I’m off this week to see an exhibition of medieval embroidery at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. So you can come too, I’ve compiled some images of this sort of embroidery and some of the books we have about it.
These are some of the famous pieces that the museum has put in the exhibition:
The V & A has the best collection of these embroideries that remain in the world. However, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, here in New York, also has some very good pieces.
They aren’t on display often because they are so fragile, but the workmanship in these is incredible. Many hundreds of stitched in silk or in gold, all of which make a designed surface that looks painted.
“Opus Anglicanum” was a form of embroidery created in England that had its heyday between 1100 and 1350 C.E. It consisted of figures worked in fine, directional stitching in shaded silks, usually in split or long and short stitches, and embellished with couched gilt threads. These threads were used so skillfully that they created animated figures with a lot of character.
This form of embellishment made these works some of the most desirable fabrics in the western world. They were given as diplomatic gifts and sold worldwide. They show up in the inventories of several popes and kings of France as well.
Being FIT, we have the best books for the study of this kind of thing. Two of the best are:
Staniland, Kay. Embroiderers. London: British Museum Press, 1991.
Schuette, Marie and Sigrid Muller-Christensen. A Pictorial History of Embroidery. London: Praeger, 1964.
Have a good week!