2-728-916 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Floral Embroidery, early 1600s. Contrasting with previous English work, naturalism and brilliantly coloured silk thread enliven this early 17th-century embroidery that was most likely from a curtain. Decorated with floss (untwisted) silk, flowers and plants including carnation, foxglove, marigold, and thistle, were probably copied from pattern books that were increasingly available for master embroiderers and other artisans. The refined floral sprays are offset in successive rows and repeated every sixth row. Flies, moths, and other insects are scattered among them, and a squirrel sits while eating a hazelnut.