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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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Medieval embroidery
During the middle ages embroidery was a popular way of decorating luxury textiles. The rich and powerful medieval Church owned huge amounts of embroidered textiles, often donated by wealthy. Documents show that embroidery was commissioned for clothing for royalty and the nobility, but very little of this survives. Furnishings were probably decorated with applied embroidered motifs.
Opus Anglicanum
From the middle of the 1200s to the middle of the 1300s, England was the centre of very fine embroidery, known as Opus Anglicanum, or English work which was exported all over Europe. Opus Anglicanum embroidery usually covers the whole of the cloth on which it is worked, leaving only small areas of the background visible.
Changes to techniques
From the end of the 1300s, the techniques used by embroiderers began to change because of competition from European embroidery workshops, and changing requirements. In the 1400s, Italian weavers were producing luxury silk and velvet patterned fabrics and importing them to England in large amounts. A fine example with metallic threads and motifs of camels is used in the Erpingham Chasuble.
Applied work
Embroiderers adapted their work by developing simpler techniques which could be produced more quickly and applied to the fine Italian cloths. This included applied work - small motifs embroidered on linen then cut out and stitched onto a finer cloth background, or larger bands of embroidery used as orphrey bands sewn onto the background cloth.
Designs
Unlike today, designers of embroidery are often not known. Professional embroiders certainly worked with artists for specifically commissioned pieces, and there was a repertoire of designs which they used. Embroiderers may have also adapted or modified the designs. Patterns, styles and motifs tend to reflect the fashions of the time and the same styles appear in different art forms. The Fleur de Lys motif which our featured craftsperson [link to section] has used is similar to a number of medieval embroideries with similar applied shapes including Cardinal Morton's cope.
Production
At this period, embroiderers in professional urban workshops produced most of the highest quality embroidery. Workshops were mostly in London and were usually run by men and employed both men and women. The embroiderer's work was regulated by informal Guilds, to ensure the highest standard of work.
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