Blackwork
Background
Blackwork became popular in England during the reign of Henry VIII, and
the style is often called Spanishe Worke, a name given to it due to its
introduction to England being linked with the Henry's wife, Catherine
of Aragon.
The portrait painter Hans Holbein the Younger became court painter to
Henry VIII, and he painted Henry's queens wearing dresses richly decorated
with Blackwork. The double-running stitch employed in Blackwork is often
called Holbein stitch.
While most often associated with England, blackwork embroidery can be
found in other parts of Europe as well.
During its most popular period of usage, three distinct styles of blackwork
emerge, all of which co-existed together.
Design Features
- Linear, Reversable Blackwork
- This is the type of work that most people associate with blackwork.
It is a usually a counted thread design (though this is not always
the case), which is reversable, that is, it looks the same from
the front and the back. This style tends to be linear in nature
and was mostly used on collars and cuffs of clothing.
- It's popularity can be attested to by the fact that some form
of blackwork can be seen in just about every surviving Tudor and
Elizabethan portrait. One painter, Hans Holbein, detailed it so
well that the stitch used to make this style of blackwork took on
his name - Holbein Stitch. This type of blackwork can be done in
either double running or back stitch.
- Free Form Style with Geometric Fill Patterns
- This is second most popular form of blackwork. This type of blackwork
consists of free form shapes, (most popularly, flowers and leaves)
that are then filled in with repeating geometric fill patterns. This
type of blackwork was used extensively in the production of pillow
covers and various forms of clothing, such as large sleeves, coifs,
nightcaps, smocks and skirt foreparts.
- Free Form Outlined Motifs - This type of blackwork
comes in two versions:
- The first is the use of scattered, individual motifs on items
such as pillow beeres (cases) and other bed linens. These are usually
done using stem or chain stitch.
- The other form is a repetitive strapwork pattern, again done in
stem stitch or chain stitch. Examples can be seen in the portraits
of Henry VIII (shirts) and in skirt foreparts.
Materials Used
The most common materials for working blackwork in the 16th Century were
black silk thread on a white linen ground. Many such examples survive
today.
Stitches and Techniques
- Holbein stitch or double-running stitch - used mostly for reversable
blackwork, used on collars, cuffs and any items where both sides would
be visible.
- Stem stitch - used as an outline stitch when doing free form and geometric
blackwork.
- Braid or plaited stitches - used for making stems or adding texture
to free form and geometric blackwork.
Extant Pieces of Blackwork
Links To Further Information
Sources / Further Reading
- Zimmerman, Jane D. Blackwork Embroidery Patterns (Self-published,
1975)
- Geddes, Elizabeth & McNeill, Moyra. Blackwork (New York:
Dover, 1974)
- Gostelow, Mary Blackwork (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold,
1976)
- Drysdale, Rosemary Art of Blackwork Embroidery (New York:Scribner,
1975)
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