Chapter VII: Part III: I.--Stitchery of Pictures in Imitation of Tapestry and the Like

"Tent-worke, Rais'd-worke, Laid-worke, Froste-worke, Net-worke,
Most curious Purles or rare Italian Cut-worke,
Pine Ferne-stitch, Finny-stitch, New-stitch, and Chain-stitch,
Brave Bred-stitch, Fisher-stitch, Irish-stitch, and Queen-stitch,
The Spanish-stitch, Rosemary-stitch, and Morose-stitch,
The Smarting Whip-stitch, Back-stitch, and the Cross-stitch.
All these are good, and these we must allow,
And these are everywhere in practise now."
_The Needles Excellency._--JOHN TAYLOR.

A Writer on the interesting subject of the stitchery of embroidered pictures and their allies, is confronted at the outset with a serious difficulty in the almost hopeless confusion which exists as to the proper nomenclature of stitches. It is hardly too much to say that nearly every stitch has something like half a dozen different names, the result of re-invention or revival by succeeding generations, while to add to the trouble some authorities have assigned ancient names to certain stitches on what appears to be wholly insufficient evidence of identity.

That stitches known as _opus Anglicanum_, _opus plumarium_, _opus peclinum_, and so on, were used in embroidery as far back as the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, is proved by ancient deeds and inventories, but what these stitches actually were we have no means of deciding with any degree of certainty.

We shall, therefore, in these notes describe the stitches under the names by which they are most commonly known, or which seem to describe them most clearly.

Background-Stitches

When the backgrounds of pictures in raised or stump embroidery are not of silk or satin left more or less visible, they are usually worked in one or other of the innumerable varieties of cushion-stitch, so-called, it is said, because it was first introduced in the embroidering of church kneeling-cushions. Foremost among these ground-stitches comes tent-stitch, in which the flat embroidered pictures of a slightly earlier period are entirely executed. Tent-stitch is the first half of the familiar cross-stitch, but is taken over a single thread only, all the rows of stitches sloping the same way as a rule, although occasionally certain desired effects of light and shade are produced by reversing the direction of the stitches in portions of the work. An admirable example of evenly worked tent-stitch is shown in Plate XV., although here, of course, it is not a purely background-stitch, as it is adopted for the whole of the work.

We have here the true imitation of Tapestry as regards stitch, but not so as regards composition, for it is seldom that in Tapestry we find such a lack of proportion as exists in this case between figures and accessories, tulips and carnations standing breast-high, and butterflies larger than human heads. The harpy, which appears on the lower portion of the lid, is an exceptional form of decoration. The backs of caskets are always the least faded portions, as they have been less exposed to the sun and light; such is the case here, although the whole is in a fine state of preservation. It is one of the few dated pieces in existence, being signed "A. K.," 1657.]

Another commonly used grounding-stitch is that known in modern times as tapestry or Gobelin-stitch. This is not infrequently confused with tent-stitch, which it much resembles, save that it is two threads in height, but one only in breadth.

Next in order of importance to these two stitches come the perfectly upright ones, which, arranged in a score of different ways, have been christened by an equal number of names. An effective kind, used for the background of many Stuart pictures, consists of a series of the short perpendicular stitches, arranged in a zig-zag or chevron pattern, each row fitting into that above it. This particular stitch, or rather group of stitches, has been named _opus pulvinarium_, but its claim to the title does not seem very well supported. Other and more modern names are Florentine and Hungary stitch. A neat and pretty cushion-stitch is shown in the background of Fig. 62 on an enlarged scale. This is taken from a quaint little needle-book dated 1703; the design itself being worked in tent-stitch.

Among other stitches used for grounds are the long flat satin-stitch familiar in Japanese embroideries of all periods, and laid-stitches, _i.e._, those formed of long threads "laid" on the satin or silk foundation, and held down by short "couching" stitches placed at intervals. Laid-stitch grounds, however, are oftener seen in foreign embroideries, especially Italian and Spanish, than in English examples.

Although tapestry embroidery backgrounds are in most cases worked "solid," that is, entirely covered with close-set stitches forming an even surface, they are occasionally found to be filled in with some variety of open-stitch, as exemplified by Plate XV. Sometimes the lace-like effect is produced by covering the foundation material with a surface stitch; the first row being a buttonhole-stitch, worked into the stuff so as to form the basis of the succeeding rows of simple lace or knotting stitches. The last row is again worked into the foundation. When, however, a linen canvas of rather open mesh was the material of the picture or panel, it was not unusual to whip or buttonhole over the threads with fine silk, a process resulting in a honeycomb-like series of small eyelet holes, as shown in the enlargement, Fig. 63. This is taken from an early nineteenth-century sampler, but the stitch is precisely similar to that seen in embroideries of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Figures in Raised Needlework

The high relief portions of the embroidery known as "stump" or "stamp" work, which is popularly supposed to have been invented by the nuns of Little Gidding, appear to have been almost invariably worked separately on stout linen stretched in a frame, and applied when completed. The design was sketched, or transferred, by means of something equivalent to our carbonised paper, on the linen, padded with hair or wool kept in position by a lattice-work of crossing threads, and the raised foundation, or "stump," thus formed covered with close lace-stitches, or with satin or silk, which, in its turn, was partly or entirely covered with embroidery, generally in long-and-short stitch. When the figures were finished a paper was pasted at the back to obviate any risk of frayed or loosened stitches, and they were cut out and fastened into their proper places in the design which had been drawn on or transferred to the silk, satin, or canvas foundation of the actual picture. The lines of attachment are adroitly concealed by couchings of fine cord or gimp.

In some pieces of stump embroidery the heads and hands of the figures are of carved wood covered in most instances with a close network of lace-stitch, or with satin or silk, on which the eyes and mouth are either painted or embroidered. In the more elaborate specimens, however, the satin is merely a foundation for embroidery in long-and-short or split stitch, the latter being a variety of the ordinary stem-stitch, in which the needle is brought out through, instead of at the side of, the preceding stitch. The features of faces worked in either of these stitches are generally indicated by carefully directed lines of stem or chain stitching worked over the ground-stitch. This latter when well worked forms a surface scarcely distinguishable from satin in its smoothness. The Figs. 65 and 66, which are enlargements of portions of the embroidery illustrated in Fig. 64, show examples of this mode of working faces.

The bright colouring of this picture is due to the greater portion of it having been worked in beads, in which those of strong blue and green predominate, only the hair and hands being worked in needlework, the former in knotted stitches. Beadwork seems to have been extensively utilised in seventeenth-century pictures, but it does not figure in Samplers until a late date, and then only to a minor extent. It is illustrated in Fig. 52, and is about a century old, having been included in the Fine Art Society's Exhibition.

The central figures in this piece represent Charles II. and his Queen, Catherine of Braganza, who is represented with that curious lock of hair on her forehead to which the King took so much objection when he saw it for the first time upon her arrival at Southampton. The portraits within the four circles have not at present been recognised. The late owner of this piece purchased it in Hammersmith, and from the fact that Queen Catherine had a house there it is possible that it may have once been a royal possession. Size, 13-1/2 × 17-1/2.]

Knot-Stitches

Knot-stitches--these, by the way, have no connection with the knotting-work popular at the end of the seventeenth century--are introduced freely into the stump-work pictures to represent the hair of the human figures, together with the woolly coats of sheep and the sundry and divers unclassified animals invariably found in this type of embroidered picture. These knots or knotted stitches range from the small, tightly-worked French knots which, when closely massed, produce a sufficiently realistic imitation of a fleece, to the long bullion knots formed by twisting the silk thread ten or twelve times round the needle before drawing the latter through the loops. The sheep (enlarged from Fig. 64) in Fig. 67 shows very clearly the effect of the massed French knots. The longer knot-stitches are found to be arranged in even loops sewn closely together, or are worked loosely and placed irregularly to meet the requirements of the design. Knot-stitches of all kinds are seen, too, in the foliage, grass, and mossy banks, although for these couchings of loops of fine cord, untwisted silk and gimp, as well as of purl, seem to have been equally popular. At a later period, that is, towards the middle of the eighteenth century, chenille replaced knot-stitches, couched loops, and purl for the purpose, but it proved much less satisfactory both as regards appearance and durability.

Looped-stitches are also used to indicate flowing ringlets, for which the bullion knots would be too formal, as may be seen in Figs. 65 and 66. The loops in these examples are of partly untwisted gimp. In flat embroidery, it may be mentioned, the hair is frequently worked in long-and-short or split stitch, or in short, flat satin-stitches, the lines whereof are cleverly arranged to follow the twists of the curls. In this way the hair of the lady, shown on an enlarged scale in Fig. 66, is worked.

Plush-Stitch

This is a modern name for the stitch used in the Stuart period embroideries for fur robes and the coats of certain beasts. It is also known as velvet, rug, and raised stitch. To carry it out a series of loops is worked over a small mesh or a knitting pin, each loop being secured to the foundation stuff by a tent or cross-stitch, and when the necessary number of rows is completed, the loops are cut as in the raised Berlin wool-work of early Victorian days. In this stitch the ermine of the king's robe in Plate XVIII. is worked, the black stitches meant to represent the little tails having been put in after the completion of the white silk ground.

Embroidery in Purl and Metallic Threads

Purl, both that of uncovered metal and that variety wherein the corkscrew-like tube is cased with silk, was generally cut into pieces of the desired length, which were threaded on the needle and sewn down either flat or in loops, according to the design. The greater part of the beautiful piece of embroidery illustrated in Plate XXIII. is carried out in coloured purl, applied in pieces sufficiently long to follow the curves of the pattern. A small example of looped purl-work is shown in the left-hand upper corner of Fig. 66.

Purl embroidery, when at all on an elaborate scale, was worked in a frame and "applied," although the slighter portions of a design were often executed on the picture itself. The system of working all the heavier parts of such embroideries separately and adding them piece by piece, as it were, until the whole was complete, accounts, of course, for the extreme rarity of a "drawn" or puckered ground in old needlework pictures and panels.

Besides purl, gold and silver "passing" often appears in certain sections of the work. "Passing" is wire sufficiently thin and flexible to be passed through instead of couched down on the foundation material, and with it such devices as rayed suns and moons are often embroidered in long-and-short stitch. A thicker kind of metallic thread was employed for couching, this being made in the same manner as the Japanese thread so largely used in modern work, save that a thin ribbon of real gold took the place of the strip of gilt paper as a casing for the silk thread.

Water is sometimes represented by lengths of silver purl stretched tightly across a flat surface of satin or laid-stitches, but not infrequently, instead of the purl, sheets of talc are laid over the silken stitchery. The water in Susannah's bath (Plate XIV.) is covered with talc, hence it appears light coloured in the reproduction.

When a metallic lustre was needed, the plumules of peacocks' feathers were occasionally employed, especially in the bodies of butterflies and caterpillars, but these unfortunately have almost invariably suffered from the depredations of a small insect, and it is seldom that more remains of them in old embroideries than a few dilapidated and minute fragments, often barely recognisable for what they are.

Lace-Stitches

The needle-point lace-stitches, so profusely used in the dresses and decorative accessories of the figures in Stuart embroideries, are, as a rule, of a close and rather heavy type. Sometimes they are found to be worked directly on the picture or panel as surface stitches, in the manner already described as adopted for backgrounds; but it was undoubtedly more usual to work the ruffles, sleeves, flower-petals, butterfly-wings, etc., separately, fastening them into their proper places when finished. Stiffenings of fine wire were generally sewn round the extreme edge of any part intended to stand away from the background. A most interesting variety of lace-stitches may be seen in the costume of the boy shown in the enlargement (Fig. 69), taken from the panel reproduced in Fig. 64. The small illustration (Fig. 61) heading this chapter illustrates quite a different kind of lace-stitch, to wit, the hollie-point, which, originally confined to church embroidery, was during the seventeenth century used to ornament under-garments and babies' christening-robes.

This embroidery, which bears the initials "M. C." and the date 1657 in pearls, is notable for the variety of stitches which find a place upon it. The central figures are dressed in elaborate costumes, the lady's robe of yellow satin being embroidered with coloured flowers and decked with pearls, laces, and flowers, an attire altogether inconsistent with the Puritanical times in which she lived.]

Bead Embroidery

The actual stitchery in the old embroideries that are worked entirely, or almost entirely, in beads, is of an extremely simple description. In the majority of pieces the work is applied as in the case of the stump embroideries, the beads being threaded and sewn down on the framed linen, either flatly or over padding. In the less elaborate class of embroideries, however, the beads are sewn directly on the satin ground; but when this plan has been adopted the design is rarely padded at all, although small portions of it, such as cravats, girdle-tassels, and garter-knots, are found to be detached from the rest of the work. This is for the most part executed with long strings of threaded beads couched down in close-set rows. Plate XXI. represents an excellent specimen of flat and raised bead-work combined with purl embroidery. See also Fig. 52.

Groundwork Tracings

The first stage of an embroidered picture is well illustrated in Fig. 70, which is worthy of careful study. The original is a piece of satin measuring 9-1/2 × 8 in., and on this the design has been traced by a pointed stylus, the deep incised lines made in the thick material having been coloured black, probably by a transferring medium similar to carbonised paper. The shadows have been added with a brush, evidently wielded by an experienced hand, for not only are they gradated in the original, but there are no signs of any difficulty in dealing with the flow of colour on the absorbent textile. The subject of the picture is said to be the Princess Mary and the Prince William of Orange.

In no Embroidery in the whole of this volume has a more determined endeavour been made to imitate Tapestry than in the little piece here illustrated. So deftly has this been carried out that experts have declined to believe that it is needlework, or that the gradation of blues in the background have been obtained except through stain or dye. The workmanship of that portion of the sky over which the bird flies appeared also too fine for manual execution. An examination of the back has disproved both suppositions. The piece is noteworthy for the border at the top, which is a link connecting it with the Sampler. A date, 1735, can be distinguished through the stain in the upper right corner.]

Implements Used

It is probable that some details in the picture--acorns, fruit, and the like--were worked with the aid of the curious little implements shown in Fig. 71. These are thimble-shaped moulds of thin, hard wood, which have two rows of holes pierced round their base. Through these holes are passed the threads which form the foundation of the rows of lace or knotting-stitches that are worked with the needle round and round the mould until it is completely covered. The knotted purses of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were possibly made on moulds of this kind. The plate shows two of these queer little objects, as well as a long spool or bobbin with ancient silks of various colours still wound on it, the spool-case belonging to it, and two pieces of knotted-work in different stages of development.

A specimen of stitchery of various kinds, much of it in high relief, and of purl work. The reproduction, whilst translating very faithfully the colours, gives but little idea of the relief. Size, 12 × 16-1/2.]

II.--The Stitchery of Samplers, with a Note on their Materials

"Sad sewers make sad samplers. We'll be sorry
Down to our fingers'-ends and 'broider emblems
Native to desolation--cypress sprays,
Yew-tufts and hectic leaves of various autumn
And bitter tawny rue, and bent blackthorns."
_The Soldier of Fortune._--LORD DE TABLEY.

Cut and Drawn-Work

The open-work stitchery, which is so important and pleasing a feature of the seventeenth-century sampler, is of two kinds; that is, _double_ cut-work--the Italian _punto tagliato_--in which both warp and woof threads are removed, save for a few necessary connecting bars, and _single_ cut-work--_punto tirato_--wherein but one set of threads is withdrawn. The first type (which is probably the "rare Italian cut-work" mentioned in "The Needle's Excellency") is the immediate ancestor of needle-point lace, and is the kind that is oftenest met with in the oldest and finest samplers; the second approaches more nearly to the drawn-thread embroidery worked both abroad and at home at the present day.

In executing real double cut-work, after the surplus material has been cut away, the supporting or connecting threads are overcast, the edges of the cut linen buttonholed, and the spaces within this framework filled in with lace-stitches, simple or elaborate. In the best specimens of samplers the effect is sometimes enhanced by portions of the pattern being detached from the ground, as in the upper part of the beautiful sampler illustrated in Fig. 72.[14] These loose pieces usually have as basis a row of buttonhole-stitches worked into the linen, but in some examples the lace has been worked quite separately and sewn on. The mode of working both double and single cut-work is shown plainly in the two enlargements (Figs. 73 and 74), which are of parts of samplers probably worked about 1660.

There is a third and much simpler type of open-work occasionally found on seventeenth-century samplers, which is carried out by piercing the linen with a stiletto and overcasting the resulting holes so as to produce a series of bird's-eye or eyelet stitches. All three varieties of open-stitch are frequently seen in combination with that short, flat satin-stitch, which, when worked in a diaper pattern with white thread or silk on a white ground, is sometimes called damask-stitch. This pretty combination of stitches appears in Plate VI., and also in the enlargement (Fig. 74) already referred to.

Back-Stitch

This stitch was largely used in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries for the adornment of articles of personal clothing, as well as of quilts and hangings, hence it is natural that it is prominent in the samplers of the period. In the older specimens the bands of back-stitch patterns are worked with exquisite neatness, both sides being precisely alike; but in those of later date signs of carelessness are apparent, and the reverse side is somewhat untidy. In no sampler examined by the writer, however, has the back-stitch been produced by working a chain-stitch on the wrong side of the linen, as is the case in some of the embroidered garments of the period.

The samplers illustrated in Plates III. and VII. are noticeable for their good bands of back-stitching. A small section of Fig. 5 is shown on an enlarged scale in Fig. 75. In some modern text-books of embroidery, it may be added, the old reversible or two-sided back-stitch is distinguished as Holbein-stitch.

Alphabet-Stitches

The stitches used for the lettering on samplers are three in number, to wit, cross-stitch, bird's-eye-stitch and satin-stitch. Of the first there are two varieties, the ordinary cross-stitch, known in later years as sampler-stitch, and the much neater kind, in which the crossed stitches form a perfect little square on the wrong side. This daintiest of marking stitches is rarely seen on samplers later than the eighteenth century.

The satin-stitch alphabets are worked in short flat stitches, not over padding, according to the modern method of initial embroidering, and the letters are generally square rather than curved in outline. The bird's-eye-stitch, when used for alphabets, varies greatly in degree of fineness. In some instances the holes are very closely overcast with short, even stitches, but in others the latter are alternately long and short, so that each "eyelet" or "bird's-eye" is the centre, as it were, of a star of ray-like stitches.

Darning Samplers of unpretentious form date back a long way, but those where they were conjoined to decoration, as in the specimens reproduced here, appeared to cluster round the end of the eighteenth century. Not only are a variety of stitches of a most intricate kind set out on them, but they are done in gay colours, and any monotony is averted by delicately conceived borderings. Whilst "Darning Samplers" cannot be considered as rare, they certainly are not often met with in fine condition. They are a standing testimony to the assiduity and dexterity of our grandparents in the reparation of their household napery.]

Darning-Stitches

The stitches exemplifying the mode of darning damask, cambric, or linen had usually a sampler entirely devoted to them, and at one period--the end of the eighteenth century--it seems to have been a fairly general custom that a girl should work one as a companion to the ordinary sampler of lettering and patterns. The specimen darns on such a sampler are, as a rule, arranged in squares or crosses round some centre device, a bouquet or basket of flowers for instance, or it may be merely the initials of the worker in a shield. The two samplers (Fig. 76 and Plate XXIV.) are typical examples of their kind, although perhaps the ornamental parts of the designs are a little more fanciful than in the majority of those met with.

The best worked--not necessarily the most elaborately embellished--of this particular class of sampler has small pieces of the material actually cut out and the holes filled up with darning, but in inferior ones the stuff is left untouched, and the darn is simply worked on the linen, tammy cloth, or tiffany itself. This is a very much easier method and the appearance is better; but the darns so made are, after all, but imitations of the real thing. For the damask darns fine silk of two colours is invariably used, and in the properly worked examples both sides are alike, save, of course, for the reversal of the damask effect, as in woven damask.

The centre designs in the two samplers illustrated are worked in fine darning-stitches of divers kinds, outlined with chain and stem stitches. Here and there a few other stitches are introduced, as in the stem of the rose in Fig. 76, where French knots are used to produce the mossy appearance. The centre basket in this sampler is worked in lines of chain-stitching crossing each other lattice fashion. Both the samplers have the initials of their workers, and in that shown in Fig. 76 the date (1802) also, neatly darned into one of the crosses formed by the damask patterns.

Darning-samplers are usually square, or nearly square, in shape, and are simply finished with a single line of hem-stitching at the edge, but some of the older ones are ornamented with a broader band of drawn-work as border; while a few have examples of drawn-work, alternating with squares and crosses of darning, in the body of the sampler. A small section of such a sampler, dated 1785, is illustrated on an enlarged scale in Fig. 77. It has a series of small conventional leaf patterns worked in single drawn-work, and edged with a scalloping worked in chain-stitch with green silk. The ground of this particular sampler is thin linen, but the muslin-like stuff known as tiffany is that used for the foundation of nine darning-samplers out of ten.

Tent and Cross Stitches

Neither tent-stitch nor tapestry-stitch appears to have been largely introduced in sampler-embroidery at any period; still, portions of a few specimens worked during the early and middle years of the eighteenth century are executed in one or other of these stitches. Tent-stitch, for instance, plays an important part in the wreath border of Fig. 8. The beautifully shaded leaves are all worked in this way, as are many of the flowers, other varieties of grounding or cushion-stitches being used for the rest of the border. The Commandments, which the wreath enframes, are worked in cross-stitch. This last-named stitch in its earliest form is worked over a single thread, and produces a close and solid effect when closely massed, or, as may be seen in many sampler maps, very fine lines when worked in single rows. Ordinary cross-stitch taken over two threads is, of course, the familiar stitch in which nineteenth-century samplers are entirely worked, whence arises its second name of sampler-stitch.

A pretty and--in sampler embroidery--uncommon stitch is that in which the crowned lions in the samplers of Mary and Lydia Johnson (Figs. 35 and 36) are worked. This stitch is formed of two cross-stitches superimposed diagonally, and since its revival in the Berlin wool era has been known by the names of star-stitch and leviathan-stitch.

Various Stitches

Besides the stitches already enumerated and described, sundry and divers others are found on samplers of various periods. Satin-stitch, for instance, is used for borders and other parts of designs, as well as for alphabets. Long-and-short stitch, frequently very irregularly executed, seems to have been popular for the embroidery of the wreaths and garlands that make gay many of the later eighteenth-century samplers. Stem-stitch, save for such minor details as flower-stalks and tendrils, is not often seen; but the wreath-borders of a limited number of eighteenth-century samplers are done entirely in this stitch, worked in lines round and round, or up and down, each leaf and petal until the whole is filled in. Stem-stitch, it should be explained, is, to all intents and purposes, the same as "outline" or "crewel" stitch. The latter name, however, is likewise applied to long-and-short or plumage stitch by some writers on embroidery.

Laid-stitches may also be included in the list of stitches occurring occasionally in samplers, although it is rarely met with in its more elaborate forms. A sampler dated 1808 has two baskets (of flowers) worked in long laid-stitches of brown silk couched with yellow silk, the effect of wicker-work being produced with some success by this plan, and similar unambitious examples appear in some samplers of rather earlier date.

The portion of a sampler shown in Fig. 2 is interesting by reason of the fact that it is worked in knots, a form of stitchery comparatively rare, save in those unclassifiable pieces of embroidery which are neither pictures nor samplers, but possess some of the features of both.

Materials

Linen, bleached or unbleached, but, of course, always hand-woven, is the foundation material of the early samplers. It varies greatly in texture, from a coarse, canvas-like kind to a fine and closely woven sort of about the same stoutness as good modern pillow-case linen. The stitchery of these oldest samplers is executed in linen thread or a somewhat loosely twisted silk, often scarcely coarser than our nineteenth-century "machine silk," although, on the other hand, a very thick and irregularly spun type is occasionally seen.

About 1725 linen of a peculiar yellow colour and rather harsh texture came into vogue; but this went out of fashion in a few years, and towards the end of the eighteenth century the strong and durable linen was almost entirely superseded by an ugly and moth-attracting stuff called indifferently tammy, tammy cloth, bolting cloth, and, when woven in a specially narrow width, sampler canvas. The stitchery on samplers of this date is almost invariably executed with silk, although in a few of the coarser ones fine untwisted crewel is substituted. Tiffany, the thin, muslin-like material mentioned in connection with darning-samplers, was at this period used also for small delicately wrought samplers of the ordinary type.

Early in the nineteenth century very coarsely woven linen and linen canvas came into fashion again, and for some time were nearly as popular as the woollen tammy; while, about 1820, twisted crewels of the crudest dyes replaced in a great measure the soft toned silks. Next followed the introduction of cotton canvas and Berlin wool, and with them vanished the last remaining vestige of the exquisite stitchery and well-balanced designs of earlier generations, and the sampler, save in a most degraded form, ceased to exist.

Index

Abraham on sampler, 58. Fig. 16

Acorn, 58, 68, 109. Plate III. Fig. 16

Adam and Eve on samplers, 21, 62, 109;
on embroideries, 128

Africa, map of, 97. Fig 41

Age of sampler, how to estimate, 15

Age of sampler workers, 80

Agur's prayer. Plate XI.

Alphabets on samplers, 19, 22, 84;
stitches, 164

America, samplers from, 24, 97 (Plate XIII., Figs. 42-51);
map of, 92. Fig. 39

Anchors, Fig. 23

Animals on samplers, 65

Ascension Day samplers, 38

Background-stitches, 144

Back-stitches, 109, 163. Plates III. and VII. Fig. 75

Bead embroidery, 158 (Plate XXII.);
sampler, Fig. 53

Belief, the, 28

Belgian samplers, 110

Biblical subjects in tapestry embroideries, 128

Bird's-eye-stitch, 164

Borders to samplers, 75

Boston, U.S.A., samplers from, 89. Fig. 50

Boxers, 61. Plate III. Fig. 18

Boys, samplers by, 84. Fig 34

Brontës, samplers by, 28. Figs. 10, 11, 12

Brooklyn, U.S.A., sampler from, 89. Fig. 47

Buttonhole-stitch, 146

Calcutta, samplers from, 35. Fig. 3

Carnation, see "Pink"

Caterpillar, 140

Charles I., Plates XVI. and XVIII.

Charles II., Plate XXI.

Children, samplers by, 80

Christening samplers, 109

Christmas samplers, 38

Colouring of samplers, 52

Commandments, the, 27. Fig. 9

Corn blue-bottle, 78

Coronet, see "Crowns"

Costume on tapestry embroideries, 132

Crewel-stitch, 170

Cross-stitch, 109, 166

Crowns on samplers, 68. Figs. 20-22

Crucifixion on samplers, 108, 109

Cupids on samplers, Fig. 23

Cushion-stitch, 144. Fig. 62

Cut and drawn work stitches, 161. Figs. 4, 7, 16, 24, 42, 72, 73

Darned samplers, Fig. 76. Plate XXIV.

Darning-stitches, 110, 165. Plate XXIV. Figs. 76, 77

David and Abigail, 128, 130;
and Goliath, 130

Deer, see "Stags"

Design on samplers, 51

Dogs on samplers, Fig. 17. Plate III.

Drawn-work, 58, 135. Fig. 16

Dress, value of tapestry embroideries as patterns of, 132

Dutch samplers, 110

Earliest samplers, 10, 13, 16

Easter samplers, 36

Embroiderers' Company, 127

Embroideries in the manner of tapestry pictures, 123;
subjects of, 127;
as mirrors of fashion, 132

England, maps of, 94. Fig. 40.

Esther and Ahasuerus, 128, 130. Plate XVIII.

Evolution of samplers, 12, 15

Eyelet-stitch, 146. Fig. 63

Fig on samplers, 68. Plate III.

Fine Art Society's Exhibition of samplers, 4, 28, 66, 89, 119;
of embroideries, 123

Fleur de Lys on samplers, 21

Florentine-stitch, 145

Flowers on samplers, 65;
on tapestry embroideries, 139

Foreign flavour in embroideries, 131

Foreign samplers, 104

Fountains on tapestry embroideries, 136

French knot-stitches, 151. Figs. 21 and 67

French samplers, 111

Gardening, illustrations of, on tapestry embroideries, 135

German samplers, 108

Glove, embroidered. Fig. 55

Gobelin-stitch, 145

Gold and silver passing, 154

Grubs on tapestry embroideries, 140

Hagar and Ishmael, 129. Plate XV.

Hearts on samplers, 75. Figs. 21-23

Hollie point lace cap, Fig. 61;
stitch, 157

Honeysuckle on samplers, 66, 79. Fig. 30

Horticulture, see "Gardening"

House on samplers, 118 (Figs. 14, 46, 48);
on tapestry embroidery, 135. Fig. 56

Human figure, 57

Hungary-stitch, 145

Implements used in stitchery, 159. Fig. 71

Indian samplers, 113. Figs. 3 and 52

Inscriptions on samplers, 23, 91

Italian samplers, 111

Judgment of Paris, 128. Fig. 56

Knot-stitches, 109, 151. Figs. 21 and 67

Lace-stitches, 154. Figs. 61, 68-70

Laid-stitch, 146

Last of the samplers, 117

Lettering on samplers, 22

Leviathan-stitch, 169

Life and death, inscriptions referring to, 41

Lion on sampler, 65. Fig. 44

Literature sampler, 115

Little Gidding, nuns, 131, 149

Long-and-short-stitch, 170

Looped-stitches, 152

Lord's Prayer, the, 27

Maidstone Museum, tapestry picture. Plate I.

Map samplers, 92. Figs. 39-41

Materials on which samplers were worked, 171

Mermaid on sampler, Fig. 16

Metal thread, 153

Milton, mention of sampler by, 14

Mitford, Miss, on samplers, 118

Mortlake tapestries, 100

Moses in the bullrushes, 129

Mustard or canary-coloured canvas, 55

National events, samplers as records of, 90

Need of samplers, 11

Needle's excellency, the, 115, 116, 143

Numerals on samplers, 22

Oak, see "Acorn"

Origin of samplers, place of, 88

Ornament, sampler, 51

Ornamentation, earliest date of various forms of, 21

Orpheus, 128

Parents and preceptors, duties to, 46

Passing, 154

Passion Week samplers, 38

Patternes of cut workes, 115

Peacocks' feathers, use of, 154

Pearls, seed, on tapestry embroideries, 133--_note_

Pears, 109

Pineapple on samplers, 68

Pink on samplers, 66, 78, 109. Plates III., IV., VI. Fig. 28

Place of origin of samplers, 88

Plush-stitch, 153. Plate XVIII.

Portuguese samplers, 112

Poverty, inscriptions concerning, 48

Prayers on samplers, 39

Preceptors, duties to, 46

Purl, 153. Plate XXIII.

Quaint inscriptions, 49

Religious festivals, verses commemorating, 36

Rhymes on samplers, see "Verses"

Royal personages on tapestry embroideries, 133

Royal school of art needlework, 120

Rose on samplers, 58, 66, 109 (Figs. 7, 16, Plate VI.);
on tapestry embroideries, 113

Ruskin, John, on needlework in museums, 2;
on samplers, 3;
sampler by grandmother of, 3, and Plate X.

Samplers. Parts I. and III. (Sec. II.)

Satin-stitch, 122, 141, 146

Scottish samplers, 71, 84, 89. Figs. 21, 34

Sex of sampler workers, 80

Shakespeare, mention of sampler by, 13

Sidney, Sir P., mention of sampler by, 14

Signatures on samplers, 23

Size of samplers, 84

Smoke (chimney) on embroideries, 135. Fig. 57

Spanish samplers, 112

_Spectator_ on decay of needlework, 117

Spies to Canaan, 21

Split-stitch, 150. Figs. 65, 66

Stag on samplers, 21, 65, 80. Figs. 6, 17. Plates III., VIII.

Star-stitch, 169. Figs. 35, 36

Stem-stitch, 150

Stitchery of tapestry pictures, 143;
of samplers, 161

Stitches, background, 144;
cushion, 144;
tent, 144;
Gobelin, 145;
upright, 145;
Florentine, 145;
Hungary, 145;
satin, 146;
open, 146;
buttonhole, 146;
eyelet, 149 (Fig. 63);
split, 152 (Figs. 65, 66);
stem, 150;
knot, 151;
looped, 152;
plush, 153;
purl, 153;
passing, 154;
lace, sampler stitches, 154;
hollie point, 157 (Fig. 61);
cut and drawn-work, 161;
back-stitch, 163 (Fig. 75);
alphabet-stitch, 164;
darning-stitch, 165 (Plate XXIV. and Figs. 8, 76);
tent and cross-stitch, 166;
various, 170

Strawberry on samplers, 66. Fig. 31. Plate XIII.

Stump embroidery, 149

Susannah and the elders, 128, 130, 131. Plate XIV.

Swiss samplers, 111

Talc, 154. Plate XIV.

Tammy cloth, 171

Tapestry, history of, 125;
stitch, 145

Tapestry pictures--see embroideries in the manner of

Tent-stitch, 166

Thistle on sampler, 71. Fig. 21

Tracing, groundwork, 158. Fig. 70

Tree of knowledge on samplers, 18_n_, 62_n_, 109. Figs. 17, 18

Tulip on samplers, 78. Figs. 27, 59

Upright-stitch, 145

Verses on samplers, 27, 36-51

Vice, inscription concerning, 48

Victoria and Albert Museum, samplers in, 11, 21, 58. Fig. 7

Virtue, inscription concerning, 48

Wealth, inscription concerning, 48

_Printed at_ THE DARIEN PRESS, _Edinburgh_

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The picture also shows that the principal decorations of the walls of the schoolroom were framed examples of attainments with the needle.

[2] In the original all the small pieces of work in the upper corner near the initials are varieties of gold thread design, and almost all the grey colour throughout, in the reproduction, is silver thread.

[3] It was claimed by its late owner, Mrs Egerton Baines, that almost every line of this sampler contains Royalist emblems. For instance, the angel in the upper part is supposed to be Margaret of Scotland wearing the Yorkist badge as a part of her chatelaine; beside her is the Tree of Life, on either side of which are Lancastrian S's, the whole row being symbolical of the descent of the Stuarts from Margaret of Scotland, daughter of Henry VII. The next row of ornament is also the Tree of Life, represented by a vine springing from an acorn, by tradition a symbolical badge of Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I. The next two rows are made up of roses, acorns, and Stuart S's, which S's again appear in the line beneath, linked with the Tree of Life. We refer elsewhere (p. 62) to the figures in the bottom row (the whole of the sampler is not shown here), and these are supposed to be Oliver Cromwell as a tailed devil. The sampler is neither signed nor dated, but it clearly belongs to the first half of the seventeenth century. The silks employed are almost exclusively pink, green, and blue, and the work is of the open character found in that illustrated in Plate III.

[4] In one by Hannah Lanting, dated 1691, the orthography is "with my nedel I rout the same," and it adds, "and Juda Hayle is my Dame."

[5] The lower portion of Fig. 18 opposite introduces us to an early and crude representation of Adam and Eve and the serpent, and to the bird and fountain, and flower in vase, forms of decoration which became at a later date so very common. The name of the maker has been obliterated owing to dirt getting through a broken glass, but the date is 1742.

[6] This sampler is interesting owing to its drawn-work figures, which are directly copied from two effigies of the reign of James I., and may stand for that Monarch and his Queen. This portion of the sampler might readily be mistaken for that date were it not that it bears on the bar which divides the figures the letters S.W., 1700. The border at the side of the figures is in red silk, that at the top and the alphabet are in the motley array of colours to which we are accustomed in specimens of this date.

[7] A map of Europe, formerly in the author's possession, had the degrees marked as so many minutes or hours east or west of Clapton!

[8] "Samplers," by Alice Morse Earle.

[9] It first appeared in the _Lady's Magazine_, 1819, and in the first collected edition, 1824, Vol. I. pp. 67, 68; also in Bohn's Classics, 1852, pp. 138, 139.

[10] These latter, with their figures standing out in relief, could never have been used for cushions, and can only have been employed as pictures.

[11] The difficulty of assigning a close date to tapestry embroideries is a considerable one, for dress is practically the only guide, and this is by no means a reliable one, for a design may well have been taken from a piece dated half a century previously, as, for instance, when the marriage of Charles I. is portrayed on an embroidery bearing date 1649, the year of his death. Those, therefore, which have a genuine date have this value, that they can only represent a phase of art or a subject coeval with, or precedent to, that date. Hence the importance of the pieces illustrated in Fig. 60 and in Fig. 68, dated six years later.

[12] Mr Davenport considers that this rounded, padded work is a caricature of the raised embroidery of the _opus Anglicanum_, and that the earliest specimens of it are to be found at Coire, Zurich, and Munich.

[13] The fondness for decking the dress with pearls is quaintly portrayed in these pictures, where they are imitated by seed pearls. As to these there is an interesting extract extant, from the inventory of St James's House, nigh Westminster, in 1549, wherein among the items is one of "a table [or picture] whereon is a man holding a sword in one hand and a sceptre in the other, of needlework, prettily garnished with seed pearls."

[14] A very good example of a sampler in drawn-work, in which the floral form of decoration is entirely absent, save in the sixth row (the pinks), which is in green silk, the rest being in white. That the sampler was intended as a pattern is evident from some of the rows being unfinished.