Pair of Needlepoint Pictures
FRANCE, 18th Century and later
Embroidered in wools and silks, each with an ogival cartouche, worked in petit-point and depicting courtly ladies attended by musicians within landscape settings, the scrolling, floral borders later and worked in gros-point
86 x 68 cm
33 ¾ x 26 ¾ in
and
86 x 58 cm
33 ¾ x 22 ¾ in
33 ¾ x 26 ¾ in
and
86 x 58 cm
33 ¾ x 22 ¾ in
JL3239
Further images
Provenance
Scone Palace, PerthshireSold Christie's, London, Scone Palace and Blairquhan The Selected Contents of Two Great Scottish Houses, 24 May, 2007, lot With Mallet, London
Private Collection, UK
Sold Christie's London, 19th June, 2012, Lot 114
Private Collection, Switzerland
Executed in coloured wools and silks in gros and petit point tent stitch depicting a seated minstrel playing a stringed instrument to couple in a country landscape with flowers and...
Executed in coloured wools and silks in gros and petit point tent stitch depicting a seated minstrel playing a stringed instrument to couple in a country landscape with flowers and trees within an oval scrolling foliate and floral border.
Such pictorial needlework of this size was created in France for export to England where they were used as pictures, on seat furniture and screens. These pieces were previously mounted in a late Victorian screen housed at Scone Palace, Perthsire, Ancestral seat of Earls of Mansfield.
Covers made for chairs, settees and stools are among the richest sources of eighteenth century pictorial needlework. They were undertaken both by professional workshops, and by amateur needlewomen, particularly in the form of canvaswork. This was usually worked in the basic counted thread stitches of tent stitch and cross stitch, learnt by most girls as part of their needlework education. Skill at needlework was considered an accomplishment in women, who could demonstrate their expertise by embroidering decorative yet functional items such as chair seats.
Such pictorial needlework of this size was created in France for export to England where they were used as pictures, on seat furniture and screens. These pieces were previously mounted in a late Victorian screen housed at Scone Palace, Perthsire, Ancestral seat of Earls of Mansfield.
Covers made for chairs, settees and stools are among the richest sources of eighteenth century pictorial needlework. They were undertaken both by professional workshops, and by amateur needlewomen, particularly in the form of canvaswork. This was usually worked in the basic counted thread stitches of tent stitch and cross stitch, learnt by most girls as part of their needlework education. Skill at needlework was considered an accomplishment in women, who could demonstrate their expertise by embroidering decorative yet functional items such as chair seats.
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