Chats on Old Lace and Needlework Part 11

A Point de Venise lappet a reseau, 46 inches long, 5-1/4 inches wide 22 0 0

Point de Venise tr.i.m.m.i.n.g, 8 yards long 4 inches deep 65 0 0

A piece of flat Venetian insertion, 4 yards 3-3/4 inches deep 92 0 0

A Rose Point flounce, 4 yards long 5 inches deep 200 0 0

A Rose Point flounce, 3 yards 31 inches long 22 inches deep 600 0 0

A Rose Point flounce, 4 yards 7 inches long 24 inches deep 540 0 0

A Rose Point flounce, 3 yards 32 inches long 15 inches deep 560 0 0

A Rose Point flounce, 4 yards 11 inches long 18 inches deep, and a pair of sleeves en suite 650 0 0

A Rose Point flounce, 4 yards 3 inches long 11-1/2 inches deep 510 0 0

A raised Point de Venise square, 1 yard 24 inches long 1 yard 6 inches wide 450 0 0

An Old Brussels ap.r.o.n, 41 inches wide, 37 inches deep 145 0 0

A specimen piece of early Valenciennes, 2 yards long 7 inches deep 42 0 0

The following prices have been given by the South Kensington authorities for specimens shown:--

s. d.

A Venetian Point altar-frontal, 8 3 feet 350 0 0

A Venetian chasuble, stole, maniple, and chalice veil 200 0 0

A 2 yards 5/8 yard Venetian flounce 125 0 0

A Gros Point collar 21 0 0

A Brussels lappet 23 0 0

A drawn-thread jacket 10 10 0

Linen cutwork tunic 20 0 0

[Ill.u.s.tration: EGYPTIAN EMBROIDERY.

Found in a tomb at Thebes.]

CHATS ON NEEDLEWORK

I

OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY

Needlework pioneer art--Neolithic remains--Earliest known English specimens--Bayeux tapestry.

While the subject of lace-making has been treated as almost cosmopolitan, that of embroidery, in this volume, must be regarded as purely national! I purposely refrain from introducing the embroideries of other countries, other than mentioning the ancient civilisations which shared the initial attempts to decorate garments, hangings, &c.

(of which we really know very little), and shall confine myself to the needlework of this country, more especially as it is the one art and craft of which England may be unfeignedly proud. It is a.s.sumed that needlecraft was the pioneer art of the whole world, that the early attempts to decorate textiles by embroideries of coloured silks, and the elaborate use of gold and silver threadwork, first suggested painting, sculpture, and goldsmith's work. Certainly early Egyptian paintings imitated embroideries, and we have good ground for supposing that stained gla.s.s was a direct copy of the old ecclesiastical figures or ancient church vestments. The Neolithic remains found in Britain show that at a very early period the art of making linen-cloth was understood. Fragments of cloth, both of linen and wool, have been discovered in a British barrow in Yorkshire, and early bone needles found at different parts of the country are plentiful in our museums.

There is no doubt that we owe much of our civilisation to the visit of the Phoenicians, those strange people, who appear to have carried all the arts and crafts of ancient Babylon and a.s.syria to the wonder isles of the Greek Archipelago, to Egypt, to Southern Spain, and to Cornwall and Devonshire. These people, dwelling on the maritime border of Palestine, were the great traders of their age, and while coming to this country (then in a state of wildest barbarism) for tin left in exchange a knowledge of the arts and appliances of civilisation hitherto not understood. The Roman Invasion (45 B.C.) brought not only knowledge of craftsmanship but also Christianity. St. Augustine, to whom the conversion of the Britains is credited, carried with him a banner embroidered with the image of Christ. After the Romans had left the country, and it had become invaded by the Celts and the Danes, and had again been taken possession of by the Saxons, a period of not only rest but advancement arrived, and we see early in the seventh century the country prosperous and settled. Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherborne, wrote a poem in which he speaks of the tapestry-weaving and the embroidery which the women of England occupied their lives.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A LENGTH OF THE FAMOUS BAYEUX TAPESTRY.]

The earliest specimen of embroidery known to have been executed in England is that of the stole and maniple of St. Cuthbert, which is now treasured at Durham Cathedral. These were worked by Aelfled, the Queen of Edward the Elder, Alfred the Great's son. She worked them for Bishop Fridhestan in 905 A.D. Her son Athelstan, after her death, visited the shrine of St. Cuthbert, at Chester-le-street, and in an inventory of the rich gifts which he left there, there is recorded "one stole with a maniple," amongst other articles. These very embroideries were removed from the actual body of St. Cuthbert in 1827. They are described by an eyewitness as being "of woven gold, with s.p.a.ces left vacant for needlework embroideries." Exquisitely embroidered figures are in niches or clouds. The whole effect is described as being that of a fine illuminated MS. of the ninth century, and indescribably beautiful.

Another great prelate, St. Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, designed embroideries for the execution of pious ladies of his diocese (924 A.D.).

Emma, Queen of Ethelred the Unready, and afterwards of Canute, designed and embroidered many church vestments and altar-cloths, and Editha, wife of Edward the Confessor, embroidered the King's coronation mantle.

The great and monumental Bayeux tapestry--which is miscalled, as it is _embroidery_--was the work of Queen Matilda, who, like Penelope, wove the mighty deeds of her husband and king in an immense embroidery. This piece of needlecraft comes upon us as a shock, rather than an admiration, after the exquisite embroideries worked by and for the Church. It is interesting, however, as a valuable historic "doc.u.ment,"

showing the manners and customs of the time. The canvas is 227 feet long and 20 inches wide, and shows events of English history from the accession of Edward the Confessor to the defeat of Harold, at Hastings.

It is extremely crude; no attempt is made at shading, the figures being worked in flat st.i.tch in coloured wools, on linen canvas. Certainly it is one of the quaintest and most primitive attempts of working pictures by needlecraft.

The evidence of the costumes, the armour, &c., are supposed to tell us that this tapestry was worked many years after the Conquest, but it can be traced by doc.u.mentary evidence as having been seen in Bayeux Cathedral as far back as 1476. In the time of Napoleon I. it was removed from the cathedral and was actually used as a covering for a transport waggon. Finally, however, it was exhibited in the Musee Napoleon, in 1803, and was afterwards returned to Bayeux. In 1840 it was restored and relined, and is now in the Hotel de Ville at Bayeux!

[Ill.u.s.tration: KING HAROLD.

(_From the Bayeux Tapestry._)]

II

THE GREAT PERIOD OF EMBROIDERY

II

THE GREAT PERIOD OF EMBROIDERY

"Opus Anglicanum"--The Worcester fragments--St.

Benedict--Legend of Pope Innocent--The "Jesse" cope--The "Syon"

cope.