Part 17 (1/2)
(_Author's Collection._)]
XI
PICTORIAL NEEDLEWORK OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
The ”painted faces” period--Method of production--Revival of Scriptural ”motifs”--Modern fakes--Black silk and hair copies of engravings.
An immense number of pictures must have been worked during the eighteenth century. Almost, we might say, no English home is without an example. Much of the work is intensely bad, and only that Time has tenderly softened the colours, and the old-time dresses add an element of quaintness to the pictures, can they be tolerated. Works of art they are not, and, indeed, were never intended to occupy the place their owners now proudly claim for them. Just here and there a picture of the painted face type is a masterpiece of st.i.tchery, as in the example ill.u.s.trated, where every thread has been worked by an _artiste_. Looking at this little gem across a room, the effect is that of a charming old colour print, so tenderly are the lines of shading depicted. This is the only picture of this cla.s.s that I have seen for years as an absolutely perfect specimen of the eighteenth-century silk pictures, though doubtless many exist.
The discrepancy which is usually found is that, although the design and outline is perfect, the faces and hands exquisitely painted, the needlework part of the picture has been executed in a foolish, inartistic manner, and no method of light and shade has been observed.
Some little time ago I published an article in one of the popular monthly Magazines ill.u.s.trating this same picture, and was afterwards inundated with letters from correspondents from far and near sending their pictures for valuation and--admiration! Not one of these pictures was good, though there were varying degrees of _badness_. But in no instance was the painted face crudely drawn or badly coloured.
The explanation is that just as the modern needlewoman goes to a Needlework Depot and obtains pieces of embroidery already commenced and the design of the whole drawn ready for completion, so these old needle pictures were sold ready for embroidering, the outline of the trees sketched in fine sepia lines, the distant landscape already painted, the faces and hands of the figures charmingly coloured, in many instances by first-cla.s.s artists. When we remember that the eighteenth century was _par excellence_ the great period of English portrait painting and colour printing, we can understand that possibly really fine artists were willing to paint these exquisite faces on fine silk and satin, just as good artists of the present day often paint ”pot-boilers” while waiting for fame.
[Ill.u.s.tration: EMBROIDERED SILK PICTURE OF ”THE LAST SUPPER.”
Eighteenth Century.
(_S.K.M. Collection._)]
Angelica Kauffmann's style was often copied. Is it too much to believe that some of these charming faces may have been from her hands? We know that she painted furniture and china, therefore why not the faces of the needlework pictures so nearly akin to her own work?
The eighteenth-century costume was particularly adapted to this pretty work. We cannot imagine the voluminous robes of Queen Mary or Queen Anne in needle-st.i.tchery, but the soft, silky lawns of the Georgian periods, the high-waisted bodices, the _bouffant_ fichus and the flowing head-dresses, all were specially easy and graceful to work. Many of the pretty children Sir Joshua loved to paint were copied. ”Innocence” made a charming picture, and several of the less rustic Morland pictures were copied.
We would imagine that when the beginnings of the picture were so glorious the needlewoman would have made some endeavour to work up to it. But, alas! it was not so. Though often the st.i.tching is neat and small, not an idea of shading seems to have entered the worker's mind, and whole s.p.a.ces, nay, a complete garment, are often worked solid in one tone of colour! On the whole there is far more artistic sense and feeling in the Stump pictures it is the fas.h.i.+on to deride.
Not always were dainty pastoral and domestic scenes worked. Very ghastly creations are still existent of scriptural subjects. Coa.r.s.ely worked in wool, instead of silk, or in a mixture of both. The painting is still good, but the work and the subjects are execrable! ”Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac,” on the pile of f.a.ggots already laid, and Isaac bound on it, with a very woolly lamb standing ready as a subst.i.tute, was a favourite subject. ”Abraham dismissing Hagar and Ishmael,” with a malignant-looking Sarah in the distance, vies with the former in popularity. ”The Woman of Samaria,” and ”The Entombment,” are another pair of unpleasant pictures which we are often called upon to admire.
The best of these pictures were worked in fine floss silk, not quite like the floss silk of to-day, as it had more twist and body in it, with just a little fine chenille, and very tiny bits of silver thread to heighten the effect. The worst were worked in _crewel_ wools of crude colours. Fortunately, the moth has a special predilection for these pictures, and they are slowly being eaten out of existence, in spite of being cherished as heirlooms and works of art.
Another pretty style which we seldom meet with was some part of the picture covered with the almost obsolete ”aerophane,” a kind of chiffon or c.r.a.pe which was much in request even up to fifty years ago. A certain part of the draperies was worked on the silk ground, without any attempt at finish. This was covered with aerophane, and outlined so as to attach it to the figure. This again was worked upon with very happy effects, very fine darning st.i.tches making the requisite depth of shading. The ill.u.s.tration shows the use of this, but this cannot be said to be a very good specimen.
[Ill.u.s.tration: ”PAINTED FACE” SILK-EMBROIDERED PICTURE.
Eighteenth Century.
(_Author's Collection._)]
These painted face, silk-worked pictures are the only needlework examples the collector _need to beware of_, as they are being reproduced by the score. The method of working in the poorer specimens is very simple, and it pays the ”faker” to sell for 2 or 3 what takes, perhaps, only half a day to produce. When a well-executed picture is produced it is worth money, but so far I have seen none, except at the Royal School of Needlework, where the copying of old pictures of the period is exceedingly well done, and not intended to deceive. The prices, however, are almost prohibitive, as no modern needlework picture is worth from 15 to 30. They are, after all, only copies, and in no sense of the word works of art.
During the eighteenth century, also, a fas.h.i.+on set in of adorning engravings with pieces of cloth, silk, and tinsel. At best it was a stupid fancy, and was responsible for the destruction of many fine old mezzotints and coloured prints. The hands, face, and background of an engraving were cut out, and pasted on a sheet of cardboard, pieces of some favourite brocaded gown, perhaps, were attached to the neck and shoulders, tiny lace tuckers were inserted, and gorgeous jewellery was simulated by wretched bits of tinsel tr.i.m.m.i.n.g. The realism of the Stuart stump picture was never so atrocious as this baleful invention, which was as meretricious as a waxwork show.
Not so popular, but far better, were the pictures worked on white silk with black silk and hair. There were no artistic aspirations about these--they were copies in black and white of the engravings of the day, just as a pen-and-ink or pencil copy might be made. Very dainty st.i.tchery was put in them, the stronger parts of the lines being in fine black silk, the finer and more distant being worked in human hair of various shades from black to brown. Occasionally golden and even white hair is used, and the effect is often that of a faded engraving. The silk ground on which these little pictures were worked is, however, often cracked with age, and many pretty specimens are ruined. The ill.u.s.tration shows an example of the type of picture, and depicts ”Charlotte weeping over the Tomb of Werther.”