This article was published and copyrighted in FANCYWORK in October 1984, a magazine published by The World in Stitches. Since then The Center for the History of American Needlework, as far as we can determine, has ceased to exist. We have, however, copied the entire article as it was originally printed. by Michelle Palmer Michele Palmer is Editor of the newsletter of The Center for the History of American Needlework, commonly known as C.H.A.N. The Center (C. H.A.N.), located at Carlow College in Pittsburgh, Pa., is a national non-profit educational institutionfouaded in 1974 to develop and encourage public recognition of the needle and textile arts of the United States. It is the only public institution in this country which addresses itself to the social, historical and cultural context out of which the needle arts develop. Through exhibitions, publications, educational programs and research, The Center promotes recognition of needlework's role in historical and contemporary society. C.H.A.N. provides a number of research, referral and information services to its membership and to the general public. Blackwork embroidery designs, like those of so many needlework techniques, have roots so ancient and widespread that it is nearly impossible to determine a specific time or place of origin. In this case it does seem fairly safe to say, however, that early blackwork motifs were brought from North Africa to Spain by the Moors who settled the Iberian peninsula from AD 711. These designs were linear and arabesque decorations based on mathematical schemes, symmetry, rhythm and proportion. Perhaps influenced by religious prohibition of the representation of natural forms, Moorish and Arabic craftsmen preferred geometric motifs and allover patterning. This design style was reflected in the applied and decorative arts of doorways, mosaic tiles, architecture and other crafts, with architectural ornament being the most complex and embroidery motifs using the simpler elements. Many of these are such basic design elements that their prototypes can be traced to early Byzantine, Roman and Ancient Greek sources, and even earlier to primitive man. These geometric patterns reached their height of development during the nine centuries when the Moors and Arabs were a dominant force in Spain, and the designs were gradually assimilated into Spanish culture. The Spanish aristocracy was particularly receptive to the art world, and many of the flowing, curving scrolls and intricate geometrics were blended readily into Spanish decorative art and thought. Arabic Geometric Designs Spain was already noted for other textile crafts during the Moorish era, including silk weaving and carpetmaking, so the translation of arabesque and geometric designs into embroidery was a natural one. In addition to geometrics, typical Spanish textile patterns of the 15th century included lotus and palmette forms, grapevines and leaves, roses, pomegranates, heraldic griffins, lions and peacocks. By the beginning of the 16th century, the fresh artistic and intellectual ideas of the Renaissance had reached Spain, and by the end of the century textiles were employing larger, individual motifs as Gothic and Renaissance styles replaced Arabic geometric ones. These design motifs, accumulated over the centuries, were worked in embroidery in black silk on a white linen ground. Called "Spanish work" until around 1530, what came to be known as "blackwork" was passed from Spain to the rest of Western Europe, including England, where in the 16th and first half of the 17th century it reached its fullest creative expression. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella ended the long Moorish domination of Spain in 1492. Their daughter, Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536), has been credited, erroneously, if popularly, with introducing blackwork to England when she left Spain to marry Prince Arthur, the son of King Henry VII. When Arthur died the following year, Catherine married his brother, Henry, who ascended to the throne as Henry VIII in 1504, and Catherine became Queen of England. Lady Marion Alford, in Needlework as Art, wrote in 1866 that Catherine "introduced the Spanish taste in embroidery, which was then white on black silk and gold 'lace stitches' on fine linen. This went by the name of 'Spanish work' and continued to be the fashion down to and through the reign of Mary Tudor, who remained faithful to the traditions of her mother's and grandmoth er's work. Catherine of Aragon learned her craft from her mother, who always made her husband's shirts. To make and adorn a shirt was then an artistic feat, not unworthy of a queen." It is known that Catherine had pieces of black on white embroidery in her first trousseau, and like all accomplished ladies of her day, she was a skilled needlewoman. It is undoubtedly true that her taste for black silk embroidery had a strong influence on the popular English taste, and she can certainly be credited with encouraging and developing the technique in England, but blackwork was not unknown in England at the beginning of.the 16th century, nor elsewhere in Western Europe at that time. It has been speculated that blackwork may have been first introduced to England from the Spanish-dominated Netherlands. In his Canterbury Tales, written between 1390 and 1400, Chaucer described the dress of Alison, the carpenter's wife, in "The Mylleres Tale"' Whit was hir smok and browdid al byfore And eek byhyade on hir coler aboute of cole-blak silk, withinne and withoute,.
Yugoslavian embroidery design	Yugoslavian embroidery design
Counted thread work in monochromatic schemes was practiced in many countries, particularly in Roumama, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Russia. Eastern European work was sometimes similar in design to English and Spanish work, but it was often more densely worked, with the pattern defined by the background stitches in red or black cross stitch. In Russia, blackwork panels were embroidered for towels, tablecloths and other household items.
Blackwork was known in Italy and Switzerland in the early 16th century, as can be documented by portrait paintings of the time. Black counted thread embroidery was also worked in Greece, and often used many of the same motifs that were favored in Elizabethan England. Tulips, carnations and pomegranates were all native to the Eastern Mediterranean, and have been worked into domestic embroideries for centuries. Blackwork embroidery was generally worked in black silk on white linen. Spanish embroiderers sometimes used the undyed wool from black sheep, or thread dyed with logwood, although unfortunately, the iron mordants used in the dye process have helped destroy the fibers themselves over the years. In England, black silk was imported via the Netherlands from the Mediterranean. Traditional blackwork occasionally allows for the restricted use of a second color, but more often the silk was embellished with metal threads or spangles and sequins imported from Italy. It would seem that Spanish work probably used several stitches for effect, including a "Spanish stitch," which was also used independently of "Spanish work." The Academie of Armory, by Randle Holme, published in 1688, listed nearly 40 different stitches in a chapter entitled "The School Mistris Terms of Art for All Her Ways of Sewing." He listed a "Spanish stitch, true on both sides." 3 and since it was customary to use reversible stitches on parts of dress, such as cuffs and collars, where both sides of the work showed, the "Spanish stitch" may have referred to what we know as the doublerunning stitch. The double-running stitch requires that the entire design be kept in mind while working every other stitch, before repeating the design to complete the stitches. When completed, it creates a continuous line identical on both sides of the work.
The back stitch, being somewhat faster and easier to work, was also used for outline work, though only on pieces where one side of the work showed. Both stitches could be adapted to interpret either geometric or representational forms, and outline stitching was generally worked in a heavier thread than that used for fillings. A variety of stitches were used for filling shapes, including braid, chain, buttonhole, satin and coral stitch, and these were employed to create a range of tones, patterns, shading and textures. The back stitch and double-running stitch were also used for fillings, and an enormous variety of blackwork designs can be created using either of these stitches alone.
Border design in double running stitch with rose, strawberry and shamrock	Allover design with diagonal oak leaf and acorn motif in double running stitch
The interest in blackwork that Catherine of Aragon generated is best documented in the portrait paintings of the 16th century. Hans Holbein the Younger, the Dutch artist who became court painter to Henry VIII in 1539, is the best known of the "blackwork artists", and the double-running stitch frequently used in blackwork is also known as the Holbein stitch. Holbein and other Italian, English, Flemish and French painters portrayed their subjects wearing black counted thread embroidery on cuffs, shirts and chemises, neck frills, sleeves, neckbands and collars. These included a variety of designs, both geometric designs worked into bands and borders, sometimes in a manner resembling Slavic cross stitch work, as well as elaborate leaf and floral designs worked as allover patterning. The paintings reveal in remarkable detail a range of fillings, textures and stitches, and they are particularly valuable since so few pieces of actual work have survived. The domestic and sanitation conditions of the day were extremely crude and must have contributed to the early demise of many textile goods. Even with the most diligent efforts, standards of cleanliness must have been very low indeed. An English interior of the mid-16th century was described: "The floors are commonly of clay strewn with rushes, so renewed that the substratum may lie undisturbed for some twenty years. They shelter underneath spit, vomit, dog and human urine, degraded scraps of venison and fish, and unnameable filth. It is reported that as a precaution against odors, oranges were removed of their meat and the skins filled with sponges soaked in vinegar. Certainly the combination of damp, smoke, dirt, poor ventilation, and lack of adequate laundering facilities all helped to destroy perishable fabrics, including the intricately embroidered blackwork The embroidery of Elizabethan England (1558-1603) has been described as "bursting into flower." It is said to embody the characteristic lightness of heart, natural humor, vigor and frivolity of an age whose citizens were delighted by gardens and mazes, rich costume embellishment that was meant to be flaunted, and when "fashionable people were favorable disposed towards exaggerated patterning."' One historian writes that it was "an age instinct with vast animal life, robust health and muscular energy, terrible in its rude and unrefined appetites, it fiery virtures and fierce passion.' Elizabethan embroidery encompasses a great diversity of embroidered objects, focusing mainly on costume and household furnishings, and ranging from handkerchiefs and nightcaps to bed curtains and wall hangings. Even with the enthusiasm for decorating and entertainment, however, embroidery was still intended primarily for practical use and not simply for decoration. Even when the basic need was embellished and elaborated, embroidery was still a functional way to reinforce fabric against wear and for washing stains when cleaning facillties were poor.
Embroidered nightcap in blackwork
Elizabethan designs reflect the enthusiasm of the day for plant and animal life. They are sophisticated, inventive and bold, and show a strong sense of balance, proportion and grace. The work incorporates a diversity of stitches and motifs, and it has been described as expressing "a high degree of psychological maturity and stability.' The Elizabethan sense of style and design is thought to be shown to its best advantage in blackwork embroidery, which distinguished itself amidst the riot of color richly displayed in costume, gardens and household furnishings. Embroidery and sewing were the concerns of most women and girls, and the young daughters of affluent families were trained early in needlework as a refined accomplishment, as well as a practical skill. Most embroiderers were highly skilled, although few were considered among the professional ranks. For most needleworkers, embroidery, while a necessity, was also considered an appropriate, pleasant pastime, yet much of' the work exhibited a high level of craftsmanship. One of the greatest distinctions between professional and amateur embrolderers was that for the.first time there was a division of the sexes in embroidery, with men working as professionals and women working largely in the home. Queen Elizabeth granted a charter to the Broderers' Company in 1561, and while all the member of the Guild were men, they undoubtedly passed along methods and motifs to their lady friends and fellow embroiderers. While professional embroiderers also did domestic work, they focused primarily on armor, liveries, and pieces for masques and tournaments. They also drew patterns and instructed amateurs in the home, and were employed by many wealthy household, indicating the important role played by artist and craftsmen in Elizabethan life.
Pattern page from a "Schole house for the needle" by Richard Shorteyker, published in 1624
By the end of the 16th century, a number of books were available which served as pattern sources for both the professional and home embroiderer, and these were important factors in the development and character of Elizabethan embroidery. These include books on natural history, and botanicals and herbals which were newly available then, and whose black and white illustrations were already suggestive of black and white embroidery. Public interest in horticulture helped to expand herbals into full botanical studies, and these served as excellent design sources for needleworkers. Popular fascination with the strange and exotic flora and fauna, encountered by traders and explorers in the New World, gave rise to such non- indigenous creatures in embroidery as monkeys, camels, elephants and crocodiles, as well as mythical creatures like the phoenix and the unicorn. Conrad Gesner's "Historia Animalium", one of a set of four volumes published in 1560, and Jon Gerards's "Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes", published in 1597, suggested a wealth of patterns for flowers, fruits, herbs, animals and insects which appeared, often grossly and charmingly out of scale, in embroidery. While these books were not intended specifically as needlework pattern sourcebooks, others were, and like "Moryssche and Damaschin renewed and encreased very profitable for Goldsmiths and Embroiderars", published in 1548, featured an assortment of arabesque and geometric motifs as well as pictorial elements assembled from sources like woodcuts, wallpaper books, and book illustrations. Books of emblems and symbols were popular embroidery design sources as well.
Forehead Cloth, early 17th century. Arrangement of design motifs suugests that they might have been copied directly from a page of patterns
Designs were transferred from pattern book to fabric by punching tiny holes in the printed page, following the outline of the shape. The page was then placed on the fabric and dusted with charcoal to produce a dotted line. The technique, known as pouncing, is one reason why so few early pattern books have survived. The cultivation of gardens developed into a passion under Queen Elizabeth, partly due to an improvement in domestic conditions, a more widespread distribution of wealth, and a generally higher standard of living for the country as a whole, all of which contributed to a greater amount of leisure time. Lord Bacon commented in his 1625 essay, "On Gardens," that without gardens, "Buildings and palaces are but gross handiworks," a sentiment apparently shared by many of his countrymen. The resemblance between gardens and embroidery was evident in a number of ways, and the two were compared by numerous writers and poets. John Gerards, in his "Herball", wrote, "For if delight may provoke men's labour, what greater delight is there than to behold the earth apparelled with plants, as with a robe of embroidered works, set with oriental pearles and garnished with great diversitie of rare and costly jewels." William Shakespeare wrote, Emerald tufts, flowers purple, blue and white Like sapphires, pearls and rich embroidery Interlacing hearts, garden knot Part of the charm and allure of Elizabethan gardens was in the complexity of mazes, laid out for the sport and amusement of the manor lord and his guests. The intricate patterns of garden beds were duplicated in embroidery; and twisting vines and stems in both blossoms and threads led to different parts of the design, enclosing and revealing new patterns, generating the "delightful confusion" and "delectable variety" so enjoyed at the time. Elaborate gardens, with their assembly of blooms, leaves and vines, were depicted in elaborate detail in embroidery, and sometimes entire gardens were worked into larger pieces like cushions, bed hangings and wall tapestries. Roses, pansies, carnations, honeysuckle, violets, pomegranates, strawberries, lavender, comfrey, grapevines and acorns were carefully stitched into garments and furnishings, recording Elizabethan gardens at the height of their splendor. Roses in particular were considered the national flower of England, admired for their beauty, fragrance and virtue. The rose was associated with all that was good about England, and was among the most popular of all blackwork floral motifs. Pomegranates, a pagan symbol of fertility and regeneration, and which were also associated with Catherine of Aragon, were another favorite motif. One of the more unusual design motifs found in Elizabethan blackwork is the garden pea, which was used to embellish a variety of objects from a handkerchief to a woman's jacket. Used in allover patterning, the pea was reproduced in considerable detail and faithfully recorded with its alternating leaves, curling vines and hairy pods.Peas are found growing with other flowers on an intertwining vine, amidst birds, insects and butterflies. This somewhat unexpected subject matter makes for a great repeat design which is lively, sophisticated, and graceful, and reflects the genuine fascination of the times for the profusion and variety of garden life. Aristocratic dress differed from that of the middle classes partly by its lavish goldwork and embroidery, and laws were established during Henry VIII's and Elizabeth's reigns to help distinguish and enforce the difference between various ranks of society. An Act of Parliament was passed in 1553 which forbid any person below the rank of knight to wear pleated shirts, or "plain shirts garnished with silk, gold or silver." Household objects were embroidered with blackwork as well, and they ranged from small items such as bookbindings to cushions for chairs and windowseats, table and cupboard covers, coverlets, bed hangings, window curtains, and wall tapestries. An elaborate repeat pattern called strapwork was popular for furnishings like cushion covers, consisting of an intercoiled scroll, shaped like a ribbon, with decorative edges. Pen drawing embroidery referred to work which took its design elements from etchings and printed book illustrations, and reproduced the pen strokes almost stitch by stitch. They were, in effect, stitched drawings, and were used in large narrative embroideries, often with Biblical themes. Large embroideries were ideal for storytelling, and they depicted rural scenes, filled with plants, trees and flowers, animals, insects, birds, houses and castles, and people involved in a variety of activities.
Costume embellishment was the focus of a large amount of blackwork embroidery, which was worked on shirts and chemises, coifs and hoods, caps, collars, sleeves, tunics, waistcoats and jackets, stomachers, gloves, handkerchiefs, purses, and nightshirts and nightcaps. Early blackwork garment embroidery was largely confined to border decorations, but with the growing taste for fashionable dress, it developed into a richer style. From necks and wristbands, blackwork was featured on turn-down collars, full shirt chemise fronts, and elaborate sleeves and bodices, and was augmented with gold threads, sequins, spangles and jewels.
Embroidered Jacket, 16th century
Aristocratic dress differed from that of the middle classes partly by its lavish goldwork and embroidery, and laws were established during Henry VIII's and Elizabeth's reigns to help distinguish and enforce the difference between various ranks of society. An Act of Parliament was passed in 1553 which forbid any person below the rank of knight to wear pleated shirts, or "plain shirts garnished with silk, gold or silver." Apron detail, blackwork Apron detail, charted Household objects were embroidered with blackwork as well, and they ranged from small items such as bookbindings to cushions for chairs and windowseats, table and cupboard covers, coverlets, bed hangings, window curtains, and wall tapestries. An elaborate repeat pattern called strapwork was popular for furnishings like cushion covers, consisting of an intercoiled scroll, shaped like a ribbon, with decorative edges. Pen drawing embroidery referred to work which took its design elements from etchings and printed book illustrations, and reproduced the pen strokes almost stitch by stitch. They were, in effect, stitched drawings, and were used in large narrative embroideries, often with Biblical themes. Large embroideries were ideal for storytelling, and they depicted rural scenes, filled with plants, One blackwork piece in a private collection in Scotland is described: Panel: . Several incidents, including a man fallen from his horse, apparently killed by a lion, and two travellers, a man and a woman discovering him. On the right of the river, a lady listens to a shepherd playing bagpipes. On a bridge is a dog following a man with a basket slung over his shoulder; regarding him is a fisherman seated on the riverbank. The flowering of blackwork embroidery was at its peak between about 1500 and 1630, when the contrast of black on white embroidery highlighted the design motifs of a rich and energetic age. By the end of the 17th century, embroiderers still used many of the same patterns, but they were exploring and developing subtle shading and color work. The 18th and 19th centuries produced little blackwork, although it was occasionally worked on samplers, embroidered maps, and small pictures. By 1882 when Caulfield and Saward's "Dictionary of Needlework" was published, blackwork was not even listed as an entry. Blackwork as it was known in England seemed to have been relatively unknown in the United States. Some monochrome embroidery was done in America, most notably Deerfield work, which utilized blue threads dyed with indigo. Many of the curving floral designs worked into rugs and bed hangings are reminiscent of English blackwork, though on a much larger scale. Early American samplers employed geometric motifs, some of which were similar to blackwork designs. The current revival of interest in samplers may encourage renewed attention to this distinctive style of embroidery I which having fallen from grace several centuries ago, remains unique in the rich annals of needlework tradition.
Bedrug, American 1778
BIBLIOGRAPHY Alford, Lady; "Needlework As Art"; Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, London, 1886 ' . Bath, Virginia Churchill; "Needlework In America"; Viking Press, NY, 1979 Beek, Thomasina; "Embroidered Gardens"; Viking Press, NY, 1979 Bridgeman, Harriet & Elizabeth Drury; "Needlework: An Illustrated History"; Paddington Press, Ltd., London, 1978 Clabburn, Pamela; "The Needleworker's Dictionary"; William Morrow & Co., Inc., NY, 1976 de Dillmont, Therese; "The Complete Encyclopedia Of Needlework"; Running Press, Philadelphia, 1978 , Digby, George Winfield; "Elizabethan Embroidery"; Faber & Faber, London, 1963 Drysdale, Rosemary; "The Art Of Blackwork Embroidery"; Charles Scribners' Sons, Inc., NY, 1975 Field, Roma; "A Lifetime of Embroidery"; The St. Ives Group, The Embroiderers' Guild NSW, Australia, 1980 Geddes, Elisabeth & Moyra McNeill; "Blackwork Embroidery"; Dover, NY, 1976 Gostelow, Mary; "A World Of Embroidery"; Charles Scribners' Sons, Inc., NY 1975 Gostelow, Mary; "Blackwork"; Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., NY, 1976 Gostelow, Mary; "Embroidery"; Arco Publications, NY, 1983 Hughes, Therle; "English Domestic Needlework, 16601860"; Abbey Fine Arts, London Nevinson, John L.; "Catalogue Of English Domestic Embroidery"; His Magesty's Stationery Office, London, 1938 Petrakis, Joan; "The Needle Arts Of Greece"; Charles Scribners' Sons, Inc., NY, 1977 "Weldon's Encyclopedia Of Needlework"; The Waverly Book Co., Ltd., London