Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 8.djvu/172

Rh 162 E M B E M B Accordingly, the same Lord Pope sent sacred and sealed briefs to nearly all the abbots of the Cistercian order estab lished in England, requesting them to have forthwith for warded to him those embroideries in gold, which he preferred to all others, and with which he wished to adorn his chasuble and choral cope, as if these objects cost them nothing.&quot; But, it may be asked, what is the &quot; opus Anglicum ? &quot; Happily in the Syon Monastery Cope, pre served in the South Kensington Museum, there is an in valuable specimen of English needle- work of the 13th century. We find that the whole of the face is worked in chain-stitch (modern tambour or crochet) in circular lines, the relief being given by hollows sunk by means of hot irons. The general practice was to work the draperies in feather-stitch (opus plumarium). The old English &quot; opus consuetum &quot; or cutwork, the &quot;applique&quot;&quot; or &quot;en rapport&quot; of the French, and &quot; lavori di commesso&quot; of the Italians, consists of pieces cut and shaped out of silk or other material and sewed upon the grounding. In the llth or probably early in the 12th century was executed the valuable specimen preserved to us, the so-called tapestry of Bayeux, ascribed by early tradition to no less a lady than Queen Matilda, and representing the various episodes of the conquest of England by William of Normandy. It is not tapestry, but an embroidery work in crewels in &quot; long-stitch &quot; of various colours, on a linen cloth 19 inches wide by 226 yards long. Probabilities forbid us from believing that Matilda and her waiting maids ever did a stitch on this canvas, which, crowded as it is with fighting men, some on foot some on horseback, must have taken much time and busied many fingers to execute ; nor is it likely that Matilda would have chosen coarse linen and common worsted as the materials with which to celebrate her husband s achievements. More likely, this curious work was done in London at the cost of those natives of Normandy on whom William had bestowed lands in England, and was sent by them as an offering to the cathedral of their native place. Whether it be due to the queen or not, the monument is no less interesting to history, as furnishing a crowd of details in illustration of arms and customs not to be met with elsewhere. The art of pictorial needle-work had become universally spread. The inventory of the Holy See (1295) mentions the embroideries of Florence, Milan, Lucca, France, England, Germany, and Spain. The Paris embroiderers had formed themselves into a guild ; and throughout the Middle Ages down to the 16th century embroidery was an art, a serious branch of painting. The needle, like the brush of the painter, moved over the tissue, leaving behind its coloured threads, and producing a painting soft in tone and ingenious in execution. At Verona, an artist took twenty-six years to execute in needle-work the life of St John, after the designs of Pollaniolo, as an offering to that church at Florence. Catherine de Medici, herself a distinguished needle-woman, brought over in her train from Florence the designer for embroidery, Frederick Vinciolo ; and under her sons, so overloaded was dress with ornament as to be described by contemporaries as to be &quot; stiff &quot; with embroi dery. These were indeed great days for needle-work in our own land. Women as well as men pursued the art as a trade, and the public records show to what an extent it was carried on ; while great ladies wrought in their castles sur rounded by their maidens. Embroidery was then their chief pleasure, and their most serious occupation, Shut out from the business of life, they had ample leisure to cultivate their taste, and ample means of gratifying it. The church was very rich in precious stuffs and embroideries, velvet, cutwork (applique), or cloth of gold; and for domestic decoration they were equally prized. Many of our great showhouses are perfect storehouses of embroidery. The countess of Shrewsbury, for instance, better known as Bess of Hardwick, the great needle-woman of the day, with all the business and cares of children, hospitals, and charities, yet found time to embroider furniture for her palaces, and her sampler patterns hang to this day on her walls; and there also are the bedhangings of Scotland s queen, who beguiled her weary hours by work at her needle. Hatfield, Penshurst, Knole, are all filled with similar reminiscences of royal and noble ladies. Charles I. used to send from his prison locks of his own hair to the gentry favourable to his cause, that the ladies of their household, when embroidering the royal portraiture in coloured silks, might be able to work the head with the hair of the sovereign himself. In France this time was a glorious period for needle work. Not only was the fashion continued, as in England, of producing figures and portraits, but a fresh development was given to floral and arabesque ornament. Flowers in the grandiose style, wrought with arabesques of gold and silver, among which spoiled birds and insects, were the characteristic designs of the period ; and Gaston duke of Orleans established hothouses and botanical gardens, which he filled with rare exotics, to supply the needle with new forms and richer tints. The crown manufacturers adorned the rich brocades of Tours, watered silks, and cloths of silver with patterns furnished by Charles Le Brun for the portieres and curtains to the rooms he had designed. Hangings, furniture, costumes, equipages embroidery invaded all. The throne of Louis XV., used for the recep tion of the Knights of the Holy Ghost, alone cost 300 ; 000 livres ; nor was the embroidery of the state coaches of Marie Antoinette less costly. The history of embroidery having been carried to the end of the 18th century, a few observations remain on its state in the present day, when every country furnishes its works of the needle, from the gorgeous productions in gold and silver of the East to the humble porcupine quill and mohair embroidery of the Canadian Indian. In an industrial point of view, the art may be ranged into two classes. , First, there is white embroidery, applied to dress and furniture, upon cloth, muslin, or tulle, in which France and Switzerland hold the first place, and then Scotland and Saxony. The second class comprises works in silk, gold, and silver, the two last more especially dedi cated to church ornaments and military costume. From the East we derive the most elaborate specimens of em broidery as applied to dress and furniture; for while in the West these are chiefly used for the church and costume, in the East every article of domestic use is covered with embroideries in silver and gold. The Chinese embroider the imperial dragon upon their robes of crimson satin ; nor are the Japanese works less gorgeous or in less perfect taste. The Persians, in the 17th century, sent to Europe rich embroidered coverlets for the state beds of the period. They work extensively in chain-stitch. A supplementary division may be made of the so-called Berlin work, executed in wool and silk upon canvas, in cross-stitch, or point de marque, as it was formerly called, as being the stitch used for marking. See Textile Fabrics, by Eev. D. Rock, D.D. ; Handbook of Arts of Middle Ages, by Jules Labarte ; Histoire du Molilier, by A. Jacquemart ; Manuel de la Brodene, by Mme. Celnart ; Rapport du Jury International Exposition Universelle de 1867, Group, vi. ; Re- cherches sur la Fabrication des Etoffes, by Francisque* Michel ; Art Needlework, by E. Mase ; English Mediaeval Embroidery, by Rev. C. H. Hartshorne ; Church Embroidery, by A. Dolby ; Church Needlework, by Miss Lambert ; Art of Needlework, by Lady Wilton. (F. B. P.) EMBPJJN (the ancient Ebrodunum), a fortified town of France, capital of the arrondissement of the same name, in the department of Hautes-Alpes, is situated on a steep rock