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Transcriber's Note

Words in {curly brackets} were abbreviated in the original text, and
have been expanded for this etext. Greek is indicated with plus
symbols, +like this+.




             THE ART
                OF
           NEEDLE-WORK,
     FROM THE EARLIEST AGES;

            INCLUDING
       SOME NOTICES OF THE
  ANCIENT HISTORICAL TAPESTRIES


            EDITED BY
       THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
     THE COUNTESS OF WILTON.


  "I WRITE THE NEEDLE'S PRAYSE."

         _THIRD EDITION._


             LONDON:
    HENRY COLBURN, PUBLISHER,
    GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.
              1841.




    TO

    HER MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY

    THE QUEEN DOWAGER

    THIS LITTLE WORK,

    INTENDED TO ILLUSTRATE THE HISTORY AND PROGRESS OF AN ART
    ENNOBLED BY HER MAJESTY'S PRACTICE, AND BY HER EXAMPLE
    RECOMMENDED TO THE

    WOMEN OF ENGLAND,

    IS,
    BY HER MAJESTY'S MOST GRACIOUS PERMISSION,

    INSCRIBED,

    WITH THE UTMOST RESPECT,
    BY HER MAJESTY'S MOST GRATEFUL
    AND MOST OBEDIENT SERVANT,

                        THE AUTHORESS.




PREFACE.


If there be one mechanical art of more universal application than all
others, and therefore of more universal interest, it is that which is
practised with the NEEDLE. From the stateliest denizen of the proudest
palace, to the humblest dweller in the poorest cottage, all more or
less ply the busy needle; from the crying infant of a span long and an
hour's life, to the silent tenant of "the narrow house," all need its
practical services.

Yet have the NEEDLE and its beautiful and useful creations hitherto
remained without their due meed of praise and record, either in sober
prose or sounding rhyme,--while their glittering antithesis, the
scathing and destroying sword, has been the theme of admiring and
exulting record, without limit and without end!

The progress of real civilization is rapidly putting an end to this
false _prestige_ in favour of the "Destructive" weapon, and as rapidly
raising the "Conservative" one in public estimation; and the time
seems at length arrived when that triumph of female ingenuity and
industry, "THE ART OF NEEDLEWORK" may be treated as a fitting subject
of historical and social record--fitting at least for a female hand.

The chief aim of this volume is that of affording a comprehensive
record of the most noticeable facts, and an entertaining and
instructive gathering together of the most curious and pleasing
associations, connected with "THE ART OF NEEDLEWORK," from the
earliest ages to the present day; avoiding entirely the dry
technicalities of the art, yet furnishing an acceptable accessory to
every work-table--a fitting tenant of every boudoir.

The Authoress thinks thus much necessary in explanation of the objects
of a work on what may be called a maiden topic, and she trusts that
that leniency in criticism which is usually accorded to the adventurer
on an unexplored track will not be withheld from her.




CONTENTS.


    CHAPTER I.
                                                        Page
      Introductory                                         1

    CHAPTER II.

      Early Needlework                                    11

    CHAPTER III.

      Needlework of the Tabernacle                        23

    CHAPTER IV.

      Needlework of the Egyptians                         32

    CHAPTER V.

      Needlework of the Greeks and Romans                 41

    CHAPTER VI.

      The Dark Ages.--"Shee-Schools"                      56

    CHAPTER VII.

      Needlework of the Dark Ages                         64

    CHAPTER VIII.

      The Bayeux Tapestry.--Part I.                       84

    CHAPTER IX.

      The Bayeux Tapestry.--Part II.                     103

    CHAPTER X.

      Needlework of the Times of Romance and Chivalry    117

    CHAPTER XI.

      Tapestry                                           148

    CHAPTER XII.

      Romances worked in Tapestry                        165

    CHAPTER XIII.

      Needlework in Costume.--Part I.                    186

    CHAPTER XIV.

      Needlework in Costume.--Part II.                   209

    CHAPTER XV.

      "The Field of the Cloth of Gold"                   231

    CHAPTER XVI.

      The Needle                                         252

    CHAPTER XVII.

      Tapestry from the Cartoons                         273

    CHAPTER XVIII.

      The Days of "Good Queen Bess"                      282

    CHAPTER XIX.

      The Tapestry of the Spanish Armada; better
        known as the Tapestry of the House of Lords      301

    CHAPTER XX.

      On Stitchery                                       312

    CHAPTER XXI.

      "Les Anciennes Tapisseries." Tapestry of St.
        Mary Hall, Coventry. Tapestry of Hampton Court   329

    CHAPTER XXII.

      Embroidery                                         342

    CHAPTER XXIII.

      Needlework on Books                                355

    CHAPTER XXIV.

      Needlework of Royal Ladies                         374

    CHAPTER XXV.

      Modern Needlework                                  395




THE ART

OF

NEEDLEWORK.




INTRODUCTION.




CHAPTER I.

    "Le donne son venute in eccellenza
    Di ciascun'arte, ove hanno posto cura;
    E qualunque all'istorie abbia avvertenza,
    Ne sente ancor la fama non oscura.

         *   *   *   *   *

    E forse ascosi han lor debiti onori
    L'invidia, o il non saper degli scrittori."

                        Ariosto.


In all ages woman may lament the ungallant silence of the historian.
His pen is the record of sterner actions than are usually the vocation
of the gentler sex, and it is only when fair individuals have been by
extraneous circumstances thrown out, as it were, on the canvas of
human affairs--when they have been forced into a publicity little
consistent with their natural sphere--that they have become his theme.
Consequently those domestic virtues which are woman's greatest pride,
those retiring characteristics which are her most becoming ornament,
those gentle occupations which are her best employment, find no record
on pages whose chief aim and end is the blazoning of manly heroism, of
royal disputations, or of trumpet-stirring records. And if this is the
case even with historians of enlightened times, who have the gallantry
to allow woman to be a component part