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Illustrated here is a painting said to be that of Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox (1515-1576). Some scholars suggest the painting is that of Mary Queen of Scots. Either person is shown wearing a beautiful black gown with underneath a white chemise decorated at the cuffs and collar with blackwork. The painting is dated to about 1546. The painter is believed to be William Scrots. The painting measures 178.4 x 95 cm.

The Textile Research Centre in Leiden has a woman's collar band from the island of Marken, the Netherlands. It measures 54 x 5 cm. It is made of cotton and embroidered with cross stitch and double running stitch.

The Textile Research Centre in Leiden has a cotton woman's blouse (locally called a pirahan) from Iran, which is decorated with metal thread hand embroidery. It dates to the first half of the twentieth century.

The Textile Research Centre in Leiden has a pair of girl's slippers from Morocco. Localled called babouch, they measure 18 x 9 cm. They are made of leather and hand embroidered with cotton.

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam houses a business card for the gold and silver thread shop of Christiaan Beuning, in Beuningen (Gelderland, The Netherlands). It measures 20.4 x 18.1 cm. The engraving is made by Caspar Luyken (1672-1708; see also De Borduurder) and dates to the late seventeenth century.

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam houses a knife sheath that dates to the early seventeenth century and was made in the Netherlands. It measures 22 x 2.5 x 3.4 cm. It is made of leather and covered with purple velvet and embroidered  with gold and silver thread, pearls and silver sequins.

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam houses a print by the French engraver, Abraham Bosse (1612-1676), showing a lady at her needlework. The print itself measures 21.3 x 14.8 cm.

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam houses a hand coloured lithograph published by the firm of Dollfus-Mieg & Cie in 1866, showing a lady wearing a dress ('robe caroline') embroidered with the buteh or paisley motif. The print itself measures 29.7 x 22.7 cm.

Etching embroidery was a style of working that reproduced line engravings. It was also sometimes used with painting. Etching embroidery, also sometimes known as print work, was carried out with fine black silk over a sepia coloured ground material. It was very popular in Europe in the first half of the nineteenth century. Later in the nineteenth century it was mostly used in outline, rather than for filling-in the illustrations.

Book cushions were used to protect the often precious and highly decorated book (a Bible or Prayer Book) covers while the book was held open upon an altar or lectern. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London houses an English, padded book cushion that dates to about 1625-1650. It measures 28.5 x 20.5 x 9 cm.