Review of Stitched: Scotland’s Embroidered Art
From the archives of the National Trust for Scotland, Stitched: Scotland’s Embroidered Art, carefully selected textiles are taken out of the curio-filled historic estates for which they were intended and entered into the Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh. Within the airy rooms of the Old Town gallery, there is an opportunity to give breathing space to each unique piece, spanning the period 1720-1920. Here, we can appreciate the craftsmanship and complexity of the works and fully understand the fascinating lives of the women whose mastery of the needle has cast beauty upon the surface of the fabrics.
Image: A fire screen embroidered by Lady Augusta Gordon, usually displayed in the saloon at House of Dun. Image above: Recently conserved linen bedcover created for the Hill House, which will be on display at Dovecot Studios in October 2024 | Image: Phil Wilkinson / Dovecot Studios.
One would expect the opulent chambers of Scotland’s grandest estates to hold similarly spectacular adornments in thread, but the exhibition shows that the impulse to use embroidery to make a house a home occurred at all levels of society.
In Scotland’s tenements and crofts, women of modest means decorated their homes with needlework, applying precise skills to small, practical household items such as blankets, cloths, and covers. Amongst the women whose lives have been further uncovered by the National Trust for Scotland in curating the exhibition is Jane S. Pringle, a Dundonian mother of four. Ironically, for a busy watchmaker’s wife, time and money were not on Pringle’s side; such limitations did not hinder her prowess with a needle. A carpet fragment, dated between 1870 and 1900, is embroidered with repeated leaf-like motifs stitched in orange, umber, and gold across a base of handwoven wool from her grandfather’s farm in rural Perthshire.
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One would expect the opulent chambers of Scotland’s grandest estates to hold similarly spectacular adornments in thread, but the exhibition shows that the impulse to use embroidery to make a house a home occurred at all levels of society.
In Scotland’s tenements and crofts, women of modest means decorated their homes with needlework, applying precise skills to small, practical household items such as blankets, cloths, and covers. Amongst the women whose lives have been further uncovered by the National Trust for Scotland in curating the exhibition is Jane S. Pringle, a Dundonian mother of four. Ironically, for a busy watchmaker’s wife, time and money were not on Pringle’s side; such limitations did not hinder her prowess with a needle. A carpet fragment, dated between 1870 and 1900, is embroidered with repeated leaf-like motifs stitched in orange, umber, and gold across a base of handwoven wool from her grandfather’s farm in rural Perthshire.
Want to read more of this article?
We are proud to be a subscriber-funded publication with members in 185 countries. We know our readership is passionate about textiles, so we invite you to help us preserve and promote the stories, memories, and histories that fabric holds. Your support allows us to publish our magazine, and also ‘what's on’ information, and subscription interviews, reviews, and long-read articles in our online blog.
ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER? CLICK HERE TO ACCESS CONTENT
OR...to continue reading….
*Magazine subscribers automatically get free access to all our online content. We send the access code by email with the publication of each issue. You will also find it on the envelope containing your magazine. Please note the access code changes every issue.*