Tag Archives: sequins

16th Century: portrait reproduction of Vlad Dracula

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Ambras Castle portrait of Vlad III (c. 1560), reputedly a copy of an original made during his lifetime.

I normally wouldn’t include a recreated portrait, but it was supposedly based off the original, which is now lost. But I looked at that hat and thought it was worth ab mention. I personally think those rows of  pearls are actually sequins with smaller or even seed-sized pearls. I mean, come on…  It’s painted exactly how pearl studded sequins look.

This would have glittered in candlelight like a medieval disco ball!

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17th Century: Gloves 1620s

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Pair of gloves

British,

The rich brown leather of these gloves is unusual; most surviving gloves from the seventeenth century are lighter in color. However, the motifs embroidered on the gauntlets—pea pods and blossoms—were quite common during the period. Pea pods were often associated with romantic love. They are found on both household furnishings and other accessories of dress, such as a woman’s jacket of about the same date in the Museum’s collection (23.170.1).

Medium: Leather, satin worked with silk and metal thread, spangles; long-and-short, satin, detached buttonhole, couching stitches; metal bobbin lace; silk and metal ribbon

Dimensions: L. 13 1/2 x W. 6 1/2 inches (34.3 x 16.5 cm)

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17th Century: waistcoat

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1600-1620 English waistcoat

Woman’s waistcoat, 1600-20, British; linen embroidered with coloured silks, metal threads, spangles, glass beads

V&A Accession Number:T.106:1 to 4-2003 | Item page at V&A

Description: Four pieces forming a woman’s waistcoat made of bleached linen and embroidered with coloured silks, silver and silver-gilt filé and spangles. The pattern of the embroidery comprises a lattice of geometric strapwork in plaited braid stitch with threads. Worked inside the strapwork compartments are flowers, fruits and leaves in coloured silks in detached buttonhole stitch. The grapes are similarly worked, but raised for a three-dimensional effect.

History: The waistcoat was probably altered in the 1620s to wear as masque costume. The fronts were removed, shortened and new gores added, then sewn to new silk backs (not meant to be seen when worn). The waistcoat probably had a scattering of silver-gilt spangles. Many more, each topped with a glass bead, were added, filling the linen ground and almost obscuring the pattern of the embroidery.

The waistcoat has been associated with Sutton Court in Somerset for several centuries, according to information provided to the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.

The alterations and addition of more spangles and beads may have been done to adapt the waistcoat for use as a masque costume. Sir Francis Bacon’s essay, On Masques and Triumphs of 1594, makes a number of recommendations about costumes for the masque, including “oes or spangs, as they are of no great cost, so they are of most glory. As for rich embroidery, it is lost and not discerned.”

Historical significance: Lavishly embroidered waistcoats were fashionable during the first two decades of the 17th century and are often seen in portraiture, usually worn with a petticoat and loose gown as formal day wear. The embroidery on this example represents a unique variation on other multi-coloured needlework designs of the period. The foundation pattern in plaited braid stitch with silver-gilt thread is in a strapwork design, a geometrical outline rather than the curving stems usually seen. The three-dimensional rendering of the grapes is a particularly rich treatment of the form. This particular waistcoat once had its linen ground completely covered with spangles, each topped with a tiny bead, an addition probably made for masque costume.

Summary: These pieces once formed part of a woman’s waistcoat and are beautiful examples of the splendour of British embroidery between 1600 and 1620. The foundation pattern in plaited braid stitch with silver-gilt thread is strapwork, a design also used in other decorative arts of this period. The leaves and flowers are filled in with a detached buttonhole stitch in a variety of coloured silks. The grapes have been worked over thick padding to give them an almost three-dimensional shape.

The waistcoat was altered to wear as part of a costume for a masque (masked ball), with the additional spangles and beads added to make the waistcoat gleam in the candlelight. The British philosopher and writer Francis Bacon (1561-1626) wrote an essay, ‘Of Masques and Triumphs’, in 1594, advising on the colours and decorations most effective for masque costume. He recommended spangles, ‘as they are of no great cost, so they are of most glory. As for rich embroidery, it is lost, and not discerned.’

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18th Cetury: Beaded panel

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English, circa 1700. Framed: 39 x 45cm

From: The Needle’s Excellency and Other Textiles (Publisher: Mallett, London, 1997)

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17th Century: Drawstring Bag, 1610-1650

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Drawstring bag

English, 1610–50

Item info from: https://collections.mfa.org/objects/119711

DESCRIPTION: Red silk satin embroidered with gold metallic threads, seed pearls, metal purl, spangles, and bits of colored glass. Baroque design. Embroidery stitches include laid and couching, beading, bullion knots, braid stitch. Green and metallic braided cords and strap at top; two wood-core drawstring pull tassels covered in seed pearls, with silk, metallic thread and spangles. Green silk lining.
PROVENANCE: Ex-Seligman Coll. (London); Elizabeth Day McCormick collection; Gift to the MFA, October 14, 1943
DIMENSIONS: Overall (without tassels and cord): 6 x 6 cm (2 3/8 x 2 3/8 in.)
CREDIT LINE: The Elizabeth Day McCormick Collection
ACCESSION NUMBER: 4:3.1080

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16th Century: The Annunciation

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RUNNER SQUARE OF THE BANNER OF JULIUS II: THE ANNUNCIATION

Upper Rhine, 1513 Basle, Historiches Museum (1882-1892)
Height: 129 cm. Height of the detail: 43 cm. Italian white silk damask. Relief embroidery, or nue’, needle painting. Abundant use of pearls, silver-gilt sequins gold thread. Faces covered with silk and embroidered. The banner was an honorific gift from Pope Julius II to his faithful allies of Basle as a sign of his gratitude for their assistance in the capture of Pavia. On 2nd July 1512, the Council of Basle commissioned the banner in Milan and a year later ordered a copy for use from a foreign embroiderer and from the Basle Goldsmith Jorg Schweiger. His design for the silver-gilt sceptre of the angel was preserved in the Amberbach Collection and is now in the Hostorisches Museum at Basle.

Lit,: W. Schneewind, Die Waffensammlung, Schriften des Historischen Museums III, Basle 1958, p. 74 – A.B. Bruckner, Schweizer Fahnenbuch, p. 171-175, pl. 38.Source: Schuette, Marie and Sigrid Muller-Christensen: Pictorial History of Embroidery ; NY: Frederick Praeger, 1964.

Color photo credit link: Kiriel du Papillon

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15th Century: Kloster Ebstorf Panels

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15th Century: Lamb Of God

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The Lamb of God
Southern Germany, about 1450-1470 Munich
Bayerisches Nationalmuseum (NN 1100)
Diameter: 8 cm

Red velvet with gold sequins. Relief embroidery. Linen ground with pearls.
Halo and banner in gold and silk embroidery in couched work, satin and chain stitch.
On the other side of the lid is the Veracon, in silk embroidery.

 

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