Embroidered settee seat cover, England, 1728-1740.

Seat cover for a settee, embroidered on canvas with wool and silk. The embroidery is mostly in tent and cross stitch, with some details (noses, buttons, scarves etc) in padded satin, overcast and cross stitches. Predominant colours are red, pink, yellow, blue, green, cream, white, brown and black.
The border has a light brown ground decorated with large, brightly-coloured flowers - carnation, lily, convolvulus etc. The design of the flowers is consistent with the 1730s (the dating of the embroidery suggested by the use of illustrations from the 1st edition).
The two scenes which fill the centre of the cover are taken from the illustrations to Gay's Fables, first published in 1727. On the right is The Jugglers, based on William Kent's illustration for the 42nd fable (engraved by P Fourdrinier). The designer of the embroidery has slightly adapted the illustration, adding more spectators and giving the room a chequered floor of brown and white tiles (although not reversing the scene as Wace states in his article - the scene was reversed in the 6th edition of the Fables published in 1746).
On the left is The Painter who Pleased Nobody and Everybody, the 18th fable, also illustrated by William Kent and engraved by P Fourdrinier. The embroidery designer has again adapted the original illustration, adding colour by the addition of a blue and white vase of flowers in the previously empty fireplace, and of flame-stitch upholstery to the previously plain settee. The more classical elements of Kent's illustration have been replaced by contemporary equivalents - a window in place of a classical colonnade and the use of 18th century costume for the portrait figures.
The settee seat forms part of a set with six chair seats T.474 to 479-1970. Apart from slight colour variations, the same border is used for all the chair seats and the settee seat, with the addition of a spray of flowers to fill the gap between the two halves. All the chair seats, though not the settee, are embroidered with the initials E W, which indicates an amateur embroideress, which the irregularity of much of the embroidery would support.
When acquired the seat covers were each mounted and framed in 20th century walnut frames. The settee seat was unmounted in 1999 in preparation for redisplay in the British Galleries.

Said to have come from Stibbington Hall, Huntingdonshire

The designs come from the 1st edition of Gay's Fables published in 1727.

Object Type
This settee seat cover is part of a set, with six chair covers. Textiles were an important aspect of 18th-century decoration, though few have survived in such good condition as this example.

Materials & Making
The embroidery was almost certainly worked at home, rather than in a professional workshop. Skill at needlework was considered an accomplishment in women. They could demonstrate their expertise by embroidering decorative yet functional items such as chair seats. Sometimes furniture was commissioned specifically to accommodate and display fine embroidery.

Design & Designing
It was not unusual for scenes from literature to be chosen as the subject for embroidery. If engraved illustrations were in public circulation, they could be copied directly or indirectly. The designs here have been adapted slightly from the original illustrations to add more visual interest. A blue and white vase of flowers has been added to the previously empty fireplace, and flame-stitch upholstery to the settee that was plain in the original print.

T.473-1970