Description

This beautiful 17th century English needlework dates to the earlier part of the century.

Worked in tent stitch, the silks have retained a remarkable intensity of colour. The needlework is unfinished, with three of the female figures and some of the animals only indicated in outline.

The subject matter of the textile is the five senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. Each of the senses is represented by an allegorical female figure, from the top right hand corner anti clockwise: the woman holding a hand mirror, one playing music on a lute, one holding a basket of what is possibly apples (this cannot be ascertained since the figure is unfinished), the large figure in the centre holding a rose and finally the figure in the bottom right hand corner touching a bird with her right hand.

An assortment of flowers such as the rose, marigold, cornflowers and carnations is scattered through the entire picture, as is a plethora of animals real and mythical: the lion and the unicorn, a centipede, snails, a stag, beetles and butterflies all populate the field which is layered in near horizontal lines in shades of green, blue and golden yellow. The bright blue sky has a sun emanating from the clouds, and two castles decorate the top corners.

The needlework has been professionally restored to the highest standard and is framed in a sympathetic modern frame behind UV protected, non-reflective glass.