Stuart stumpwork casket - first finished piece

I have now finished the first piece of the Stuart stumpwork box.

I now feel happier with this project - I think it is really useful for me to make something quite different to the mechanical and masculine images that I normally do and love.  A  mechanical drawing in stitch just works due to the surprise caused by the contrast in subject and medium; this is a recreation of a feminine form in a feminine medium but, it is also a homage to the young ladies who made the original drawings and it is lovely to capture the fragility. But, the work is harder to do - the detail is finer and  this small piece has taken nearly four and a half weeks to complete.

I am now at Knit and Stitch - so no time to work but plenty of opportunity to talk about my ideas with the public. I feel that this is such an important thing to do and truly lovely - talking about your work with members of the public who have so many interesting points of views as well as their own personal stories of exploring the world of creativity.

Elizabethan or Stuart.

On viewing the casket at Newark Park, it was suggested that the box was Elizabethan, but on further reading about stumpwork and considering the fashion style shown in the drawings, I think the casket might be from the Stuart period. 

According to Judith Harper (2014), Stumpwork which is currently enjoying a revival, originally had its heyday during the second half of the 17th century when it was called raised Embroidery. The term 'Stumpwork' was an early 19th century description derived from the word 'stamp work' because the picture was worked over a pre-stamped or hand drawn outline on the backing material. 

Many of the stories conveyed the religious and political divisions that occurred in England during the Civil War. The beautiful feminine art of Raised Embroidery conveyed docility, obedience and love of the home (Parker, 2010) but it also provided an art form that reflected societies opinion. 

Stumpwork panel with a central oval cartouche depicting a young lady, mid-17th century (Telegraph, 2014)

Batten (2014) suggests that stumpwork's popularity was probably aided by the pedlars who travelled around the country to wealthy families selling kits that contained many luxurious threads and patterns. On the box that I am copying, black threads can be seen and these may have been the outline threads.

Whilst wondering about the relevance of my work and why I am spending hours copying someone else's drawing or pattern from a kit, I considered starting again but telling my own contemporary story. However, if I did that would I then have to use the Stumpwork technique just as contemporary artists who make samplers use cross stitch.

Caren Garden‘There are no words to embroider that single desolating fact.’ Site responsive piece by Caren Garfen. Framed sample, hand stitched. Cotton material, silk threads

And then I thought of Cornelia Parker's 'Magna Carta, an embroidery', a hand stitched embroidered drawing of the wikipedia page made through a collaboration of many individuals as was the case for the writing of the Magna Carta. 

Could I just continue reproducing the piece as I am? A reproduction of the beautiful remains of an exceptional work of art made by a young lady over 500 years ago. As I struggle with the tiny detail and obsess over thread changes which at times, may be for no more than two stitches, I can imagine how hard it must have been to do this by hand with candle light and a bone needle.


Batten, P. (2014) http://englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/stitching-stumpwork-and-stuarts.html

Miller, J. (2014) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/collectables/25451/a-stitch-in-time-english-stumpwork.html

Parker, R. (2010) The Subversive Stitch. Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine. I.B.Tauris and Co Ltd. London

The work so far

I have now been working on the drawing for three weeks (not constant due to family commitments) and whilst the work is slowly growing, my feelings are very mixed about the piece. 

My busy work station

Right front of casket in hoop

Right front of the original Elizabethan Casket

Whilst I feel that the work is really representing the image, I keep asking myself if copying another drawing will work. My previous drawings that represented mechanical objects worked well because of the obvious contrast between metal and thread, the masculine and the feminine but reproducing thread drawings in more stitch leaves me asking questions. But, that is also good - work needs to be questioned; simply producing a well executed image is not enough if it isn't making a statement or engaging the viewer in a dialogue. 

I do have two good reasons for the work that suggest that I should continue with the next piece. Firstly, I am reproducing their story, just as the young Elizabethan girls were doing 500 years ago (stump work often told contemporary stories). I don't have the whole story and have to fill in the missing spaces, i.e. the damaged wood and the broken threads. Secondly, it is damaged but still beautiful and I hope that this might be seen in the final piece. 

This piece and the lid are the most damaged pieces of the casket; what will happen when I copy the more completed panels?

Right front of Elizabethan Casket

I have started work on the drawing but at the moment I am not sure how successful it will be. Whilst I think the drawing is going as expected, I am concerned about the fact that original casket decoration was also drawn. Is my work simply about copying a drawing previously made by a young Elizabethan lady, or is it making a statement about the faded splendour that could be overlooked as simple damage that time has allowed to happen?

Front, Elizabethan Casket

Work in progress

Thread Drawing

I will continue with the work because I really need to see some completed pieces before I can make a decision on the possible outcome of the project.