Early 17th Century Block printing on Linen for Embroidery

I looked around a bit more on the Victoria & Albert museum site and found some other linen pieces that the V&A states were block printed.   I've listed the Accession no's below for your reference.

The very early pieces (14th century) were from Germany and Italy, although in the notes it states that by the last quarter of the 15th century this process was also being used in England.  I don't believe these early pieces were intended for embroidery.  They appear to be just decorative fabrics and remind me a little of today's Toil de Jouy fabric.  This is a small sampling, and in my mind, doesn't rule out the possibility that embroidery patterns were also being block printed ( V&A's term) onto linen for embroidery.  I'd need to research it further to make a conclusion.

The early 17th century pieces in my list are for embroidery, and they are from England.  The V&A is terming it "block printing" on piece T.174B-1931, although if you read the descriptive plate photographed with the coif, there it states that it was printed from engraved plates.  Curiouser and curiouser...

Here's the list of pieces at the V& A:

Acc No.         Title                    Origin           Date

1745-1888     Printed Linen     Germany     1350-1400
7027-1860     Printed Linen     Italy            1350-1400
T.21-1946      Coif                   Britain        1600-1629
T.174B-1931 Linen              England         Early 17th c.

Tudor Rose & Ladybug Pinwheel

I am designing a piece for a class I will be teaching at Hand Dyed Fibers in Williamstown, PA next year. Vikki Clayton (proprietor) has asked that I teach a class on making a lady bug like the one on my Elizabethan purse, shown right.  She's stitched using Spiral Trellis stitch making her three dimensional.  So now, what to put her on....

Recently, I came across the blog about Quaker pinballs and pinwheels made in the mid/late-1700s and 1800s (Needleprint.blogspot.com) .  I love the shape of the pinwheels and have been thinking about making one.  They're round, not spherical like the pinballs, about 2 to 3" in diameter.  They do have depth, about 3/8" to 1/2" typically, I'd imagine.  You match the depth to the ribbon you finish the wheel off with.  Ok, so now I know what I'll put my Ladybug on....

When I envision a pinwheel, I see it with an Elizabethan twist, of course.   I see a Tudor Rose in black threads as the backdrop, to make my LadyBug pop in all her Red, 3D Glory.

From what I've read the pinwheels were knitted. But, I want to stitch one.  I bought Erica Uten's book.  The book states that if you want to embroider the designs, you can make them into rectangular pillows which will be charming in their own way.  Apparently she thinks you can't make a pinwheel from a stitched piece.  Hmmm....  I imagine the linen would give you a problem when you wrap it around a cardboard disk.  It would have a tendency to bunch or gather at the edges that a knitted fabric wouldn't.   Mine must be embroidered, since it's for an embroidery class.  And because I've already envisioned it and creating it is the only way to get it out of my head!

So I tried a mock up using a scrap piece of the cambric weight linen I use for my scarves, see photo right.  (I didn't stitch the strawberry blossom for the mock up, it was an old test embroidery that I didn't care for).  It works!  The weave of the linen is a bit wonky, but I think if I starch the linen before wrapping it that will be enough to correct the "wonki-ness".  Also, I'll be more careful whilst mounting the finished product.

 Ok, now I have the fabric, but this throws a bit of a wrench in my plans.  I had planned to stitch a Tudor Rose using a different blackwork fill pattern for each petal.  Like the roses seen on the sleeves of women's smocks in Elizabethan portraits.  Cambric linen is 60 count so my class will probably not want to count threads!  I would love to see a Tudor Rose done in Speckling Technique.  Those curving petals would be perfect for shading!  Has it ever been done?

In researching, I found a coif at the V&A that includes a Tudor Rose stitched in Speckling Technique.  So now I have historical authentication.  (The Accession # is 21-1946 if you'd like to look it up in V&A collections.)  By the way, under the details for this coif on the Victoria & Albert Museum site, it states that the pattern had been block printed right on the linen and then embroidered.  The coif was made in early 1600s.   That's the first I've read about patterns being printed onto the linen, as opposed to hand drawn, in the early 1600s.  I found this on another early 17th century embroidered piece in the V& A:


"By the early 17th century, simplified patterns and outlines for embroidery were being provided by print sellers. Many of these designs were inspired by the illustration of birds, animals, insects and plants found in illustrated natural history and botanical books, which were very popular at the time.

This was a commercial provision for the needs of the amateur embroiderer; the print sellers not only provided books and separate sheets of embroidery designs but also patterns printed directly on cloth as seen here. The use by amateur embroiderers of prepared designs was known from at least the 16th century. Mary Queen of Scots, while imprisoned in Lochleven Castle in 1568, petitioned for 'an imbroderer to drawe forthe such worke as she would be occupied about'."

 I should address why I need authentication for the embroidery when I'm about to put an Elizabethan design on an18th/19th century pinwheel.  I'm not a re-enactor, nor am I reproducing Elizabethan pieces.  I want to embroider as authentically as possible because I love Elizabethan embroidery techniques.  But, I don't live in Elizabethan times, so I like to give them a twist that updates them to my time and makes them mine.

So now I have the embroidery stitches, the colors, and the finished project in mind.  Off to the drawing board to work it out in detail.   More later.....

Exciting Update about Trevelyon 1608 Miscellany

Thomas Trevelyon embroidery patterns now available online!



The other day I posted about the Trevelyon 1608 Miscellany reprint available for $750 from Folger Shakespeare museum in DC.



It appears that the museum has now made this book available to view online.   It looks like there are over 600 pages.  Each of the Folger's online pages has about 50 pages from Trevelyon's book.  Folger's page 7 is where the embroidery patterns seem to start, though there are some scattered amongst the earlier pages.


 Check out the link below (copy & paste it into your browser):



http://luna.folger.edu/luna/servlet/view/search?sort=Call_Number%2CAuthor%2CCD_Title%2CImprint&search=Search&q=trevelyon&QuickSearchA=QuickSearchA&os=300

You can download pages by bringing up the page you want, then clicking Export in the upper right hand corner.  Or there's an option to use them in a presentation format.  Ok, I'm rating high on the geek-o-meter bc I'm so excited by this I can hardly type!

Enjoy!

Christmas Ornament/Purse Inspired by Trevelyon's 1608 Miscellany

 This design is actually a detail from a panel-type drawing that was published in Thomas Trevelyon's 1608 Miscellany.

The last I read about it, there are actually 2 extant manuscripts, one owned by the Folger Shakespeare Museum in Washington, DC, the other was in a private collection.  The Folger Shakespeare Museum has printed a reproduction of their copy, available for $750 on their website.  That's not the copy I have - lol !  Ask your local museum or research library to purchase a copy of it!  I'd love to see this book.

There is a much less expensive route to get some of Trevelyon's patterns.  The 41st Volume of the Walpole Society includes some of his patterns.  You may be able to purchase a used copy (which I did) or possibly get it on an ILL.




I made this mini-purse (2-1/2"wide by 4" high) as a Christmas tree ornament 2 years ago.  As you can see, it's a fully functioning purse, as well.  The back has the same design as the front.

Linen:  50 ct Kingston
Threads by Mulberry Silk of England
her website:
http://mulberrysilks-patriciawood.com/store/

Stitches used:
Spiral Trellis for berries
Detached Buttonhole on leaves
Couched #5 smooth passing gold "thread" for branches  (my first attempt at couching and I should have couched closer together.  It looked great while on the embroidery frame, but shifted after assembly)
Van Dyke for the veins on the leaves.
Heavy Broad for purse outline (the red)
Paillettes

I used real gold thread and paillettes.   When hanging on my Christmas tree, the paillettes catch the tree lights and sparkle beautifully.