Surprising Objects in the Royal School of Needlework’s collection by Dr. Isabella Rosner

RSN Webinar 

 

13^th March 2024

 

Surprising Objects in the Royal School of Needlework’s collection 

Dr. Isabella Rosner 

Last night, along with many others, Jenny and Germaine logged in to hear Dr. Isabella Rosner speak about some of the more surprising objects found so far in the Royal School of Needlework’s (RSN) collection.

 

Since the RSN (formally the Royal School of Art Needlework) was founded in 1872, many items have been donated to their collection.  Until now, much of it remained in boxes, uncatalogued and mostly undocumented. They have objects which were mostly found in a domestic space and the objects span 1000 years in time. She estimated that they have more than 10, 000 objects. 

 

In 2023/4 it was decided that they had the funding (although they would always welcome more) to explore this collection, to digitise it and to share their collection with the world.

 

Dr. Rosner explained that she had chosen a few of these items to share in her talk as some of the items in the collection are unique and there may be no comparable item in any museum anywhere- this was quite exciting for the viewer. 

 

Although, I could not capture any images from the talk tonight they will be sharing them in a dedicated website- launching 15^th April and this will be free to access. This website will show the items in a lot of detail and will link to the stitch bank and any documents found with the item. 

This website will be added to as regularly as they can as they begin to work through their collection- their team is working on a core of 100 items to start with but hope to expand the range when they can.

 

Object one was a round fragment of Coptic Weaving which they believe is from 7th/8^th Century Egypt. They believe this shows the story of King David with the head of Goliath.   Although this is not a stitched item, it is woven, Dr. Rosner showed this due to its age.  She also explained that this had been found in the Grove book- a collection of textiles collected in a volume by Georgina Grove who died in 1924. For more information : https://royal-needlework.org.uk/ceb-grove-book/

Spot sampler from 1630-1650, England.

These were a length of linen with motifs tried out to determine if they would work before committing to a larger piece. 

 

Mirror Frame

Although the dates on the work pointed to 1653, there were several inconsistencies in the images- with further work, Dr. Rosner explained that there were several similar objects all dated the same but she suspects that they were reproductions made in the 1800’s. 

 

Canvas work Altar Frontal, 1700s Europe donated in 1950s.

Dr. Rosner explained that the team had dated the work by stitch style and design choices. They believe this was a piece for private worship as the stitching was not regular. It shows 3 images from the Old testament and was worked in really bright colours. 

 

Sampler- 1783, Pontefract, England

This was a fragment from the earliest example of a medallion sampler which was adopted by the Quaker school of Ackworth and which spread across the world. 

 

Letter case, 1840-60, Quebec, Canada

This was a case made of red felt and embroidered with a floral design. What made this unusual was the use of Moosehair and was a good example of work done by first nations embroiderers. 

 

Jacket, 1860-70 possible European with Indian Embroidery

This was a beautiful example of a jacket which would fit over a hooped skirt. It had elaborate Indian Embroidery which had been applied to the Jacket and the fastening toggles were also embroidered and elaborate. 

Length of Brocade Fabric, 1880-1900, Eurpose

This was a bright, very bright, yellow fabric with motifs woven into it, there were musical instruments, flowers, and flags- there was some discussion during the event that this may have been made in the style of Spitalfields silk and was woven to celebrate an event. 

 

Framed picture of Irises- Sewn at the Royal School of Art Needlework, 1889.

This was donated by the owner of the picture. 

 

Autograph Tablecloth- 1901-5, Oxford, England

This was a plain white tablecloth with 215 names drawn and embroidered onto it- black for mens’ names and red for womens’. Some of the people had already passed away when their name was embroidered, and the team have deciphered each one – this information will be on the website when this is opened.

 

Peranakan Artist Slippers, 1927, Singapore

These slippers were among the last of their type to be embroidered rather than beaded which is how they were dated. Additionally, they included Rabbits on the image which was a matter of some debate- 1927 was the year of the rabbit! 

 

Items donated by Queen Mary of Teck

Queen Mary was a big supporter of the RSN and keen needlewoman. She wrote several letters to the RSN asking for embroidery supplies or support. She donated a cushion worked in tent stich by her and a bag from 1780-1800 from her own collection.

 

Unfinished blouse, Madeira 1950s

The reason this was included as surprising was that it was unfinished and appeared that this had been a kit – there were some inconsistences of method of making up which Dr. Rosner explained were a cause for interest. 

So, although no pictures were included in this write up, I hope that there is enough here to whet your interest and keep a look out for the new website and for the exhibition coming later in the year.