Tablecloth
ca. 1900 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Embroidered textiles played an important part in artistic schemes for interiors in the early 20th century. This linen tablecloth was worked by Ann Macbeth in about 1900. It exhibits many of the characteristics associated with the Glasgow School. Its colouring is muted and it is decorated with stylised roses and leaves appliqué in shades of green and cream linen, outlined in satin stitch worked in shades of white and green silk. The design is simple but graphic, and the materials and method of construction and decoration are practical and functional.
Ann Macbeth (1875-1948) enrolled as a student in the Embroidery and Needlework Department at the Glasgow School of Art in 1897. Following the retirement of Jessie Newbery, for whom she had acted as Assistant Instructress since 1901, she became Head of the department in 1908. She was a talented embroiderer but her importance, and international recognition, lie in her contribution to needlework education, particularly for children. The system she developed was devised to gradually build a child's skills and teach hand and eye coordination without stifling imagination and enthusiasm.
Ann Macbeth (1875-1948) enrolled as a student in the Embroidery and Needlework Department at the Glasgow School of Art in 1897. Following the retirement of Jessie Newbery, for whom she had acted as Assistant Instructress since 1901, she became Head of the department in 1908. She was a talented embroiderer but her importance, and international recognition, lie in her contribution to needlework education, particularly for children. The system she developed was devised to gradually build a child's skills and teach hand and eye coordination without stifling imagination and enthusiasm.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Embroidered linen, appliquéd |
| Brief description | Tablecloth of embroidered linen, designed and made by Ann Macbeth, Glasgow, ca. 1900. |
| Physical description | Tablecloth of embroidered linen in blue on a grey-green ground. With a design of stylised roses and leaves appliquéd in shades of green and cream linen with the outlines in satin stitch in shades of white and green silk. With a wide green linen border hemstitched. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Given by Mrs M.N. Sturrock and Mrs Lang |
| Object history | The V&A's departmental accession folder note that the tablecloth was gifted by Jessie Newbery's daughters Mrs Mary Arbuckle Newbery Sturrock and Mrs Margaret Elliot Lang following its loan for the exhibition Victorian and Edwardian Decorative Arts in 1952-3 but was not displayed. Within the acquisition file (Registered File: MA/1/S3934), a letter from Mary Arbuckle Newbery Sturrock to Peter Floud, the V&A’s Keeper of the Circulation department, on 16th March 1952, she says Macbeth was ‘perhaps her [Newbery’s] most distinguished student.’. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | Embroidered textiles played an important part in artistic schemes for interiors in the early 20th century. This linen tablecloth was worked by Ann Macbeth in about 1900. It exhibits many of the characteristics associated with the Glasgow School. Its colouring is muted and it is decorated with stylised roses and leaves appliqué in shades of green and cream linen, outlined in satin stitch worked in shades of white and green silk. The design is simple but graphic, and the materials and method of construction and decoration are practical and functional. Ann Macbeth (1875-1948) enrolled as a student in the Embroidery and Needlework Department at the Glasgow School of Art in 1897. Following the retirement of Jessie Newbery, for whom she had acted as Assistant Instructress since 1901, she became Head of the department in 1908. She was a talented embroiderer but her importance, and international recognition, lie in her contribution to needlework education, particularly for children. The system she developed was devised to gradually build a child's skills and teach hand and eye coordination without stifling imagination and enthusiasm. |
| Bibliographic reference | Linda Parry, Textiles of the Arts and Crafts Movement (London 1988), plate 83 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.68-1953 |
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| Record created | September 5, 2001 |
| Record URL |
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