The Art of English Blackwork - janezimmerman.comjanezimmerman.com/Site/Needlework_History/Blackwork.pdfThe Art of English Blackwork ... Such opulence has been without parallel in the

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The Art of English Blackwork

Hans Holbein painting of Henry VIII, 1536, withan interlaced arabesque and strapwork design onhis doublet. While the nature of the black line stitchcannot be determined, nor how the outlined de-sign was filled with gold (latter not visible in theseimages), the embroidery would have been of blacksilk and silver-gilt threads on a white linen groundfabric. (National Portrait Gallery, London)

Technically, blackwork is any embroidery executed in black thread on a white ground fabric.However, our reference today is to the form this style of needlework took in 16th- and early 17th-century England.

The origin of the English black-on-white embroidery is obscure, likely having its roots in severalcultures. Most modern authorities accept the likelihood that 15th-century Spanish needleworkwas its predecessor. However, since there are no documented surviving examples of this Span-ish style of needlework, it is not possible to make more than suppositions about its characteris-tics, except that the work was executed in black thread.

Certainly, the ornamentation found on the personal attire and household linens of Catherine ofAragon (the Spanish princess who was Henry VIII's first wife) and her Spanish ladies-in-waitingand courtiers would have influenced the fashion tastes of the Court in the early 16th century.Hoever, some form of black embroidery had been known in England more than one hundredyears earlier. In Chaucer's late 14th-century Canterbury Tales there is a passage in which amiller's wife is described as having a white smock decorated with some form of reversible stitch-ing in black thread.

The Art of English Blackwork 2


Portrait of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's sec-ond wife, painted about 1530, artist unknown.Her white linen smock decorated with blackembroidery is visible around the squareneckline of her bodice. Given the irregular-ity and undulation of the design line, the em-broidery technique was probably that ofcouching. (National Portrait Gallery, London)

Portraits indicate that black-on-white em-broidery may have been a dress fashionin several of the countries of Western Eu-rope during the first half of the 16th cen-tury, not just in Spain and England. It isoften claimed that the style of embroideryused for the black band patterns depictedin these portraits is Spanish Work or thatthe embroidery was executed in doublerunning stitch. How this can be stated withconfidence is difficult to understand, since

we cannot look at the back of a paint-ing and determine the nature of thestitching! It is true the paintings ofHans Holbein the Younger, depictembroidery that could have beenstitched with short straight stitches (asseen in the bridal dress on the nextpage and Jane Seymour's portrait onpage 4). However, the techniquecould have been back stitch as easily as double running stitch. In other words, since there are noknown surviving examples of black-on-white embroidery from the first half of the 16th century, it isimpossible to make a definitive statement about what Spanish Work was or what it was not. Wedo know that the term "blackwork" was never used during this time period.

Similarly, double running stitch should not be referred to as “Holbein Stitch” simply because theearly form of black-on-white embroidery appeared at times in his paintings. The term "HolbeinStitch" has no historical foundation; it apparently was first used in the late 1800s and then waspopularized by the Royal School of Needlework in the 20th century.



Above: Detail from a Hans Holbein painting of AnnaMeyer at her wedding in Switzerland in 1526. The blackembellishment of her dress is obviously embroideredwith short, straight stitches. (Schlossmuseum,Darmstadt, Germany.)

Right: Portrait of Bess of Hardwick in 1557.The embroidery of her narrow sleeves andsmock's wrist frills is executed in red silk, pos-sibly in double running or "Spanish Stitch".(Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire)Above: Detail from a portrait of a unknownlady about 1595 with a French farthingale skirtand trunk ("bombasted") sleeves embellished in black, white and gold. (Fereno Museum, Kingston)

While "Spanish Work" and "Spanish Stitch" do not appear to have been interchangeable terms,it is possible that the former was the general term for the early stage of black-on-white embroi-dery in which various stitches could be used, one being the Spanish Stitch. It is also possible,maybe not until the second half of the 16th century, that Spanish Work was distinguished by theuse of silk threads in any single color, with black always the most popular.

In its "Spanish" stage, English blackwork was first and foremost associated with costume. Ratherdelicate in appearance and typically an edging ornamentation, this linear monochromatic em-broidery was popular for use on collars, cuffs, jackets, night shirts and smocks.



Portrait of Jane Seymour (Henry VIII's thirdwife), Holbein, 1536. The grandeur of thegarment is expressed in the use of plain butrich cloth of red velvet and brocade (not withan extensive amount of embroidery as seenlater in the century). The garment is worn withthree pairs of sleeves, the last acting likehuge leg-of-mutton cuffs covered with a net-work of silver-gilt cord. The black-on-whitecuffs, or frills, are attached to the smock.(Kunsthistoriches Museum, Vienna)

Left: Unknown man by unknown artist about 1548in a costume that had reached its height ofextravangance and a style which emphasized mascu-linity with its massive shoulders and protrudent cod'spiece. The linen shirt is boldly embroidered with blackthread so likely a variety of surface embroidery stitcheswere used, not of Spanish Stitch, or at least not in en-tirety. (Location unknown)

The energy and extravagance seen in the clothingis typical of the Renaissance, with its ideas of loveof beauty and pleasure in one's own existence. Artwas now used by man to glorify himself ,this leadingto the beginning of a most important era of secular



needlework throughout the western world.Henry VIII, the Renaissance Prince, displayeda profound love of splendor and extravagancein his attire, which was emulated by thosearound him, as the unknown man on the pre-ceding page. The recently-invented printingpress must also have stimulated the interestof the Tudor embroideress of the mid-16thcentury, for book illustrations could easily havebeen translated into the black-on-white em-broidery. This influence becomes increasinglymore apparent as the 16th century advances.

Right: Male nightshirt from the late 16th to theearly 17th century. A small variety of surfacestitches, such as back and outline in addition todouble running are used. The design elementswere very likely taken from printed patterns.(Costume Gallery, Bath)

The next stage of blackwork, developing during the second half of the 16th century, the Elizabe-than Era, was purely English in character. The use of symmetrical edging patterns and the termSpanish Work began to disappear, and blackwork became primarily an allover filling, often ofback-stitched, geometric repeat patterns, for the array of flowers, leaves, animals and insects ofElizabethan coiling stem designs

To return to the Spanish Work/Blackwork terminology question, That Spanish Work was notidentified as being the same as Blackwork is apparent from the lists of New Year gifts that werepresented to Elizabeth I, in which the two terms are so clearly distinguished that a difference oftechnique is surely indicated, states John L. Nevinson, former textile curator of the Victoria andAlbert Museum.

During the Elizabethan period, the vanity men and women alike seems to have known no bounds.Keen to display the extent of their affluence, Elizabethans apparently felt that the more elaboratethe total costume, the better. Based on portraits, accounts, and commentaries by contemporaryauthors it appears that opulence in costume reached its peak during the last decades of the 16thcentury, a period of time when people were manacled, fettered, and imprisoned in their attire.Such opulence has been without parallel in the Western world.

Although the English had no use for foreigners, they did adore foreign fashions, and as fashionsfrom Spain, France, and Italy crossed the English Channel, they were transmuted into a uniquestyle which reflected the bravado, swashbuckling, and arrogance of the Tudor spirit. The generalimmobility found in the man's costume during the second half of the 16th century was enforced bygarments of substance and weight with a tight-fitted waist, inflexible sleeves, and fantastic bal-looning at the hips. And similar features were found in feminine fashion throughout the century.



Every joint of the woman's body seems to have been pinched and restrained by the costume.However, this constriction was readily accepted by both men and women because it signifiedsocial superiority and conspicuous idleness—it was simply impossible for an individual in suchburdensome clothes to earn his living by the sweat of his brow.

Elizabeth I about 1590, artist unknown. The whitedamask ground fabric of the bodice, stomacher,sleeves and the inside edge of the pleated neckruff were embellished with black thread in a coilingstem design so typical of the later Elizabethan pe-riod. Needlepoint lace was used for the cuffs andoutside edge of the neck ruff. Note the single earring of cherries. (Jesus College, Oxford)

Blackwork is an important element in the ex-travagance of Elizabethan costume. Articleson which blackwork was used included not onlyunderlinen and bedclothes but also men'sshirts, doublets, cuffs, sleeves, and caps andwomen's jackets, coifs, forehead cloths,hoods, handkerchiefs, collars, sleeves, partlets, stomachers, foreparts, and underskirts. Judgingfrom portraits of royal and noble women in formal dress, it became typical to use blackwork onthe detachable sleeves and the partlet (which filled in the chest and neck area of the low, squareneckline of the outer garment). Sometimes a standing neckband or collar would be attached.While the sleeves were made of a medium-weight linen, often covered with outer sleeves of avery sheer linen, the partlet was of lightweight linen. On occasion the stomacher (an invertedtriangle placed in the opening of a woman's bodice) or the forepart (the insertion into the frontopening of the skirt when an underskirt was not used) were of medium-weight linen heavily em-bellished with blackwork and highlighted with gold threads.



Elizabeth I, late 16th century, panelpainting attributed to John Bettes theYounger. Her blackwork sleeves areof a bold pattern embellished withblack, silver-gilt and jewels, with alarge jewel on the left sleeve. Theguards, the ribbon-like bands downthe front of the black velvet garment,were heavily decorated with largejeweled buttons and silver-gilt threadwith likely some pearls. The closedruff and cuffs are of fine needlepointlace. (National Maritime Museum,Greenwich)

The combination of black silk and gold threads wasalso frequently used for the embroidery of caps, coifsand forehead cloths—linen head covers worn withinformal attire. The woman's coif was a tight-fittingarticle that covered the hair over which was tied atriangular forehead cloth. It is likely that the coif andforehead cloth were at-home wear.

The most difficult problem in studying at least the for-mal dress of the Elizabethan era is the fact that ab-solutely nothing remains. Gone are the court gownsof elegant Italian silk fabrics heavily laddened with pearls and precious jewels, embroidered withmetal threads and linen with exotic furs from foreign lands. Gone are the fantastic cutwork andneedle lace collars and cuffs made of threads of incredibly fine imported linen or metal.

Fortunately a large number of portraits have survived, which provide a continuous chronology ofthe development of costume for the nobility. However, since none of the articles of costume shownin existing portraits still exist, it is impossible to determine how accurately these costumes areportrayed. It is possible the artist took liberties in depicting the garments and jewelry of his sit-ters. He could have introduced some of his own “imaginary” textile and fashion designs or changed



the colors of clothing, in order to make the sitter more attractive or appear more prosperous. (Forexample, red pigment was expensive, so its use in a portrait would indicate the sitter was affluentand powerful—whether or not the red clothing actually existed.)

Also many paintings (which were on wood panels easily damaged by cold, damp weather) un-derwent restoration in the 18th and 19th centuries. This practice apparently often involved someclumsy overpainting which could have destroyed original details. Therefore, it is imperative toalso rely upon literature, inventories, household expense records, private correspondence andofficial papers to have a more complete picture of what Elizabethan fashion in its most sumptu-ous form was really like.

Elizabeth I—panel painting in the late 1580s,attributed to John Bettes school. These dra-matic sleeves of white linen embroidered withblack and gold threads and slightly stuffedare covered with a fine gauze or cobweb linen,This sheer fabric overlay was typical forElizabethan costume in the latter part of the16th century, probably used to protect theembroidery and help to keep it clean. A wide slightly open sheer ruff frames her face which is describedas being cutwork with inserts of needle lace and points of detached needle lace around the edge. Shewears turned-back cuffs that match the ruff. (Arbury Hall, Numeaton, Warwickshire)

Elizabeth and wealthy noble women would have many pairs of white linen sleeves, smocks andpartlets, typically of matching appearance, embroidered in black silk, sometimes with metal threadsas well. In formal dress at least this was the favorite use of blackwork. All parts of the costume



were separate units, these pinned, tied or hooked together. One husband stated a ship is soonerrigged than a gentlewoman made ready.

The "Pelican" Portrait of Elizabeth I about1575, panel painting by Nicholas Hilliard. Thestomacher, divided skirt, armlets and "wings"(padded shoulder rolls) were of red silk velvet,these heavily embellished with pearls and jew-els. Most of these velvet elements were slashedand a small puff of sheer white linen was pulledthrough. Her partlet (article that filled the chestand shoulders) and matching sleeves were likelyof linen lawn. The almost transparent overlay ofcypress linen for both is decorated with silver-gilt thread so this covering is no longer plain andfunctional. This was Queen Elizabeth I at hergrandest! (National Portrait Gallery, London)

Elizabeth was learned, brilliant, and magnificentand appears to have believed that it was not pos-sible for a queen to be overdressed. Records in-dicate that upon her death in 1603, her wardrobeconsisted of some 1900 articles of costume, noneof which exists today except in the seventy sur-viving portraits of this great queen. Elizabeth wasalso the personification of the era’s concept offemale beauty. From the portraits and the writ-ings of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, weknow that the ideal features for a lady were whiteskin, red lips, bright eyes, thin eyebrows andraised hairline with crimped, red-blond hair.

Not surprisingly, splendor was equally importantin the furnishing of Elizabeth’s homes. They werehung with paintings and rich woven tapestries, herbeds were decorated with elegant embroideredhangings and pillows, and her tables and floors were covered with Persian and Indian carpets.



Left: Mary Cornwallis about 1575-1580, apanel painting by G. Gover. Her forepart orunderskirt is embellished with a strapwork de-sign of black; the stitching could have been thatof double running or back stitch The large-scale design of oak leaves, lilies and Tudorroses used for her linen sleeves is also em-broidered in black thread. An almost transpar-ent overlay of cobweb linen was used for thesleeves. (City Art Galleries, Manchester)

Right: Unknown lady about 1587, a panel painting byJohn Bettes school. There is a portrait with the identicallarge-scale blackwork sleeves from the late 1580s,which presents the possibility that the artist “prepainted”the figure and its costume, and later added the sitter'sface. Or perhaps these large linen blackwork trunk sleeves were the product of professionalneedleworkers who supplied local haberdashers in different places in the country. The immense collaris of cutwork, propped with wires and tilted to show its needlework to greatest advantage. The inventionof starch made this grand display possible. (St Olaf’s Grammar School, Orpington)

These portraits demonstrate the discomfort suffered by the lady of fashion when the collars andsleeves reached an extreme. The linen unembellished ruff on the left has been referred to as a"millstone ruff", as in “having a millstone around my neck.”

Both young woman have plucked high foreheads and a padded roll under the hair around theirfaces. Developments in fashion in the late Elizabethan period were characterized with an ever-increasing preoccupation with decoration and exaggeration. For a court affair, records indicatethat it was not unusual to require five hours to dress. The millstone or "cartwheel" ruff alone, ofapproximately 25 yards of linen, could require an hour to get it just right.



Unassembled coif of whitelinen embroidered inblackwork using the speck-led/flecked technique, late16th or early 17th century.The charming coiling stemdesign has typical flowers ofthe Elizabethan period, includ-ing honeysuckle. Between thecoils is a fantastic array ofbirds, butterflies and othercreatures, including a snail.(Victoria & Albert Museum,London)

The needlework of the Elizabethan era that has survived is not a true cross-section of what origi-nally was produced. This is why the study of portraits and written records is so important. Whathas survived are small embroidered articles, such as coifs and caps and small bags, all of whichwere used for informal wear.

As designs became more naturalistic at the end of the 16th century, the final stage of blackworkevolved. Now tiny random stitches were used for the filling, it what appears to be an effort to copyengravings down to their smallest detail and shadings. Often the filling, or seeding/speckling, isso fine that it is almost indistinguishable from a paper copy of the engraving that was its designsource. In addition to black silk, a twist of black and white silk was used; this would have been ofconsiderable assistance to create shaded effects in the similar technique of flecking.



Left: Woman's white linen coif from theearly 17th century. The coiling stems wereexecuted with silver-gilt thread in plaited braidstitch. The other stitches used include: seed("speckling") for filling the motifs, chain,french knots, stem and ladder. This close-fitting informal Elizabethan garment was wornabout the home by all female members ofthe household. Of the large number of ex-tant examples one finds many which wereembellished with blackwork, often with goldthreads. (Platt Hall, Manchester)

Right: Details from another woman's coif using theidentical design, so coifs were likely the product of aprofessional workshop purchased by the noble womanat her local habadasher. From the early 17th century,the coif was embroidered in black silk and silver-giltthreads. Stitches include: plaited braidfor the heavy coiling stems, seed("speckling") for the filling of the mo-tifs and stem, chain and ladder.(Victoria & Albert Museum, London)

Drawn wire of silver plated with gold,referred to as "silver-gilt" in muse-ums, has been the basic material forthe Western metal threads since theMiddle Ages. This gilt wire, flattenedand wrapped around a core of silkthread, was important to theneedleworker during the Elizabe-than period, and its high gold con-tent made it flexible enough for theexecution of such stitches as plaitedbraid, Ceylon, and detached button-hole.



Above: Detail of early 17th-century coif with em-broidery executed in crimson silk with the speck-ling technique and herringbone and buttonholestitch. The background is powdered with goldspangles. (Victoria & Albert Museum, London)

Right: Detail of a late 16th-century sleeve panelworked in stem stitch and incredibly fine seedstitches (speckling). From a short distance thislooks like an engraving, not an embroidery. (Victoria& Albert Museum, London)

Left: Detail of late 16th-century coif classifiedas blackwork although the black silk thread wasused almost exclusively for heavy outlining whilethe filling is executed in gold thread with varia-tions of twisted, ladder and looped stitches. (Cos-tume Gallery, Bath)



Left: Early 17th-century coif of coiling stemdesign with filling of speckling/flecking. (Coo-per Hewitt Museum, New York)

Bottom left: Man's late 16th- or early 17th-century lingerie cap with main motifs filledwith repeat geometric patterns. Main stemsare executed in gold plaited braid stitch andbackground is powdered with spangles.(Castlegate Museum, Nottingham)

Below right: Early 17th-century man's lin-gerie cap with filling of flecking technique, pos-sibly some areas using twist of black andwhite silk. (Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal)

Another significant silver-gilt material was thetiny spangle (or roundel) introduced to theWestern world by the Italians during the earlyRenaissance. Spangles were attachedthrough a center hole like sequins and wereused as a background powdering for manypieces of Elizabethan blackwork.



Left: Detail of a 17th cen-tury forehead cloth executedin the speckling technique withbraid stitch stems. (Victoria &Albert Museum, London)

Bottom: Unassembled late16th-century coif in an ama-teurish Elizabethan coilingstem design. Braid stitch wasused for the main stem linesand geometric repeat back-stitched patterns for the motiffilling. The original blackthreads have turned to brown-black which indicates likeli-hood of the silk having beendyed in the home. (Victoria &Albert Museum, London)

Holland, lawn and cambricwere the bleached linensused for the Elizabethanblackwork ground fabric, allof which were imported fromthe Continent. Holland ( me-dium weight linen), was usedfor both the main articles ofcostume and the furnishingfabrics, while fine and semi-transparent lawn and cam-bric from France were im-portant for soft ruffs, partlets,cuffs and handkerchiefs. The

sheer cobweb lawn and cypress linen wereused as a veil over such costume articlesas sleeves and partlets.

Elizabethan household and wardrobe in-ventories and accounts, portraits, and nu-merous surviving examples, all confirm thatblackwork was now a major form of all-overdecoration that was important for the or-namentation of both costume and house-hold furnishings.



Late 16th-century long pil-low cover ("pillow bere") fromthe Lord Falkland collection.White linen ground was em-broidered with black silk in avariety of stitches includingbraid, chain, back, coral andback stitch for the repeat geo-metric filling patterns. Covermeasures 34" by 19" (ap-proximately 86 cm by 48 cm).Note the deterioration of theembroidery, this photo takenover 25 years ago. (Victoria& Albert Museum, London)

With the rising prosperity of the sec-ond half of the 16th century, domes-tic building spread rapidly across thecountryside. Nobles amassed largeholdings on which they built palacesof enormous size and grandeur. En-gland was at peace, so the fortifiedmedieval home with its moats, smallwindows, cold stone walls and mini-mum number of large, sparsely fur-nished rooms gave way to thegraceful Elizabethan manor house.Not unexpectedly, these people whocovered themselves with rich, splen-did attire of embroidered silk, velvet

and linen covered their walls, furniture, and win-dows in a similar manner. An especially importantsymbol of prosperity and status for the nobility wasthe family's sets of fabric bed furnishings, the bedbeing the most important article of furniture in anEnglish home. When they were made of white linen,the coverlets, long pillow covers (pillow-beres), andwindow curtains were frequently embellished withblackwork, which due to the large size of theseitems, was probably done by professional work-shops.



Detail of a late 16th-century long pillowcover ("pillow bere") ofwhite linen ground em-broidered with black silkand silver-gilt thread ina variety of stitches in-cluding back stitch forthe repeat geometric fill-ing patterns, ceylon, de-tached buttonhole,couching and wovenwheel. Close-up showsthe use of gold metalwoven wheels in apomegranete motif. (ArtInstitute, Chicago)

There is another cover of identical designin the Scottish Museum, Edinburgh, indi-cating that these are the products of a pro-fessional craftsman. It is possible that thepieces of work were originally part of a set,which could have included window and/orbed curtains, all used in a single household.

The popularity of blackwork continuedinto the early 17th century ( the early Stuartperiod) but now this style of needleworkwas used less often. From the survivingexamples during the time of James I, itwould appear that blackwork, at least in its final stage, was once again used primarily for cos-tume ornamentation. It was in the second quarter of this century, during the reign of Charles I, thatthe use of blackwork disappeared, not to return until the 20th-century revival. The last knownreference to blackwork is in the 1633 household accounts of Howard Naworth: For sewing apillow cover with black silk for my lady.

The images provided in The Art of English Blackwork are for the sole purpose of education; under US andInternational Copyright regulations such material falls in the “Fair Use” category. This entire history chapter, orindividual pages of it, can be copied and/or printed, which I encourage you to do for your own history archives. I havebeen researching needlework history and sharing my knowledge with embroiderers for almost 30 years. I amthrilled to have found an entirely new audience in the internet with whom I can share.

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The Art of English Blackwork - janezimmerman.comjanezimmerman.com/Site/Needlework_History/Blackwork.pdfThe Art of English Blackwork ... Such opulence has been without parallel in the