- Image reference 2006AN1492
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Jacket
- Place of origin:
England (made)
- Date:
1620s (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Unknown
- Materials and Techniques:
Linen embroidered with silk
- Museum number:
T.4-1935
- Gallery location:
In store
The black silk embroidery on this on this linen jacket from the 1620s creates an extraordinary tonal effect. In the 16th century, blackwork embroidery typically used a variety of geometric patterns within the space defined by the outline of a flower, leaf, insect or bird. A new style of design developed at the turn of the century with the use of speckling stitch. This was a series of tiny seed stitches, longer and worked more densely at the edge of an outline, decreasing in frequency and length towards the centre of the motif, giving a subtle shaded effect. It is thought that the embroiderers were copying the linear visual qualities of the woodblock-printed emblem books, from which they drew so much inspiration for their motifs and figures.Other stitches used are stem, braid and back stitches.





