Part of red velvet valance, embroidered in gold with grotesque pattern in sino-Portuguese style; late 16th century; Portuguese.

A strip of red silk velvet, embroidered in gold with a repeating pattern of grotesques. The embroidery is executed in gold couching, with textural effects created through the combination of simple blocks of metallic yarn, basket-work effect in the metallic yarn (basket stitch), and the outlining of the motifs in red silk twisted with silver -gilt and couched with silk. The design repeats itself 3.75 times from right to left. The repeating motif comprises a symmetrical pattern made up of dragon or lion-like motifs with birds (firebirds?) and stylised foliage and flowers on either side of a 'vase' containing a plant. The cut edge of the textile reveals that the raised areas of the pattern were created by couching the gold threads over linen or cotton stuffing. Each lion/dragon originally had an eye made out of a black/blue glass bead (now some are missing). Framing the grotesque pattern is a triple row of cording originally covered in silver yarn (sewn on to the inner edge of the selvedge). On the back of the velvet, only the couching threads in yellow and red are visible. The embroidery may have formed part of the valance of a bed or dais.

The Museum acquired the object on 20th February 1957 from Walter Bird, Antique and Fine Art Galleries Ltd., 110-112 Kensington Church Street, London, W.8. The price was £12. Described in Registered Papers as 'in the extravagant sino-Renaissance style so characteristic of Portugal. It is in an excellent state of preservation. It may have come from a bed or dais: it will find a useful place for exhibition in our galleries'. (RP. 57/627)

Historical significance: This piece is significant for its impressive embroidery in precious materials, and for its demonstration of a particular facet of Portuguese design and taste.

In Portugal, as in most of Europe, guilds ruled the production of professional embroidery at this time, an apprenticeship being served before craftsmen could become masters and set up their own workshop. The earliest surviving guild regulations are available for Lisbon and date to 1517. Lisbon, the largest city in Portugal and its capital, only had a small number of skilled masters in the sixteenth century: in 1551 about 10, in 1552 about 16 working in eight workshops, and in 1620 about 11. The guild regulations reveal the different levels of examination that led to mastery of the trade, embroiderers having to learn how to prepare different materials and motifs. The simplest task was the making of 'a coat of arms in gold and silks with some kind of motif appropriate to arms', and the most difficult the embroidering of the human figure, in particular, the features of the face, and the use of different qualities of gold thread. The embroidered motifs on this piece fall between these two extremes of complexity. (Teresa Alarcao & José Alberto Seabra Carvalho, Imagens em Paramentos Bordados. Seculos XIV a XVI. Instituto Português de Museus, 1993, p. 19-20).

No contract for this type of Portuguese embroidery has been found, so the costs of producing such work and the negotiation between client and craftsman are not known.

As a result of Portugal's voyages of discovery from the 15th century onwards, the Portuguese came into contact with designs from different cultures, including China and India. Such taste impacted on Portuguese textiles. The V&A collection has a small but impressive group of Sino-Portuguese and Indo-Portuguese style embroideries (about 120), which date from the 16th to 18th centuries; most are made in multi-coloured silks on cream or white satin grounds, rather than in the rich materials used here. Indeed only three pieces, all from circa 1550-1600 are embroidered velvet. This piece is unusual in combining Chinese and grotesque (Roman) styles, and at the time of its purchase was deemed typical of a particular strain in Portuguese decorative arts.

It should be noted however that Spain also made major voyages of discovery in this period and it is likely that this taste entered the vocabulary of its decorative arts about the same time.

Based on attribution given when object entered the museum.

Attribution note: Such expensive textiles were made usually for a particular client, with the embroiderer sometimes drawing up a contract with the client describing the work.
Reason For Production: Commission

This embroidery is made of red silk velvet which has been embroidered with gold, silver-gilt and coloured silks, and glass beads. It was probably part of a valance that hung round the top or base of a regal bed or the platform on which a monarch or dignitary sat when officiating at a ceremony. It was probably made in Portugal where, as in most of Europe, trade organisations called guilds ruled the production of professional embroidery.

Craftsmen served an apprenticeship in order to become masters and set up their own workshop. Lisbon had only about ten skilled masters in the 16th century. The guild regulations reveal that trainee embroiderers had to learn how to prepare different materials and motifs. The simplest task was the making of coats of arms in gold and silks, and the most difficult were the embroidering of the human figure and face and the use of different qualities of gold thread. The embroidered motifs on this piece fall between the extremes.

As a result of Portugal's voyages of discovery from the 15th century onwards, the Portuguese came into contact with designs from different cultures, including China and India.This piece combines Chinese features with the grotesque style, derived from the decorations discovered in the excavations of ancient Roman wall decorations in Rome in the late 15th century. This style was disseminated across Europe via printed images in the 16th century.

T.11-1957