Lace Panel thumbnail 1

Lace Panel

1600-1650 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Object Type
Lace-making developed in England during the 16th century in response to the growth in personal wealth and to changes in fashionable dress. Needle lace, still then seen as a branch of embroidery, was made in professional workshops in London. But through the teaching of embroidery as a domestic skill with needle lace stitches in the repertoire, lace was also made at home, for the decoration of household linen, clothing and other objects. This piece appears to have been made without a practical purpose, but as a demonstration of the embroiderer's skill.

Design & Designing
The most popular subjects for the needlework pictures and panels to which this lace is related, were scenes from the Old Testament of the Bible and classical mythology. This piece includes various motifs which the maker, who has signed herself B.E.B., would have found in pattern books and which could have also been used for embroidery, particularly the animals, birds and flowers around the border.

Subject Depicted
This panel shows Adam and Eve being tempted by the serpent in the Garden of Eden. In the Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions, they are the original human couple, parents of the human race. The inscription refers to their fall from grace after eating the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Needle lace, with details in metal thread
Brief description
lace, 1600-1629, British; Needle. Signed B.E.B. with inscription
Physical description
Panel of lace
Dimensions
  • Height: 24.1cm
  • Width: 23.5cm
Dimensions checked: Measured; 26/05/2000 by KB/LH
Marks and inscriptions
Inscription reads : AL ADAMS GLORY AND PORE EVES WAS DONE BETWIXT A RISING AND A SETING SUNE
Gallery label
(27/03/2003)
British Galleries:
This delicate panel demonstrates the versatility of the needleworker. A young girl would have learnt the stitches to make needle lace as part of her education. Motifs like the Adam and Eve figures, and flowers could be copied from embroidery pattern books and prints of the day.
Credit line
Given by Sydney Vacher
Object history
Made in England; signed B E B
Production
Made in England; signed B E B
Summary
Object Type
Lace-making developed in England during the 16th century in response to the growth in personal wealth and to changes in fashionable dress. Needle lace, still then seen as a branch of embroidery, was made in professional workshops in London. But through the teaching of embroidery as a domestic skill with needle lace stitches in the repertoire, lace was also made at home, for the decoration of household linen, clothing and other objects. This piece appears to have been made without a practical purpose, but as a demonstration of the embroiderer's skill.

Design & Designing
The most popular subjects for the needlework pictures and panels to which this lace is related, were scenes from the Old Testament of the Bible and classical mythology. This piece includes various motifs which the maker, who has signed herself B.E.B., would have found in pattern books and which could have also been used for embroidery, particularly the animals, birds and flowers around the border.

Subject Depicted
This panel shows Adam and Eve being tempted by the serpent in the Garden of Eden. In the Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions, they are the original human couple, parents of the human race. The inscription refers to their fall from grace after eating the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge.
Collection
Accession number
T.17-1909

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Record createdMarch 27, 2003
Record URL
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