Garden of False Learning from The Table of Cebes
This large and monumental embroidery on canvas is worked in wool and silk. It is based on a woodcut, dated 1547, by the German artist, David Kandel of Strasbourg (c. 1520 - c. 1596). The techniques that are used are the cross stitch and tent stitch. It measures 280 x 388.9 cm.
Saint Martin and the Repentant Horsemen
A panel (20.3 x 15.9 cm) with embroidery carried out in the or nué tradition, popular in the Netherlands in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, is housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It dates to the early fifteenth century and represents the medieval story of Saint Martin and the Repentant Horsemen. The embroidery is worked in silk and silver thread on a linen background.
Chair Seat Canvas Work
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London houses a chair seat that is embroidered in wool and some silk on a canvas ground material in tent stitch, using counted thread work. It dates to the first half of the eighteenth century and was made in England. It measures about 55 x 65 cm.
Lady Jane Allgood, 1721-1776
Lady Jane Allgood (1721-1778) of Nunwick Hall, Northumberland, England, is portrayed with a large embroidery of tulips and anenomes, reportedly intended for some chairs and screens at the estate. The chairs and screens with the embroideries are apparently still at Nunwick Hall.
The Dying Douglas at the Battle of Langside
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London houses an embroidered picture illustrating 'Mary Queen of Scots mourning the dying Douglas at the Battle of Langside'. The embroidery is based on an oil painting by Charles Landseer (1799-1879). The battle was fought on 13th May 1568, and the defeat of Mary's loyal forces led her to flee from Scotland to England (and to her subsequent imprisonment by Elizabeth I).
Edgitha, Wife of Edward the Confessor
Edgitha (Ealdgyth; Edith of Wessex; c. 1025 - 1075) was the wife of (Saint) Edward the Confessor (c. 1042-1066) and the sister of King Harold II, who died at Hastings in 1066. She appears to have been an accomplished embroideress.
Battle of Maldon Commemorative Embroidery
The Battle of Maldon was fought in 991 near Maldon, Essex, England, between Earl Byrhtnoth and his Anglo-Saxon forces, and an invading army of Danes. The Anglo-Saxon king at the time was King Æthelred the Unready. When the Anglo-Saxons were defeated, they were forced to pay a high sum to the Scandinavians, heralding a long period of regular payments to the Danes.
Etheldreda Banner
The Etheldreda Banner was worked in 1910 by Miss Yams of Bayswater. St. Etheldreda (Æthelthryd, or Audrey) was the daughter of King Anna of East Anglia. She founded the abbey church of Ely in 672. She died in c. 680 from a tumour in the neck; after that, on St. Audrey's day (23 June), (cheap) lace necklaces were sold (Saint St. Audrey's lace), hence the word 'tawdry'. The banner is still used during processions at Ely Cathedral.
Civic Crest of Schagen, The Netherlands
The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam houses a balloting bag with the civic crest of the town of Schagen, The Netherlands. It dates to the seventeenth century and is made of purple velvet, lined with leather. It is applied with the crest, which is embroidered with silk and silver thread. The bag is provided with a woollen cord and tassel. It measures 34 x 42 x 25 cm.
Gloves of King Edward VI
Alnwick Castle, England, houses the embroidered gloves supposedly worn by King Edward VI at his coronation in 1547. The gloves form part of the collection owned by the Duke of Northumberland. Edward VII was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour.
