l
blues. Black sometimes is to be noticed in both these colour schemes,
also bright and buff yellows and chestnut browns, and the colours were
mostly confined to the blue scheme first named, but there are examples
extant of an entire design carried out in shades of red, as in the Tudor
and early 16th century hangings one finds blues responsible for the
whole colouring. These vary in tone, and in the late copies of the
designs the blue has a very green tinge about it.[2]

In the reign of Queen Anne taste reverted to the older lighter designs,
grotesques were eliminated, massiveness gave place to grace, and
brightness of colour to a soft modified brilliancy that was very
engaging. In the Georgian copies heaviness again obtained favour, and
gradually the designs deteriorated, and were eventually temporarily lost
in "the limbo of the past." The vogue for lace work in the reign of
William and Mary influenced the stitches in the crewel embroidery, and
in Queen Anne's day the variety of stitches was reminiscent of the
earlier period, some of the fillings being beautiful.

The material used was through all the phases the same, viz., a twill
fabric, of which the warp was of linen, the weft of cotton; the wools
varied somewhat in the twist, but were always worsted, the word crewel
being a diminutive of clew, "a ball of thread," and probably came into
vogue with the importation of wools from Germany, the corresponding word
in that language being _Knaeuel_.

A. F. MORRIS HANDS

[1] Opus Anglicum by M. Louis de Farcy in "Embroidery."

[2] See example in South Kensington carried out in very hard twisted
blue wools. The curtain belonging to Mr. Hearn, and now at South
Kensington, is a beautiful specimen of the full colouring of the late
17th century.

Op. I

[Illustration]

PLATE 1

This plate was sketched from a very old strip of Tudor work, measuring
about 5ft. 8in. in length and 1ft. 8in. in width. Each leaf was about
22in. long and 19in. across. The strip had evidently been part of a bed
valance, and, as far as one could tell--for it was much faded--had been
worked in two shades of wool only--dark indigo blue and bright green;
the latter had faded, almost everywhere, to a soft mignonette colour.

Op. II

PLATE 2

A group of blue leaves, etc., taken from some old cushions at Knole
Park, Sevenoaks.

No. 1. Stem stitch contour: Maidenhair in buttonhole stitch. Star in
buttonhole stitch on background