Jacobean embroidery refers to

embroidery Embroidery is the craft of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In modern days, embroidery is usually seen ...

styles that flourished in the reign of King James I of England in first quarter of the 17th century. The term is usually used today to describe a form of

crewel embroidery Crewel embroidery, or crewelwork, is a type of surface embroidery using wool. A wide variety of different embroidery stitches are used to follow a design outline applied to the fabric. The technique is at least a thousand years old. Crewel embro ...

used for furnishing characterized by fanciful plant and animal shapes worked in a variety of stitches with two-ply

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. ...

yarn Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, used in sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery, ropemaking, and the production of textiles. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manu ...

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...

. Popular motifs in Jacobean embroidery, especially

curtain A curtain is a piece of cloth Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fa ...

s for bed hangings, are the

Tree of Life The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world's mythological, religious, and philosophical traditions. It is closely related to the concept of the sacred tree.Giovino, Mariana (2007). ''The Assyrian Sacred Tree: A Hist ...

and stylized forests, usually rendered as exotic plants arising from a landscape or ''terra firma'' with

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s, stags,

squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. ...

s, and other familiar animals.Christie, Grace: ''Embroidery and Tapestry Weaving'', London 1912

Origins

Early Jacobean embroidery often featured scrolling floral patterns worked in colored silks on linen, a fashion that arose in the earlier

Elizabethan era The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personific ...

. Embroidered jackets were fashionable for both men and women in the period 1600-1620, and several of these jackets have survived.

Designs

Often based on

tree of life The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world's mythological, religious, and philosophical traditions. It is closely related to the concept of the sacred tree.Giovino, Mariana (2007). ''The Assyrian Sacred Tree: A Hist ...

imagery, curving branches with large flowers were a typical design. Early crewel embroideries exclusively used wool thread on linen (modern

encompasses a broader range with the only requirement being extensive use of crewel stitch variations).

Legacy

Jacobean embroidery was carried by British colonists to

Colonial America The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European colonization of North America from the early 17th century until the incorporation of the Thirteen Colonies into the United States after the Revolutionary War. In the ...

, where it flourished. The

Deerfield embroidery movement The Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework was founded in Deerfield, Massachusetts, in 1896 by Margaret C. Whiting and Ellen Miller. They formed the society in 1896 as a way to help residents boost the town's economy by reviving Americ ...

of the 1890s revived interest in colonial and Jacobean styles of embroidery.

Gallery

File:17th century embroidered curtain motif.jpg, Pattern of a slip with flowers taken from a 17th-century embroidered curtain File:Jacobean leaf bed hanging 1659.jpg, Design of a leaf from a bed curtain dated 1659, worked in blue, green, and yellow

worsted Worsted ( or ) is a high-quality type of wool yarn, the fabric made from this yarn, and a yarn weight category. The name derives from Worstead, a village in the English county of Norfolk. That village, together with North Walsham and Aylsham ...

wool yarn on linen. File:Jacobean embroidery leaf.jpg, Sketch of a leaf worked in indigo, brown, and light green File:Linen Hanging 17th century.jpg, Portion of a 17th-century hanging "with a conventional representation File:Embroidered curtain 17th-18th century.jpg, Embroidered wool-work curtain of the 17th or 18th century

Notes

References

*Christie, Mrs. Archibald (Grace Christie), ''Embroidery and Tapestry Weaving'', London, John Hogg, 1912, online a
Project Gutenberg
*Fitzwilliam, Ada Wentworth and A. F. Morris Hands, ''Jacobean Embroidery, Its Forms and Fillings Including Late Tudor'', Keegan Paul, 1912

External links

Surviving Jacobean embroidered jacket as the Museum of CostumeJacobean Embroidery
by Ada Wentworth Fitzwilliam and A. F. Morris Hands, 1912, from

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital libr ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobean Embroidery English embroidery