Tue Oct 23, 2018 06:46 AM

Morning Modelbuch (10/23/2018)

You know how some ideas get attached to concepts in your head and they become the truth, even when there’s evidence to the contrary? The unnamed embroiderer is one of those for me. Yes, there are plenty of unidentified artisans in this medium, just as there are in others, but there are also historic artists that we know the names of. Some of the easiest to find are the King’s (or Queen’s) Embroiderer. In England it was an official post, usually appointed for life, and there are records with their names and how much they were paid. Elizabeth I’s first Embroiderer’s name was David Smith. He had an assistant, who specialized in furniture rather than clothing, named William Middleton. One of James I’s Embroiderer was named William Broderick. Another was Edmund Harrison. He worked for James I, Charles I, and Charles II. We actually have several of Harrison’s pieces extant. In part that is because he bought several pieces after Charles I execution and used them as part of his resume to get a job with Charles II after the Restoration.

One of those pieces, from the 1630’s, is super intriguing because we have the embroidery, we know who embroidered it and we have a print that was the inspiration/pattern for it. Here’s the altar dossal by Harrison of the Last Supper in the V and A http://m.vam.ac.uk/item/O1136086/altar-dossal-harrison-edmund/ The associated pattern is a print by Hieronymus Wierix. https://art.famsf.org/hieronymus-wierix/last-supper-19633011138

For further reading, check out Patricia Wardle’s articles in Textile History. WARDLE, Patricia (1994). ‘The king’s embroiderer: Edmund Harrison (1590?1667)’, Textile History, 25, pp. 29?59. WARDLE, Patricia (1995). ‘The king’s embroiderer: Edmund Harrison (1590?1667)’, Textile History, 26, pp. 139?84.