date, should be as fine as when made,
whereas to-day's colours are as fleeting as the glories of the rainbow.
* * * * *
The following are the principal prices in Lady Wolseley's sale:
£ s. d.
A small bag, red and gold brocade 2 15 0
A small bag or purse 5 0 0
A fine bead book-cover 6 0 0
Same, trimmed with silver lace (Harris) 6 16 0
A pair of embroidered shoes (Harris) 6 0 0
A small pocket-book, silk embroidery on
silver ground 8 17 6
A pair of Stuart shoes 9 19 6
A stumpwork picture, a most curious globe,
showing Europe, Asia, Africa, and America,
1648 (S. G. Fenton) 24 0 0
A double book of Psalms, embroidered binding
with Tudor rose 23 10 0
A petit point picture, 12-1/2 × 9-1/2 11 11 0
A small picture, partly sketched and partly
worked 4 14 6
A Stuart stump picture, 18 × 15-1/2 18 18 0
A Stuart stump picture, King under canopy,
17-1/2 × 14 14 14 6
A Stuart bullion picture, vase, in
tortoiseshell frame, 23 × 18 8 8 0
Same, with Herodias's daughter and John the
Baptist 5 5 0
A portrait of Henry, Prince of Wales, in
flat-stitch on rose satin 21 0 0
Another on satin, "Bathsheba," spangled,
17 × 13 6 16 0
Another on satin, birds on gold and silver,
13 × 13 (Harris) 13 13 6
A bead picture, 15 × 11 11 11 0
A stump and bead picture, 12 × 11 12 1 6
A small book-cover, 14 × 8 13 12 0
A Stuart stump picture, figures and silver
fountain, tortoiseshell frame, 22 × 16 15 15 0
A stump picture, lady with coral necklace,
18 × 12 23 10 0
A stump picture, lady under arch with a
black swan, 20 × 16 (Stoner) 34 0 0
A stump picture, King Charles as Ahasuerus
with Haman and Mordecai, and pearl-embroidered
carpet, 23 × 17 28 0 0
A stump picture, lady under a canopy, large
pearls, 13 × 19, (Stoner) 34 0 0
A Stuart Petit Point picture, Abraham and
Hagar 16 16 0
A Stuart petit point picture, "Judgment of
Paris," 24 × 17 25 0 0
A Stuart petit point picture, King Solomon
and Queen of Sheba 18 18 0
A beadwork picture, lady and gentleman, lion
and unicorn, 21 × 17 12 12 6
An embroidered picture, "Peter denying
Christ," 24 × 17 (S. G. Fenton) 9 19 6
A petit point picture, lake with boats and
figures, 15 × 12 (Harris) 14 14 6
A large stump picture, with horse and rider
and figures of four seasons 30 10 0
A stumpwork picture, four figures, castle
and birds and flowers (S. G. Fenton) 33 0 0
A picture sketched on white satin, not worked 4 15 0
A Stuart picture on canvas 9 19 6
A fine Stuart jewel-casket, numerous secret
drawers, covered in needlework (S. G. Fenton) 47 5 0
A Stuart box, covered with bullion-work
(S. G. Fenton) 12 12 0
A Stuart box, with embroidery and pearls
(Spero) 16 16 0
A Stuart box, coloured bullion, 10 × 6 9 9 0
An embroidered box, with portrait on lid
(S. G. Fenton) 53 11 0
A Stuart mirror, covered with stump
embroidery, representing Charles I. and his
Queen (illustrated), (Rosthron) 102 18 0
Another mirror, with painted and embroidered
figures (Harris) 34 0 0
A Charles I. mirror in old lace and gold
frame, with borders in embroidery, with
portrait, castle, and floral decoration 40 0 0
3 yds. 13 inches long, 12 inches deep,
Cornice in Petit Point, Christie's,
July, 1908 (Harris) 204 15 0
XV
CONCLUSION
XV
CONCLUSION
Needlework as a national art is as dead as the proverbial door-nail;
whether or not it ever regains its position as a craft is a matter of
conjecture. Personally, I incline to the belief that it is absolutely
extinct. The death-knell rang for all time when the sewing-machine was
invented. The machine has been a very doubtful blessing, as it has
allowed even the art of stitchery in ordinary work to slide into the
limbo of forgotten things. What woman now knows what it is to
"back-stitch" a shirt cuff, for instance, drawing a thread for guidance,
and carefully going back two or three threads in order to make a neat,
firm line of stitching? The sewing-machine does all this, and _does_ it
_well_, a clever machinist turning out more work in a week than a
seamstress in a year. If this were all, it would be no matter for
regret, but with the necessity for needlework has vanished the desire.
The lady quoted in Green's History is now non-existent. "She was a
pattern of sobriety unto many, very seldom seen abroad except at
church; when others recreated themselves at holidays and other times,
she would take her needlework, and say, 'Here is my recreation.'"
In spite of the many Schools of Embroidery, with a few notable
exceptions, nothing is done to raise the standard of embroidery above
making miserable little cushion-covers, table-centres, and suchlike
pretty fripperies for the temporary adornment of the house. The women of
Germany, Holland, Sweden, Italy, on the contrary, take a great interest
in the embroidery of the bed and table linen and the really artistic
embroidery of their national costumes. Nothing of this is seen in
England. Table linen is bought _ready hemmed_ at the shop. Dainty
tea-cloths and serviettes are purchased ready embroidered (by machine)
and trimmed with machine-made lace. Even _lingerie_ of all classes is
machine-made and bought by the dozen, instead of being made by the
daughters of the house.
The only hope of a revival lies in the various Art schools in the
country where designing for fine embroidery and lace is encouraged.
Unfortunately, however, equal facilities are offered for designing of
machine-made imitations. The Royal School of Needlework, not being a
Government institution, offers no encouragement to outsiders. It is in
the hands of a number of ladies, who manage it as they will; and
although very fine work is accomplished, they trust too much to modern
designers and artists who work out their own pet theories and hobbies.
If only they would put aside all theories and new ideas, and _go back_
to the best periods of English art both for their designs and execution,
even yet, with the intelligent use of the glorious examples in the
adjoining Museum, much might be done to revivify this expiring art.
FINIS
INDEX
INDEX
OLD LACE. (_For Needlework see page 384_)
A
Adelaide, Queen, 116
Age of lace, 108, 191
Alençon lace, 29, 78, 183, 191
Argentan lace, 29, 78, 191
Argentella lace, 29, 81, 192
Anne, Queen, 157
Appliqué, 175
Aylesbury, 158
B
Baby lace, 157
Barri, Madame du, 90
Beading, 41
Beads on bobbins, 161
Bed furnishing, 73
Bedfordshire lace, 37, 157
Belgian lace, 37
Black lace, 94
Blonde lace, 94
Bone lace, 41
Bobbins, 41, 158
Bolckow, Mrs., 54
Brides, 38, 127
Brussels lace, 37, 81, 104, 108, 123, 195
Brussels appliqué, 123
Brussels Vrai Reseau, 111
Buckinghamshire lace, 30, 35, 157, 158, 161
Burano, 54, 81
Buttonhole stitch, 195
C
Caen lace, 97
Carrick-ma-cross, 175
Catherine de Medici, 73
Chantilly lace, 37, 93
Charles I., 148
Charles II., 104, 148, 151
Charlotte, Queen, 161
Christie's sale-room, 115, 201
Colbert, 29, 73, 77, 102
Collar lace, 61
Collar, Medici, 53
Commonwealth, 148
Cordonnet, 41, 53, 77
Convents, 26
Coptic embroideries, 21
Couronnes, 41
Cravat, 151
Creevy Papers, 115
Cromwell, 151
Crotchet, 175
Cut worke, 73, 187
Cuthbert, St., 22
D
Danish lace, 134
Darned netting, 173
Debenham & Storr's sale-room, 54, 200
Dentelé, 41
Devonshire lace, 30, 162
Dorsetshire lace, 161
Drawn work, 21
Duchesse lace, 127
Durham Cathedral, 22
E
Ecclesiastical lace, 62
Edgings, 31
Edward IV., 144
Egyptian netting, 22
Elizabeth, Queen of England, 54, 147
Embroidered net, 172
English laces, 157
Empress Eugénie, 97
F
Falling collar, 148
Fausse Valenciennes, 89
Fillings, 40, 173
"Figure" motifs, 107
Flanders lace, 29, 103
Flat point (point plat), 50
Flax thread, 61, 107
Florence, 53
Flemish point, 103
Fond, 42
Fontange, 151
Fowler, Mrs., of Honiton, 166
France, point de, 74
French Revolution, 78
G
Genoese lace, 29
George I., 115
George II., 115
George III., 115
George IV., 112
German laces, 134
Ghent laces, 124
Gingles, 161
Gold and silver laces, 134
Greek laces, 103, 183
Groppo, Punto a, 62
Gros, Point de Venise, 53
Grounds, 37
Guipure, 42, 61
Gold lace, 22
H
Hamilton lace, 171
"Hayward's," 114
Henry VII., 144
Henry VIII., 147
High Wycombe, 158
History of lace, 21
Honiton, 30, 35, 165
Honiton appliqué, 30
Huguenots, 30
I
Identification of lace, 183
Irish lace, 30, 172, 176, 192
Italian lace, 45
J
James I., 148
James II., 151
Jours, 41, 81
K
Kenmare, Lady, 75
King of Rome, 112
L
"Lacis," 29, 73
Lappets, 112
Lawn, 93
Lewis Hill, Mrs., 201
Lille, 35, 91
Limerick, 124, 172
L'Onray, 76
Louis XIV., 29, 46, 73, 74
Louis XV., 78
Lyme Regis, 162
M
Machine-made ground, 172
Macramé, 37, 64
Malines, 127
Maltese, 137
Mantillas, 97
Marie Antoinette, 78, 123, 129
Massey-Mainwaring, Mrs., 200
Marie de Medici, 53
Marie Stuart, 171
Mary, Queen, 147
Mary II., 151, 152
Mechlin, 37, 127
Medici collar, 53
Mezzo Punto, 62
Milanese lace, 29, 62
Mixed lace, 37, 62, 124
Modern point lace, 124
Montespan, Madame de, 74
N
Napoleon I., 78, 112
National Library, S.K.M., 50
Needlepoint lace, 49, 73, 108
Network, ancient, 3
Newport Pagnell, 158
Normandy lace, 97
Norway, 134
Northamptonshire lace, 157
Nuns, 26
O
Oeil de perdrix, 83, 192
Origin of lace, 21
P
Palliser, Mrs. Bury, 9
Parchment, 25
Parasole, 50
Pearls, 97
Peter the Great, 134
Picots, 42
Pillow lace, 29, 37
Point lace, 25, 37
Point à réseau, 53
Point d'Aiguille (Brussels), 108
Point d'Alençon, 76
Point d'Angleterre, 102, 107, 192
Point appliqué, 123
Point de France, 46, 76, 188
Point de Gaze, 108, 124
Point de Venise, 49
Point de Venise Gros, 50, 53, 54
Point de Neige, 49, 50
Point plat, 50
Punto in aria, 25, 143
Punto a groppo, 37, 62
Punto tagliato a foliami, 53
Q
Quillings, 128
Quentin Matys, 103
Queen Anne, 157
Queen Mary II., 117, 127, 151
Queen Charlotte, 117, 128
Queen of Laces, 128
Queen Victoria, 116, 162
R
Raised stars, 49
Rose point, 49, 50
Renaissance, 53, 107, 188
Reseau, 36, 39
Reticella, 26, 50, 73, 103, 143, 188
Revolution, French, 78
Rococo, 78
Royal trousseaux, 81
Ruffles, 90
Russian lace, 134
S
St. Cuthbert, 22
Sale prices, 199
Samplers, 25, 187
Saxony lace, 134
Scotch lace, 171
Silk lace, 94
Smocks, 25
Spanish point, 133
Steinkirk, 151
Sumptuary law, 112
South Kensington Museum, 187
T
Tambour lace, 172
Tape lace, 62
Tatting, 175
Thread, 61
Toilé, 108
Trolly lace, 165
V
Valenciennes lace, 37, 89
Vandyke, 61, 148
Venice, 183
Vicellio, 50
Venetian lace, 50
Victoria, Queen, 162, 165
Vinciolo, 29, 50
Vraie Valenciennes, 89, 90
W
Westminster effigies, 147, 151, 152
William and Mary, 148, 151
"Wynyards," 115
William III., 115
Wiltshire lace, 115
Willis's Rooms, 201
Y
Youghal laces, 176
NEEDLEWORK
A
Athelstan, 213
Alb, 238
Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherborne, 213
Aelfled, Queen of Edward the Elder, 213
Angelica Kauffmann, 339
Art, the pioneer, 209
Ascagni cope, 223
Ascoli cope, 233
B
Bags, Stuart, 261
Bayeux tapestry, 214
Beads, Venetian, 274
Berlin wool pictures, 350
Bishop Fridhestan, 213
Black work, 284
Bologna cope, 223
Book-covers, 279
Bridgettine nuns, 227
C
Catworth cushions, 233
Catherine of Aragon, 248, 251, 284
Caskets, 269
Chain stitch, 227
Charles I., 265, 273
Charles II., 265, 273
Chasubles, 241
Christie's sale-rooms, 257, 265, 270, 367
City palls, 237
Church vestments, 238
Coventry, 228
Copes, 241
Crewel work, 329
D
Daroca cope at Madrid, 223
Dr. Rock, 227
E
Earl of Shrewsbury, 228
Editha, Queen of Edward the Confessor, 213
Egyptian embroidery, 210
Emma, Queen of Ethelred the Unready, 213
Elizabeth's wardrobe, 249
Elizabeth's Book at British Museum, 283
Elizabeth's Book at the Bodleian Library, 283
Elizabeth Hinde's Sampler, 309
Elizabeth Mackett's Sampler, 311
F