User:Tillman/English embroidery

English embroidery

English cope, late 15th or early 16th century. s Silk velvet embroidered with silk and gold threads, closely laid and couched. Art Institute of Chicago textile collection.

English embroidery was already well-known before medieval times, but became internationally renowned during the thirteenth century. In the Vatican inventories and elsewhere, the term Opus Anglicanum (English work) was used to describe elaborately-embroidered vestments. These were made by professional embroiderers in England.

English cushion cover, late 16th century. Linen embroidered with silk and metallic thread, using buttonhole, chain, double running, overcast, plaited braid, and square open work stitches. Art Institute of Chicago textile collection.

During the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603), English embroidery entered a second period of preeminence, this time with embroidery for secular and household use. Embroidery for wealthy customers continued to be done by professionals. Blackwork embroidery was popular in Elizabethan times, but is rarely preserved, as the iron dyes used for black corroded the cloth.

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