Part 11 (2/2)

(_In the collection of Mr. Phillips, of Hitchin._)]

The mistresses of the old English homes were very industrious. They worked crewel bed hangings and cross-st.i.tch and tent-st.i.tch upholstery in the seventeenth century, and in still earlier times richly ornamented linens and other fabrics with flowers and scriptural subjects. Writing in reference to Queen Mary, the wife of William III, Sir Charles Sedley said:--

”When she rode in coach abroad She was always knotting thread.”

And her example was followed by many in humbler circ.u.mstances. In later years women have wrought needlework and beadwork pictures, and have even threaded their needles with human hair when no silk could be found fine enough.

Of the permanent ornaments of the home--now valued curios--there are cases formerly used on a lady's toilet table, embroidered with floss silk and frequently dated. Some were made to hold devotional books, others were portable boxes, the covers of which were worked on white satin with coloured silks and beads, oftentimes scriptural scenes being depicted in silk; one very favourite scene in the seventeenth century was the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon.

Many beautifully embroidered trinket boxes record the patience with which they were worked, and were undoubtedly a labour of love. Among the smaller objects, gifts from friend to friend, were pincus.h.i.+ons, some of which bear dates in the seventeenth century. These were worked in coloured silks on canvas, the ornament often taking the form of a fruit or flower basket, birds and insects. The favourite material and colour for the back of such pincus.h.i.+ons was yellow satin. A rather pleasing variety consisted of bag and pincus.h.i.+on worked to match, the two being united by a cord of plaited silk. Of purses there were many varieties, chiefly made of coa.r.s.e canvas worked in cross and tent st.i.tches with coloured silks and silver threads, couched or laid over silver thread, and then st.i.tched to the canvas concealing it. There are also miniature pincus.h.i.+ons worked in silk like the old samplers and brocade pocket books, some of which were woven in France in the seventeenth century.

There are also holdalls and needle cases in embroidery and cross st.i.tch.

The favourite colours worked by English ladies in the eighteenth century were pink, orange, and light green. On these were often worked mottoes and rhyme. One will serve as a sample:--

”When Judah's daughters captive led Behold their mighty kings subdued.”

Loyal mottoes were frequently worked, especially during the days when the Pretenders were carrying on their hopeless campaign. There is a subtle reminder of the desire to make known loyal feelings, intermixed with prudence in concealing them, in the quaint embroidered garter in the British Museum which is inscribed ”G.o.d BLESS P.C.”

To smokers were given embroidered tobacco pouches in green, pink, and silver; one charming old beadwork tobacco pouch in Taunton Castle is embroidered ”LOVE ME FOR I AM THINE, 1631.” There were necklaces and bracelets of needlework, and some of coloured gla.s.s beads, as well as the long watchguards worn round the neck, chiefly of the nineteenth century.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 77.--OLD WORKBOX FITTINGS.

(_In the Author's collection._)]

Old Samplers.

Old samplers may well be regarded as educational, belonging to the schoolroom as well as to the workbox. They were intended to teach needlework, and served as reminders of alphabets, sums, and mapping.

Many worked in silk on yellow linen in the eighteenth century were quite elaborate pieces of needlework. Those of the seventeenth century, chiefly of linen, were much cruder and simpler in design. During the latter half of the eighteenth century samplers were mostly worked on canvas or sampler cloth, a material which was used almost as long as samplers were in fas.h.i.+on. Different st.i.tches were employed; there was the early drawn and cut work, and then the silk embroidery showing the girl's acquirement of the darning st.i.tch.

Some early tapestry maps are numbered among the educational curios in which samplers are so prominent. The Yorks.h.i.+re Philosophical Society own two unique specimens of sixteenth-century tapestry, formerly in the possession of Horace Walpole. They measure about 16 ft. by 12 ft., the sections including Herefords.h.i.+re, Shrops.h.i.+re, Gloucesters.h.i.+re, Oxfords.h.i.+re, and a part of Berks.h.i.+re. These remarkable maps are vividly coloured and show excellent pictorial scenes indicating villages, parks, and country seats. Such maps are rare, but now and then really interesting examples of needlework mapping are met with.

Collectors keep an eye on preservation, but they are keen on dated specimens, and those with ornate and quaintly picturesque borders. The condition adds to the beauty, but not always to the value, for many of the older and less well-preserved samplers are now becoming scarce. They have been retained by those who have no interest in antiques because they bore the name of some fair ancestress who lived and worked on her sampler more than a century ago, leaving it behind as a memorial of her skill in the use of a needle for future generations to admire. How many ladies of the twentieth century are preparing permanent records of their skill in needlework for those who are to come to hand on to generations unborn? is a question some may like to ponder.

XI

THE LIBRARY

CHAPTER XI

THE LIBRARY

From cover to cover--Old sc.r.a.p books--Almanacs--The writing table.

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