The Italian cross stitch is made up of a cross stitch that covers three vertical and three vertical (canvas) threads, within a square formed by four straight stitches.
Jane Morris (née Burden; 1839-1914) was the wife of William Morris (1834-1896), and the model and muse for both her husband and for the Pre-Raphaelite English poet, painter and illustrator, Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882). Jane Morris was also known to be an accomplished embroideress.
ULITA in Leeds holds a Cretan cushion cover, measuring 45 x 35 cm. It has a border pattern of carnations, lappets and leaves. In the midle is a vase with stylised flowers framed by four leaves. In the corners are four rosette-shaped motifs. The embroidery is worked in herringbone, satin and split stitch. The colours and patterns are characteristically Cretan.
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ULITA in Leeds holds a Chinese, hexagon shaped, embroidered 'cloud collar' (40 x 35 cm), apparently for a woman's coat. It is made of blue silk, decorated with metal thread couching. The embroidered motifs are stylised flowers, resembling peonies. It is said to date to the late nineteenth century. The collar was collected in Hong Kong.
ULITA in Leeds (UK) houses a Chinese, late eighteenth century apron panel. It measures 54 x 57.5 cm and is made of silk. The main Daoist design is that of the boy Liu Haichan playing with the toad. The ground fabric is a red silk satin, now faded to a gold colour. The embroidery is carried out with chain, satin, and seed stitches.
ULITA in Leeds (UK) houses a Chinese, nineteenth century apron panel. It measures 76 x 45.5 cm and is made of silk, cotton and metallic threads. The design is based upon the theme of the 'promising life of the children'. The main theme shows the mythical qilin carrying a boy, together with two other boys.
ULITA in Leeds (UK) houses a formal agbada robe for a Yoruba man in Nigeria (c. 1940; 129 x 257 cm). Such a garment is related to the riga robe worn by the Hausas all over West Africa. The robe is made of 48 hand woven strips of etu ('guinea fowl', for its speckled appearance) cloth, which is the very valuable, dark-indigo dyed cotton or silk of the region, and which is characterised by the insertion of white warp (or weft) threads.