“A TIGER” THE RECREATION

AETHELMEARC A&S CHAMPS 2025

· BACKGROUND

· GLOSSARY

o EMBROIDERY TERMS

o DESIGN TERMS

· HISTORY

o TAPESTERIES

o BOOKS

o CREATION PROCESS

· EXAMPLARS

· RECREATIONS

o SUPPLIES

o STITCHES

o PATTERNING

o PROCESS/ METHODS

· BIBLIOGRAPHY

· BACKGROUND

In her youth, Queen Mary of Scotland and for a short time France, learned the art of embroidery, and for this work, cross stitch. It was common for the ladies of the royal household of France to complete their work during court. While she did not have much time to create in the role of Queen of Scotland, Mary quickly picked her work back up in England (Swain, 36, 37, 121). Along with her captor Bess of Hardwick, Dozens of embroidered pieces were created (Swain, 102).

The pieces are a mix of mottos and Impresas, animals and flowers. Mary made gifts for friends and lovers, and spent dozens of hours creating these pieces, using them as an outlet when she was no longer allowed outside. Years after her death, many pieces of her work were turned into hangings, and while we may not know the original intent of the works, it is a mystery that is still being studied today

For years I have been fascinated with these pieces. Their texture and deep meaning are created with just a few simple stitches.

GLOSSARY

· EMBROIDERY TERMS

o CROSS STITCH: English method- a single cross stitch is completed, one diagonal stitch over another, before moving on to complete the second stitch, and so on.”

o CROSS STITCH: Danish method- one diagonal stitch of the required number of cross stitches is made before returning in the opposite direction to complete the second set of diagonal stitches over the first diagonal row of stitches.”

o “Continental tent- stitch is worked in horizontal or vertical rows and makes a diagonal stitch on the back, longer than that on the front”

o “Half cross tent stitch- worked in rows and makes a vertical stitch on the back.”

o BASKETWEAVE TENT STITCH- “diagonal stitch, usually worked across a single intersection of canvas from bottom left to top right.”

o TRAMMED- a long thread laid along the top of the canvas and the tent stitches cover this thread to provide slightly padded coverage. Tramming would normally be used with half cross tent stitch (which has the smallest amount of thread on the reverse).

o “Examination of the contemporaneous Hardwick Hall embroideries has found that both basketweave and (trammed) half cross tent stitches were used.”

ALL EMBROIDERY DEFINITIONS ARE FROM THE ROYAL SCHOOL OF NEEDLEWORK STITCHBANK

· DESIGN TERMS

o SLIPS- embroidered details worked on a separate piece of fabric or canvas, then cut out and appliqued to the main design (typically birds or flowers)

o EMBLEMS- designs offering a more general moral instruction

o IMPRESE/IMPRESA- a image and motto together expressing an intention that the creator uses to describe a certain situation

o Devices- a picture and motto representing a family of esteem/royalty

RECREATION

Before starting on my final project, I experimented with 3 different styles of patterning. My first attempt, I took a photo of the extant black and white picture from a book and attempted to free morph in a word program. Unfortunately, that caused warping and distortions and the final project was not consistent. My second attempt, I used the same word document, however I adjusted the photo to 5”, then used a photocopier to adjusted the picture by 125%. This brought the pattern to the desired size of 11”. This allowed for less distortion and better proportions. The third practice piece, I used a projector to size to the desired size. I also transferred the drawn design from the poster board to graph paper to mimic pouncing paper, which allowed for more straight and proportioned lines. All of these practice piece were created on 16 count cotton double weave canvas using cross stitch and DMC floss.

For the final piece, I decided to go with the projector method, as this was a great method in my living room, where I could work at my pace at night and not rely on daytime hours when the library was open. I once again transferred to graph paper to make sure that my lines were straight and to assist with my letters being as spaced as equally as possible. While pounce paper and powder is the historically accurate method of transferring items, I do not have a craft space with a table that allows for this to be easily and safely done. With children, and pets, I went with the light box method of transfer onto the 36 count linen.

Working from the center out, I started at the tigers head, outlining in brown, then filling in as I went. At first, I would do the small details like the eye and spots, however as I went it went more smoothly if I saved those tasks for last.

I also experimented with cross stitch and tent stitch with the small details. The royal school of needlework have documented that tent stitch is found in the completed tapestries. There are also many other extant examples of projects completed in tent stitch. As you observe the extant tiger, you will see some of the stitching has pulled up, or is missing. I filled in what I considered the “blanks” to be in those places. After the tiger, I filled in the coronet to match my own as well as filing in my initials (AE) in place of Marys. Then, I worked from the bottom of the sky up, so to support the space around the tiger. As I went with the sky, I also moved into the wording, moving bit by bit.

When the sky was done, I did the line spacing on the bottom squares. There was some difficulty lining up the fill colors in the flooring. If you look closely, you will see the occasional same colors matching as well as some of the square sizes are drastically different sizes.

While we do not fully know the original piece purpose, we do have examples of how they could look. We have multiple examples of small and long pillows with other designs; thanks to Michae Bath in their book “Emblems for a Queen”, we also have a few example of what the animal pieces might have looked like prior to being placed on the tapestry

HISTORY

· TAPESTERIES

o Marian Hanging

o Shrewsbury Hanging

o Oxburgh Valance

o Made up of over 100 panels

o Whole tapestry size 2270mm-2940mm

o Individual pieces are approx. 11.81”-87”

o Octagonal and cruciform shaped pieces

· BOOKS

o While we may not know the exact books that were used, we can look at books we know were printed in that time to summarize where we believe the designs come from

§ Devises heroiques (1557) by Claud Paradin

§ Birds of Paradise (1560’s) by Conrad Gesner

§ La Nature et Diversite des Poissons (1555) Pierre Belon

§ L’Histoire de la Nature des Oyseaux (1555) by Pierre Belon

§ Devises Royales (1621) by Adrien d’Amboise {is it possible that his father, Francois d’Amboise helped to start the book earlier?}

§ Emblemata by Hadrianus Junius

§ Claude Paradin’s Aesopic fables

§ Royal coins, engravings, paintings and other art pieces are documented to show these designs. They could have been copied or described and sent to Queen Mary where she then recreated and altered them.

o CREATION PROCESS

o Individual would pick design concept which was then passed onto professional artist or patternmaker

o Stitches completed by others (household embroiderers, ladies of the house/court, etc)

o A Tapissiers in the French court was in charge of caring for the soft furnishings in the court

o For my creation, I used a projector to get the most accurate size for the recreation

o After tidying up the drawing, I copied onto graph paper and used a light box to transfer onto the fabric

o Historically, the design was transferred to pouncing paper. Prick holes were created with a sharp item (example needle) and when the powder was patted onto the paper, it was transferred onto the fabric.

· EXAMPLARS