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Issue 3
VICTORIAN PASSION FOR EMBROIDERY
BY LINN SKINNER
The Victorian age, if we consider it to be the years of Queen
Victoria's reign, was a long period of time (1837-1901) spanning many changes
in fashion, design and aesthetic notions.
The embroidery we often think of as "Victorian", as well as the general concept
of "Victorian Embroidery", is often, in my opinion, unfairly maligned as tasteless,
gaudy, overly-embellished and all the other sorts of condemnation available to
critics of the fashion and style of the 19th century.
I admit
I have been less than enthusiastic about this period of embroidery in the
past, but I have been taking a closer look in recent months and have been pleasingly
surprised. After the great embroideries of the Opus Anglicanum and the 17th
century riches of opulence, I believe the 19th century was the next great "golden
age" of embroidery. It shares with other great ages of fine needlework the
expansion of trade, the availability of new and exciting materials and a growing
group of stitchers who had available leisure time to engage in the art of embroidery.
These stitchers created a enormous market for materials and designs. They
made specialist needlework shops and manufacturers possible. Despite
the invention of the first practical embroidery machines (the Schiffli and Cornely)
machines) in 1865, hand embroidery flourished, the Royal School of Needlework
was founded in 1872 and the term "Art Needlework" was coined.
19th Century needleworkers had all sorts of new materials and their work was the
precursor of our current interest in mixed-media. They stitched with fibers
from exotic plants including aloe. They attached beads of all sorts, porcupine
quills, straw, mother of pearl, beetle wings and feathers. They created
texture with silk ribbons and chenille threads as well as felt, brocades, satins,
etc. They embellished fabrics with decorative stitches,
rich metallics and silks.
The 19th century stitcher was interested in embroidery from other countries and
read about these designs and techniques in the monthly magazines which made
their debut at this time.
True, the Victorian stitcher sometimes overdid the decoration of her home and
person with needlework of every sort, but what one of us has not thought "what
are we to do with another picture, or cushion cover, etc." Still we
are compelled to keep on stitching. We pursue that new design or new technique
until our homes and those of our loved ones are full of the work of our clever
hands. What, I wonder will the late 21st century embroiderer have
to say about our era?
Let's all take a good look at the exciting things the Victorian embroiderer was
stitching.
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