Jacket
- Place of origin:
- Date:
- Artist/Maker:
- Materials and Techniques:
Linen and silk, hand-sewn with silk and linen threads and embroidered with silk, silver and silver-gilt threads, silver-gilt spangles and glass beads
- Credit Line:
Accepted in lieu of inheritance tax by HM Government and allocated to the Victoria and Albert Museum
- Museum number:
- Gallery location:
British Galleries, room 56e, case 9
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These pieces once formed part of a woman’s jacket and are beautiful examples of the splendour of British embroidery between 1600 and 1620. The foundation pattern in plaited braid stitch with silver-gilt thread is strapwork, a design also used in other decorative arts of this period. The leaves and flowers are filled in with a detached buttonhole stitch in a variety of coloured silks. The grapes have been worked over thick padding to give them an almost three-dimensional shape.
Parts of the linen ground of the jacket were once completely covered with spangles, each topped with a tiny bead. This may have been a later addition to the original embroidery. The jacket may have been used as part of a costume for a masque (masked ball), with the additional spangles and beads added to make the jacket gleam in the candlelight. The British philosopher and writer Francis Bacon (1561-1626) wrote an essay, ‘Of Masques and Triumphs’, in 1594, advising on the colours and decorations most effective for masque costume. He recommended spangles, ‘as they are of no great cost, so they are of most glory. As for rich embroidery, it is lost, and not discerned.’
Physical description
Four pieces forming a jacket made of linen and embroidered. The pattern of the embroidery comprises a lattice of geometric strapwork in plaited braid stitch with silver and silver-gilt threads. Worked inside the strapwork compartments are flowers, fruits and leaves in coloured silks in detached buttonhole stitch. The grapes are similarly worked, but raised for a three-dimensional effect. The whole linen ground was once filled with spangles, each topped with a white glass bead.
The jacket may have been altered within a decade or two of its original making. It has been shortened and gores of similarly embroidered fabric added. The mass of spangles and beads where remaining, obscure the pattern of the embroidery. In its initial form, there were probably fewer spangles, randomly applied.
This is the right sleeve, lined with coral silk taffeta. [jacket part]
This is the left sleeve, lined with coral silk [jacket part]
This is the right front and back of the jacket, with a coral silk taffeta back. The front edge has 20 metal hooks and the back edge 17 embroidered eyelets. [jacket part]
This is the left front and back of the jacket with a coral silk taffeta back. The front edge has 20 metal eyelets and the back edge 17 embroidered eyelets. [jacket part]
Place of Origin
Great Britain
Date
1600-1620 (made)
Artist/maker
Unknown
Materials and Techniques
Linen and silk, hand-sewn with silk and linen threads and embroidered with silk, silver and silver-gilt threads, silver-gilt spangles and glass beads
Dimensions
Length: 41.5 cm [jacket part]
Length: 41.0 cm [jacket part]
Length: 54.0 cm [jacket part]
Length: 54.5 cm [jacket part]
Object history note
The bodice has been associated with Sutton Court in Somerset for several centuries, according to information provided to the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.
The alterations and addition of more spangles and beads may have been done to adapt the jacket for use as a masque costume. Sir Francis Bacon's essay, On Masques and Triumphs of 1594, makes a number of recommendations about costumes for the masque, including "oes or spangs, as they are of no great cost, so they are of most glory. As for rich embroidery, it is lost and not discerned."
Materials
Linen; Silver gilt; Silk taffeta; Glass beads; Silver-gilt sequins
Techniques
Embroidery; Hand sewing
Collection code
T&D
