Needle Holder
1670-1680 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
This needle holder was among the contents of an embroidered casket used by a young girl, Martha Edlin, to store her small personal possessions. She would have embroidered it herself. The end pulls off and needles can be stored inside.
People
Martha Edlin (1660-1725) worked a series of embroideries during her childhood, including this needle holder, which were cherished by her descendants and passed down through the female line in her family for over three hundred years. We know little about her life, except that she married a man called Richard Richmond and appears to have been a prosperous widow, with daughters and grandchildren, living in Pinner in Greater London at the time she drew up her will.
Materials & Making
Following the usual development of needlework skills in a young educated girl in the mid 17th century, Martha Edlin embroidered a multi-coloured sampler at the age of eight, and a more complicated piece in whitework and cutwork at nine. By 1671, her eleventh year, she had embroidered the panels of an elaborate casket, and two years later a beadwork jewellery case. The needlework skills she demonstrated in these pieces would be important attributes in her adulthood, in the management of her household and in the making, mending and decoration of her own and her family's clothes.
This needle holder was among the contents of an embroidered casket used by a young girl, Martha Edlin, to store her small personal possessions. She would have embroidered it herself. The end pulls off and needles can be stored inside.
People
Martha Edlin (1660-1725) worked a series of embroideries during her childhood, including this needle holder, which were cherished by her descendants and passed down through the female line in her family for over three hundred years. We know little about her life, except that she married a man called Richard Richmond and appears to have been a prosperous widow, with daughters and grandchildren, living in Pinner in Greater London at the time she drew up her will.
Materials & Making
Following the usual development of needlework skills in a young educated girl in the mid 17th century, Martha Edlin embroidered a multi-coloured sampler at the age of eight, and a more complicated piece in whitework and cutwork at nine. By 1671, her eleventh year, she had embroidered the panels of an elaborate casket, and two years later a beadwork jewellery case. The needlework skills she demonstrated in these pieces would be important attributes in her adulthood, in the management of her household and in the making, mending and decoration of her own and her family's clothes.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | Embroidered silk and silver threads and card |
| Brief description | Embroidered silk thread needle holder, made by Martha Edlin, England, 1670-1680 |
| Physical description | Needle holder in the form of a cylinder which pulls apart into two unequal parts. Made of a card core wrapped in shaded embroidered blue silks and silver thread completely covering the surfaces when closed. |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label |
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| Credit line | Purchased with the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Art Fund |
| Object history | Purchased. Registered File number 1989/1572. |
| Summary | Object Type This needle holder was among the contents of an embroidered casket used by a young girl, Martha Edlin, to store her small personal possessions. She would have embroidered it herself. The end pulls off and needles can be stored inside. People Martha Edlin (1660-1725) worked a series of embroideries during her childhood, including this needle holder, which were cherished by her descendants and passed down through the female line in her family for over three hundred years. We know little about her life, except that she married a man called Richard Richmond and appears to have been a prosperous widow, with daughters and grandchildren, living in Pinner in Greater London at the time she drew up her will. Materials & Making Following the usual development of needlework skills in a young educated girl in the mid 17th century, Martha Edlin embroidered a multi-coloured sampler at the age of eight, and a more complicated piece in whitework and cutwork at nine. By 1671, her eleventh year, she had embroidered the panels of an elaborate casket, and two years later a beadwork jewellery case. The needlework skills she demonstrated in these pieces would be important attributes in her adulthood, in the management of her household and in the making, mending and decoration of her own and her family's clothes. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.438&A-1990 |
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| Record created | May 12, 1999 |
| Record URL |
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