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| RISING DOVES: A Tent Stitched Picture signed by "AP" and dated 1737 From the collection of The Scarlet Letter Needlework fashions were in the process of change when AP made this purely decorative picture in 1737. From the opulence of seventeenth century work, the needlework created by wealthy women in early eighteenth century England was more restrained and elegant. Pictorial embroideries, such as this example, were produced to decorate the home, as less expensive alternatives to paintings, yet with the skill of an accomplished needlewoman could rival the appearance of a painting. Popular themes were Arcadian, idyllic landscapes, lush with flora and fauna. The Biblical themes of the previous century's canvasworks gave way to the depiction of more worldly pleasures, promoting an admiration for the supposed innocence and simplicity of leisured rural aristocratic life. The careful delineation of the oak leaves, and the movement of the sky, and in the lady's rustling skirts, suggest a more sophisticated use of the materials, as contrasted with the flatter, more naive canvaswork style of the seventeenth century. This project is worked entirely in petit point tent stitch (a half cross over one thread of linen). |
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