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Embroidery Design

ca. 1836-1854 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This designs/ these designs are in a pattern book which features designs for embroidery by Bland, including printed designs for Berlin wool work and drawn designs for petit-point, bead-work, decoration for dresses, collars and cuffs, aprons, slippers, tablecloths and covers, cushions, bags, penwipers, initial letters, alphabets etc. Berlin wool work is a style of embroidery that typically uses tapestry wool on canvas. It can be used to produce three-dimensional elements by use of careful shading. Petit-point is a small diagonal stitch at a 45 degree angle that crosses over the intersection of one horizontal and one vertical thread on a needlepoint canvas. The designs in the album are mounted or drawn on 366 pages of alternate leaves of white wove and blue-toned paper, some with watermarks dated between 1829 and 1834. The album is quarter-bound in leather with cloth boards simulating watered silk and is signed and dated in ink on page 1 'S. Bland. St Leonards. 1836'. The designs are inscribed in ink throughout with notes, and with dates ranging from 1836 to 1854.

Bland's collection included her own botanically accurate designs, simplified patterns from accurate botanical observation, patterns traced from magazines, commercial, printed Berlin wool work patterns, gifts of patterns, including commercial ones from friends and relatives. The gift of designs demonstrates connections between relatives of merchant and banking families and is of historical significance in bonding such families. Women tended to work as amateurs rather than professional embroiderers which is problematic as amateur work is often regarded as being less significant. Men tended to be recorded as professional embroiderers of drawn patterns


Object details

Categories
Object type
Brief description
Designs from a collection of designs in an album made by Sarah Bland, 1836-1854
Production typeDesign
Credit line
Given by Mrs D. McGregor
Object history
Historical significance: Within the study of embroidery, men tend to be recorded as professional embroiderers or pattern drawers, whereas women worked more ambiguously with designs for embroidery. Women's amateur as opposed to professional designs for embroidery raise problems because amateur work has tended to be regarded as less significant. Embroidery was a pastime but was also an economic activity. Upper middle class women's property was closely linked to their status within the family as daughters, wives and widows and only allowed semi-independence. This semi-independence was underpinned by legal, political, and social practices which subordinated them. Nevertheless, it was combined with recognition of their economic worth within the family enterprise. However, women were restricted as they often could not be openly involved in working for money. See L. Davidoff and C. Hall (Reference Tab). Bland could not be seen to be working but it is likely that she embroidered accessories for dress, penwipers, tablecloths, book covers, and cushions as gifts which were her contribution to the household, wider family, and friendship. The quality of her samplers and designs shows the value of such gifts in terms of relationships with family and friends.

Material about the perceptions of a woman's role is pertinent to the discourse on women and therefore gender history. In Bland's case, the gift of designs demonstrates connections between relatives of merchant and banking families and is of historical significance in bonding between such families.
Historical context
The Blands were related to the banking family of the Barclays . Sarah Bland (1810-1905) was listed as a 'gentlewoman' in the 1851 census return and is not recorded as having any occupation in the census returns for 1871 and 1901 which is consistent with her social status. The Blands stayed in the coastal resort of St. Leonards-on-Sea. This design was shared between Lady Temple and Sarah Bland and shows the gift of a pattern within a social network of women at the resort.

St. Leonards was developed by James Burton (1761-1837), builder and developer from 1828-1830. The 'Dispatch' coach started travelling between London and St. Leonards in 1830. This journey took seven and a half hours. In June 1846, the South Coast Railway from London to St. Leonards was opened. The census return recorded the Blands as living in the same crescent as James Burton's son, the architect, Decimus, in 1841.

The botanical painter, Marianne North (1830-1884) wintered in the nearby resort of Hastings and knew the artist William Henry Hunt 91790-1864), famous for his paintings of birds' nests. The resorts were a favoured place for artists. Bland also painted botanical illustration whilst in St. Leonards and she toured other parts of Sussex to record wild flowering plants
Production
There are three samplers by Sarah Bland in the collection of the Textiles and Fashion Department: T.238-1967; T.239-1967 and T.240-1967.
Place depicted
Summary
This designs/ these designs are in a pattern book which features designs for embroidery by Bland, including printed designs for Berlin wool work and drawn designs for petit-point, bead-work, decoration for dresses, collars and cuffs, aprons, slippers, tablecloths and covers, cushions, bags, penwipers, initial letters, alphabets etc. Berlin wool work is a style of embroidery that typically uses tapestry wool on canvas. It can be used to produce three-dimensional elements by use of careful shading. Petit-point is a small diagonal stitch at a 45 degree angle that crosses over the intersection of one horizontal and one vertical thread on a needlepoint canvas. The designs in the album are mounted or drawn on 366 pages of alternate leaves of white wove and blue-toned paper, some with watermarks dated between 1829 and 1834. The album is quarter-bound in leather with cloth boards simulating watered silk and is signed and dated in ink on page 1 'S. Bland. St Leonards. 1836'. The designs are inscribed in ink throughout with notes, and with dates ranging from 1836 to 1854.

Bland's collection included her own botanically accurate designs, simplified patterns from accurate botanical observation, patterns traced from magazines, commercial, printed Berlin wool work patterns, gifts of patterns, including commercial ones from friends and relatives. The gift of designs demonstrates connections between relatives of merchant and banking families and is of historical significance in bonding such families. Women tended to work as amateurs rather than professional embroiderers which is problematic as amateur work is often regarded as being less significant. Men tended to be recorded as professional embroiderers of drawn patterns
Bibliographic reference
Parry, J.D. An Historical and Descriptive Account of the Coast of Sussex, Eastbourne, Hastings, St. Leonards [...] forming a guide to all the Watering Places. London: Wright, Brighton and Longman, 1833, p.238.
Collection
Accession number
E.372:363-1967

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Record createdJune 8, 2009
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