Needlework as art . the most ancientgroups, and includes all flat stitches, of which the dis-tinguishing mark is, that they pass each other, overlap,and blend together. Stem, twist, Japanese stitch,and long and short or embroidery stitch, belong tothis class, to which I propose to restore its original titleof plumage work. The origin of the name is much disputed, but it issupposed to have pointed to a decoration of plumagework, and we find that feathers have been an element inartistic design from the earliest times. There werepatterns in Egyptian painting which certainly had feathersfor their
Needlework as art . the most ancientgroups, and includes all flat stitches, of which the dis-tinguishing mark is, that they pass each other, overlap,and blend together. Stem, twist, Japanese stitch,and long and short or embroidery stitch, belong tothis class, to which I propose to restore its original titleof plumage work. The origin of the name is much disputed, but it issupposed to have pointed to a decoration of plumagework, and we find that feathers have been an element inartistic design from the earliest times. There werepatterns in Egyptian painting which certainly had feathersfor their motive (fig. 21, p. 208). Semper, finding that birds-skins were a recognizedarticle for trade in China, 2205 ,1 believes that theywere used as onlaid application for architectural decora-tion ; and this is possible, for we still obtain from thencespecimens of work in different materials partly onlaid in 1 Der Stil, i. pp. 196, 248. This is known from the archaic booksof imperial commerce. 208 Needlework as Fig. patterns, Egyptian. whole feathers, whereas sometimes the longer threads of the feathers are wovenby the needle into theground web. In HerMajestys collection thereare some specimens fromBurmah —? creatures re-sembling sphinxes ordeformed cherubim, exe-cuted in feathers, appliedon silk and outlined ingold. We have likewisefrom Burmah, in the In-dian Museum,. two pea-cocks 1 similarly worked ;the legs and beaks aresolidly raised in goldthread ; and the outlines also are raised in gold, givingthe appearance of enamelling. The cloisonnS effect ofbrilliant colours, contrasted and enhanced by the separa-tion of the gold outlines, can be seen to perfection inspecimens of the beautiful Pekin jewellers work, wherethe feathers are inlaid in gold ornaments for the headand in the handles of fans. Nothing-- but rems can bemore resplendent. These survivals help us to understand the casualmention we find in classical authors, of the works of thePlumarii, which ap
Size: 1392px × 1794px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1800, booksubjectembroidery, booksubjectneedlework
