Section of an apron
1711
- Credit Line
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Mrs N. McLeish, 1978
- Gallery location
- Not on display
About this work
Muslin was one of the most popular fabrics imported into England from India in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. For embroidery, muslins were first stretched on a frame or attached to a paper backing. Designs were either taken from textile prototypes or printed sources, and could be drawn by the amateur embroiderer, an embroidery teacher or a trained designer. The outlandish birds embroidered on this apron show various sources, from the Indian peacock and Chinese phoenix to earlier English needlework bird motifs seen in seventeenth-century embroidery. The sinuous linear design recalls that of European ‘bizarre’ silk brocades.
Artwork Details
Gift of Mrs N. McLeish, 1978
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Professor AGL Shaw AO Bequest