Perhaps the most sumptuous of all mediaeval embroideries is the imperial mantle at Vienna. It is of red silk, with a lion spring ing upon a camel, worked in gold thread and silk and enriched with pearls and gems. An Arabic inscription round the edge records that it Was made at Palermo in Sicily in the year 1134. The de sign probably has reference to the capture of the island from the Arabs by the Normans, which had then recently taken place. The imperial alb, also at Vienna, has a border of griffins in gold em broidery. An inscription in Latin and Arabic records that it was made at Palermo in II81.
England was renowned for its embroidery ("opus anglicanum") in mediaeval times, and a number of remarkable English vest ments are still preserved in England and on the Continent. Em broideries of Elizabethan times show much beauty in design (see DRESS). A strong oriental bias, due to trade with the East, is found in the 17th century. The great flowering trees worked in wools are copied from Indian designs. The i8th century main tained the standard of earlier times, and much has been done of late years to encourage this beautiful craft.
French mediaeval embroidery has much of the sweetness and grace that we should expect to find. Later work has reflected the various influences which have moulded French art. Early Spanish work has Mohammedan characteristics. In later times, embroidery in the peninsula runs parallel with the Italian, but there is a tend ency towards greater elaboration and brighter colours. The influence of Italy became widespread through its pattern-books for embroidery and lace-work, copies of which were carried to other countries and sometimes reproduced. In the Netherlands the work of the great schools of painting which arose in the 1 sth century is reflected in embroidery. The embroidery of Germany and Scandinavia is largely domestic in character. In the islands of the Aegean, peasant embroidery has reached a stage of develop ment hardly matched on the continent of Europe. The em broideries are mostly in silk upon linen, for dress and domestic use. Different islands have their own distinctive patterns.
In Turkey and Persia embroideries have followed a parallel course to woven fabrics, and similar motives are used. A great deal of embroidery in silk and metal threads upon linen scarves and towels was done in Turkey during the 19th century. Much white-work has been done in Persia.
BouooRAPHY.—Victoria and Albert Museum catalogues; I. Errera, Catalogue d'Etoffes (19o7 etc.) ; R. Cox, L'art de decorer les tissus (1900) ; M. Dreger, Kunstlerische Entwicklung der Weberei (1913) ; O. von Falke, Kunstgeschichte der Weberei (1913) ; J. Lessing, Gewebe sammlung (1900-09) ; A Book of Old Embroidery (1921) ; L. de Farcy, La Broderie du Siecle jusqu'a nos fours (Angers, 189o; sup plement 1900) ; Spanish Art, Burlington Magazine Monograph (1927).
The textiles made in America during the colonial period were of a simple and domestic nature. They were the homely and unpre tentious fabrics of a people settled in a new country whose efforts were turned towards utilitarian ends. It was never the policy of England to encourage textile manufacturing in America. The colonies were looked upon as markets for English goods and royal governors were adjured to keep strict watch over attempts to es tablish rival colonial manufactures. Efforts were made, neverthe less, from time to time, often in response to repressive govern mental measures; serge, for example, was manufactured as early as 1705. But all these materials, whether domestic or professional in their origins, continued to follow plain and serviceable lines. Under such circumstances, the ornamentation of textiles could be only of the simplest. It would be limited to the designs woven into linens or the bright colours or patterns utilized for woollen weaves.
The production of silk in the colonies was a cherished English project. It was designed to provide England with raw materials hitherto imported at great cost from abroad. Attempts were made, therefore, both in the north and the south, and in Georgia particu larly, unceasing efforts were put forth during the greater part of the i8th century toward the production of silk. The enterprise never succeeded in gaining any great degree of success but it led in the century following to the establishment of the silk weaving industry in America.
Embroidery was the medium that supplied the decorative ele ment lacking in textiles and with materials often of local manufac ture, the American needlewoman worked patterns that followed the familiar lines of English models. Crewel embroidery, with its designs drawn from India cottons, was a favourite and its bright coloured floral motives lent a pleasant note of colour to the co lonial interior. Turkey work, which simulated oriental carpet de signs by knotting wool threads into canvas, was another accom plishment, and it was made from the middle of the 17th century, generally for furniture covering. The sampler also was an occu pation in America as in England, of the young. Another prototype was the embroidered picture worked in wool on canvas. A notable and delightful example and one relating to the American scene is a series based on the design of a lady fishing and scenes on Boston Common. Needlework also was taught as a polite accomplishment. Advertisements may be found in i8th century newspapers of in structors in crewelwork, feather work, Dresden work, samplers, sprigging of muslin, shaded silks and worsteds on holland and canvas showing how great was the variety of needlework that was made in America at that time.