Not currently on display at the V&A

Panel

1720-1750 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This needlework panel with designs of chinoiserie and turquerie is only partially worked, and can possibly be interpreted as a ‘kit’, started professionally, with the difficult parts (faces and hands) completed, so that the (amateur) purchaser would then work the rest.

The mixture of Chinese and Turkish ornament is typical of the random juxtaposition of such elements in European decorative art in the early 18th century, but may have been particularly influenced by the arrival at the French court in 1721 of the first ambassador from the Ottoman Empire to be received there, and the consequent enthusiasm in France for what was perceived as Turkish style. Turquerie began to appear not only in fashion, interiors and painting but also entered the realms of literature, theatre and opera. Despite never having visited the Levant, artists like Carle Van Loo made a speciality of representing interiors with western women depicted as sultanas at their toilette, and often at their looms or embroidery frames. This woman has the coiffed and powdered hair, and pale complexion, of a European beauty in fancy dress.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Embroidered in tent stitch in wool and silk on linen canvas
Brief description
Unfinished panel of needlework, partially embroidered with wool and silk threads, in tent stitch, on linen canvas, France (probably), ca.1720-50
Physical description
Panel of linen canvas with a chinoiserie design drawn in ink, of a seated woman in pseudo-Turkish dress, with a child holding a parasol over her. The canvas has been partly worked in tent stitch in silks and wools.
Dimensions
  • Height: 42cm
  • Width: 33cm
Historical context
This needlework panel is only partially worked, and can possibly be interpreted as a ‘kit’, started professionally, with the difficult parts (faces and hands) completed, so that the (amateur) purchaser would then work the rest.
Production
This needlework panel is only partially worked, and can possibly be interpreted as a ‘kit’, started professionally, with the difficult parts (faces and hands) completed, so that the (amateur) purchaser would then work the rest.
Subjects depicted
Summary
This needlework panel with designs of chinoiserie and turquerie is only partially worked, and can possibly be interpreted as a ‘kit’, started professionally, with the difficult parts (faces and hands) completed, so that the (amateur) purchaser would then work the rest.

The mixture of Chinese and Turkish ornament is typical of the random juxtaposition of such elements in European decorative art in the early 18th century, but may have been particularly influenced by the arrival at the French court in 1721 of the first ambassador from the Ottoman Empire to be received there, and the consequent enthusiasm in France for what was perceived as Turkish style. Turquerie began to appear not only in fashion, interiors and painting but also entered the realms of literature, theatre and opera. Despite never having visited the Levant, artists like Carle Van Loo made a speciality of representing interiors with western women depicted as sultanas at their toilette, and often at their looms or embroidery frames. This woman has the coiffed and powdered hair, and pale complexion, of a European beauty in fancy dress.
Associated object
Collection
Accession number
T.132-2012

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Record createdNovember 9, 2012
Record URL
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