A&S OOP? (embroidery)
PATSY DUNHAM
in stream-of-consciousness fashion, to an embroidery question I have harbored
for years.
In Diana Norman's _Fitzempress' Law_ there is a list of embroidery stitches:
"frilled work, German and Saracen work, scalloping, the perroun, the
melice and diaper work, the peynet and the gernette, double-samite..."
on p. 221, in the section describing the way the young women who were Henry
II's wards were spending their days. I've never heard of most of these terms,
and wonder if anyone out there could point me toward some documentation.
Thanks,
Chimene
Kim.S...@em.doe.gov
>Thanks,
>Chimene
To Lady Chimene, from Ianthe d'Averoigne, fair greetings.
I am writing this from work, and have no recourse to my full library
or notes. Please take anything said here as suggestion - not canon
truth. I'll keep digging. If I turn up any more, I'll post it too.
I haven't run across a couple of the terms you mention, and I'd love
to find out if anyone else has more information on them.
An educated guess as to what was meant, based on some research I've
been doing:
Frilled work: I'm not sure.
German and Saracen work: Probably counted thread work. Opus
Teutonicum was an elaborate form of pattern darning in which areas of
the design were outlined with a heavy stitch, then filled in with
different patterns in darning. This was usually embroidered in
natural colors or very light colored linen thread on linen ground.
Saracen work (aka Moorish work) sometimes referred to step
stitch-style counted thread patterns embroidered in dark colors on a
linen background - the ancestor of Jane Seymour's cuffs.
Scalloping: Early pattern books (circa 1524) use "scalloping" to mean
a style of applique in which a strip of fabric intended to be applied
is cut longitudinally in a manner in which the two halves when
separated, were identical (Clever! No waste!). The two haves which
(until they were cut apart fit together like puzzle pieces) were
appliqued end to end. Some German pattern books published in the late
1520s feature intricate patterns for use in this manner. I've never
attempted drafting up a sample to try out.
Perroun: Again, not sure
Melice and diaper work: Diaper work is pattern darned linen - usually
though not always worked in the same color as the ground fabric. Such
over worked linen was especially absorbent. The modern usage of
"diaper" (cover for a baby's bottom) is a descendent of the use of the
term to mean a generic (very) absorbent cloth.
Peynet and gernette: And a third time, not sure.
Double samite: Samite was a heavy fabric, presumed to be silk. Could
double-samite refer to quilting together two thicknesses of samite,
with trapunto style stuffing inserted in the pattern areas? I know
this style of quilting was practiced in period, but quilting is not my
area of research.
Sources:
Synge, Lanto. Antique Needlework. London: Blandford Press, 1982.
Scalloping
Opus Teutonicum, samite, general reference
Staniland, Kay. Embroiderers. Toronto: University of Toronto Press,
1991.
General reference, Diaper.
Paludan, Charlotte and Lone de Hemmer Engeberg. 98 Monsterboger til
Broderi, Knipling og Strikning (98 Pattern Books for Embroidery, Lace,
and Knitting). Danske Kunstindustrimuseum, 1991.
Catalog of early pattern books in Danish Folk Art Museum. Partial
translation.
Ianthe d'Averoigne, OR, OL kim.s...@em.doe.gov
pri...@vaxsar.vassar.edu
In an attempt to define a series of embroidery stitches, Her Excellency Ianthe
(Kim.S...@em.doe.GOV) wrote:
> Double samite: Samite was a heavy fabric, presumed to be silk. Could
> double-samite refer to quilting together two thicknesses of samite,
> with trapunto style stuffing inserted in the pattern areas? I know
> this style of quilting was practiced in period, but quilting is not my
> area of research.
Samite (Latin "samitum") is a compound twill weave developed by silkweavers in
the Eastern Mediterranean and points east during the centuries just after the
Roman period. It was the luxury fabric of choice in Western Europe for several
hundred years, until the development of more intricate Spanish, Italian, and
Byzantine patterning methods supplanted it. Large numbers of pieces of it
exist in Western European treasuries and museums. Samite is highly patterned
and colored (except for the monochrome incised samites), with a twill texture,
and its exportation from Byzantium was carefully controlled.
Although I suspect that the production of samite was curtailed or abandoned
after 1200, I am not sure, therefore I must guess. My guess, based on what I
know of samite production in the years before 1200, is that it was probably not
used for quilting due to its intricate patterning (although it was sometimes
used as the groundwork for bead and pearl applique in what we would consider a
"Byzantine" style). If I am wrong, and samites did continue to be produced
after 1200, then certainly the trapunto guess is plausible.
I wonder if "double samite" might refer to some sort of stitch work that had
the visual effect of a thick, lustrous twill weave--more of a textural
description than anything else. Or perhaps it refers to a structural
similarity. Samite was woven using more than one color of weft (lat) in a
particular order (passee) based on the needs of the pattern's color
arrangement. Perhaps a technique is meant whereby two working threads interact
on the two sides of the ground weave by mirroring each other's movements and
sometimes changing sides? (Is there such a technique known? Remember, I'm
still guessing.)
I look forward to further clarifications; this is a fascinating question.
References for samite available upon request.
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Carolyn Priest-Dorman Thora Sharptooth
Poughkeepsie, NY Frosted Hills ("where's that?")
pri...@vassar.edu East Kingdom
Gules, three square weaver's tablets in bend Or
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Kim.S...@em.doe.gov
>Thanks,
>Chimene
Double samite: Samite was a heavy fabric, presumed to be silk. Could
double-samite refer to quilting together two thicknesses of samite,
with trapunto style stuffing inserted in the pattern areas? I know
this style of quilting was practiced in period, but quilting is not my
area of research.