A collection of particularly beautiful fillings seen in a Georgian copy of a very old example.
I Has double rows of outline stitch, framing spaces filled with stars in back stitch, the centre being solid in shading stitch.
II Outline of rope stitch and cross trellis of the same. Stars of back stitch couched down with contrasting wools.
III Part of a beautiful stem, outline of chain bars of button stitch in double wool and spots in loop stitch.
IV The two small petals filled solid with stem stitch, three rows of which are used for outlining the long petal, the centre being filled with rings in buttonhole stitch and darned background.
V Is carried out in satin and stem stitch, with back stitch bars couched with contrasting wool.
THESE two sketches were taken from an 18th century (?) curtain done in solid crewel work, in somewhat bright colouring. The brown veining which occurs in I and in nearly all the leaves was most effective; in this plate is also shown a good example of basket stitch stem work. The acorn cup was worked in close French knots.
II The large leaf is a good example of solid work. The contour was in stem stitch, the serrated edges turned over on to the brown surface were in shading stitch, the red veinings in satin stitch.
THESE two leaves are of a bold, simple character that is easy to suggest, and proves a great relief in a design that is somewhat over-detailed. The large one is carried out in browns and greens. The turned over serrated edge is in satin stitch of graduating shade. The heavy veining is somewhat unusual in that it is carried out in laid stitch, dark green in the centre and light green outside. The stars are worked in dark green. The outline to the lower leaf is in two shades of green, the palest continuing to outline the remainder of the large leaf.
The small leaf is worked solid in shading stitch in blue with brown satin stitch edge, the veining is brown as is also the contour of the upper point.
WE have here a large leaf very characteristic of the complicated detail introduced by the conventional treatment of foliage in early English work.
The curved point of the leaf is outlined in rope stitch in a dark shade of soft bronze green, the heavy double cross lines are in crewel stitch and of a lighter shade of bronze in which the square lattice is also carried out, the French knots in the centres are of a dark olive green.
The round medallion is outlined similarly to the above but in darker shade, the centre being worked solid in slanting satin stitches set in rows, each row taken at the opposite angle to its neighbour; the next leaf is outlined inside, in two rows of chain, the turnover of the leaf being solid satin stitch in three shades of green. The stem is double back stitch, and the other leaves are worked solid in shading stitch in graduated shades of green.
The two small leaves, I & II example: 1st, rope stitch with alternate fillings of darning and outline stitch, and 2nd, rows of outline stitch for one-half the back leaves and one-half grey knot stitch and blue snail trail in alternative, the end leaf being in rows of outline of brown colour.
A portion of the terra firma of the curtain.
The strawberries and clear parts of the ground are worked in French knots.
The plants are very useful in breaking up the solid masses of dark colour, and the stag serves to introduce into the base of the work the colouring of the acorns above (on plates 1 and 2).
As a rule this base of a design repeats all the colourings used throughout.
EXAMPLE of a bird introduced into the late 17th century work.
It is executed in simple feather stitch for the tail feathers and satin stitch very evenly shaded. The dark centres of the short feathers are in crimson, the rest in shades of buff, the breast feathers also worked in satin stitch are in putty colour, legs and beak are brown and the crest in crimson.
QUAINT early example of a parrot, head in knot stitch, breast feathers block stitch, and wings in shaded single feather stitching.
The butterfly and grub are found in all early examples.
GROUP of animals usually disporting on the terra-firma at base of large designs.
Worked always in long and short stitch.
SQUIRREL in rich brown colour, with cream chest worked in shading stitch, tail in overcasting for the centre and furry part in single feather stitch with stem stitch outline.
PRINTED BY
W. W. CURTIS LTD.,
CHEYLESMORE PRESS,
COVENTRY
By M. Jourdain. With Fifty-seven Illustrations and a Frontispiece in colour. Cloth, foolscap 4to, 10s. 6d. net.
"A really charming book."—Pall Mall Gazette.
"A godsend to collectors of antique needlework."—Sir James Yoxall, M.P., in London Opinion.
"The author treats the subject in a fresh and stimulating manner, making the whole book thoroughly enjoyable and instructive reading, and consequently this book, coming as it does at an opportune moment, when art needlework shows such healthy signs of revival, should prove of great interest to collectors and needleworkers. The book is replete with a splendid selection of plates from original pieces in the possession of many eminent collectors."—Art Chronicle.
"A delightful book on a delightful theme, valuable alike to the collector, the artist-craftsman (or woman), and the womanly woman in the new or old-fashioned sense of the term."—Sunday Chronicle.
"To the lay reader who has never handled needle or bobbin; to the general reader who reads for enjoyment and has in consequence some nodding acquaintance with Queens like Elizabeth, Mary, known as bloody, and the other Mary who is not known at all; to this general reader such a work as Miss Jourdain's may afford a good deal of the leisurely enjoyment that is sought in books. He will make the acquaintance of Queen Elizabeth's petticoat, of the bed hangings that concealed or decorated the slumbers of the one Mary or the other."—Miss Violet Hunt in the Daily Chronicle.
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