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 Tapestry |
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Embroidery |
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Brief history | |
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Exhibition examples | ||||
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Featured craftsperson | |
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Featured craftsperson
Gina Barrett
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Gina Barrett is a designer and illustrator as well as an expert textile worker. She is particularly interested in medieval textiles and researches production techniques of tablet weaving and braiding as well as embroidery. She will be demonstrating 15th Century tablet weaving at the V&A on Wednesday 19th November 2003. | |
| Gina in her medieval outfit. |
www.gina-b.co.ukTechniques used to create this example
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Embroidered motifs to be applied
to a decorative ground were usually embroidered onto plain linen.
Two layers of linen are used, with a coarser woven linen underneath
for strength and a finer woven linen on the top. The linen is stretched on a wooden frame, held with linen thread. |
| A pattern for the motif is drawn onto a piece of parchment (treated and prepared animal skin) or paper, using a quill pen and ink. |  |
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In order to transfer the pattern from the parchment, holes are pierced along the lines of the design using a pin. This view shows the reverse. |
| The parchment pattern is pinned onto the linen. A linen bag, containing powdered charcoal is prepared. |  |
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The bag of charcoal dust is patted onto the parchment, and a small amount will come through the holes. |
| The parchment with charcoal dust. |  |
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Having blown away excess charcoal dust, the parchment is removed and the dots of charcoal can be seen on the linen. |
| Using a quill pen and ink to a medieval recipe the dots are joined up on the linen to form the finished design. Designs for Opus Anglicanum were probably drawn straight onto the linen. |  |
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This image shows the start of worked areas of
the embroidery. The pink and purple areas are worked with stem stitch.
For an animated lesson on stem stitch click here |
 Close up of stem stitch |
The gold and silver areas are created using couching.
Click here for an animated lesson on couching
For information about the dyes used click here
| Further development of the embroidery with all
purple areas complete including a small area in satin stitch. All the pink areas and silver is complete, and the gold is being added. Click here for an animated lesson on satin stitch |
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| The complete embroidery. |  |
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Silver spangles have been added to the purple satin-stitched area. Spangles are metal sequins, formed from beaten wire, often from gold or silver. These spangles are silver and were produced by Benton and Johnson who still make these and the metallic threads by traditional techniques. They were often used to add sparkle to applied embroidery. |
| The embroidered motif is cut out ready to be applied to the base fabric. |  |
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The motif is then stitched to a silk brocade
fabric. The edges of the motif are covered with a silk braid, made
by a method called fingerloop braiding. For information on dyes used for this braid click here Additional goldwork and silver spangles have been added to the silk ground. |
| Close up of the bottom of the motif, showing stem stitch, satin stitch, goldwork, silverwork, silver spangles and silk fingerloop braid. |  |
Materials
Frame
Simple wooden frames for embroidery appear in illustrations in a range of sizes. They are square or rectangular, rather than round like modern ones.
The frame is based on contemporary illustrations of embroidery and is handmade from oak. Using period woodworking techniques. Frames could be any size, to suit the size piece being worked and the number of embroiderers working on it. There are no known embroidery frames surviving.
Silks
During the 1400s, silk was being produced on a large scale in Italy. The production of silk had been developed in China many centuries earlier, and had to spread to Europe via Spain.
Embroiders favoured filament silk, wound direct from the silkworm’s cocoon. Filament silk has a fine lustre and good strength. Spun silk, which is far more common today, is made of short lengths of filament silk spun together. The resulting thread is fluffier and has a less shiny, lustrous finish.
Dyes
The most common dyes in use in England were:
• Woad, a plant, very similar to indigo. This gives a good range of blues. The blue of the braid on the embroidery was produced using woad.
• Madder, a root – producing reds, oranges and pinks. It was imported to England in huge quantities. Madder was used for the rust background in the tapestry and the pink of the braid on the embroidery.
• Weld, a native plant whose leaves give a yellow dye. Silk would be dyed with both weld and then indigo to produce greens.
• A more expensive dye, probably used for the finest silks is Kermes, a beetle, similar to the South American dye, cochineal. This gives a bright rich pinky red and a number of other shades. The purple of the motif was produced with cochineal. The pink part of the motif was created using Brazilwood, an imported dye which was sometimes used.
Linen
Linen cloth, from the flax plant, was produced in England and much of Northern Europe before cotton was introduced from the Americas in the 1500s. It was used for household and personal linen as well as a base fabric for embroidery. It was woven in a range of qualities. Some embroideries seem to have used unbleached linen background.
Needles
Embroidery needles were probably brass and of very good quality, and probably as fine as modern needles. They were expensive and precious, and preserved with care. They could be sharpened and straightened – as they tend to bend in use.
Further reading and research
There are relatively few books about medieval embroidery, and even fewer which concentrate on embroidery of the 1400s rather than the earlier Opus Anglicanum. Many books about the history of embroidery start with Opus Anglicanum and skip 1500s.
Probably the best way to find out about gothic embroidery is to visit the V&A and look at the work yourself.
King, D. Opus Anglicanum, Medieval English Embroidery, Arts Council 1963
Beck, T. The Embroiderer's Story, Needlework from the Renaissance to the Present Day. David & Charles, 1995
Like many others, it starts with Elizabethan work, but interesting none the less and has useful information about equipment.
Christie, Mrs A.G.I. English Medieval Embroidery, Oxford University Press, 1938
Covers embroidery up to 1400.
Gardner, S (ed) Embroidery Stitches, Country Bumpkin Publications, 1997
A very useful Australian reference book for stitch technique, although doesn’t attempt to cover the history.
Rhodes, M The Batsford Book of Canvas Work. Batsford Books, 1983
Very good book - includes history and modern work, stitches, lots of black and white pictures.
Staniland, K. Medieval Craftsmen; Embroiderers. British Museum Press 1991
A small but comprehensive book giving the history of makers and production as well as the embroidery techniques and motifs. It covers appliqué, thread counted embroidery, quilting and couching. Staniland discusses patrons and artists, guilds and techniques across Europe and has illustrations of embroidery from collections all over the world.
Synge, L. Antique Needlework. Blandford Books, 1982
A short but well illustrated chapter which concentrates on Opus Anglicanum, but also includes good historical information about other forms, particularly on secular embroider for the Royal household.
Tongerere: Basiliek van O.L.-Vrouw geboorte
1. Textiel van de vroege middeleeuwen tot het concilie van Trente.
Peeter Leuven, 1988
This book, in Dutch, contains a number of illustrations of embroidered purses, many of them pre-15th century, but is a good reference for medieval embroidery in general.
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