Description:
Panel, possibly a curtain, decorated with crewel (two-ply wosted wool) embroidery on a twill-weave linen and cotton (fustian) ground. The panel is an important example of the transmission of designs between different cultures in the 18th century, executed in different ways to adorn textiles. The embroidery features vibrant red, green, blue, brown, yellow, and beige colors. The design itself features a stylized flowering tree emerging from a hilly or rocky landscape, around which are populated various figures. The tree features large colorful flowers and three birds perched on the branches. The figures at the tree's base include two men standing on the left; a man playing a flute while sitting on a hillock; four women in classically-inspired, draped garments dancing as one of the woman strikes a tamborine; a spotted dog; and a military figure, possibly a Lancer of the 5th Grenadiers with "5 G" inscribed on his pointed cap and holding a tall spear on the right. (This may also be a "GR" for George Rex (George II?), and the figure could be either a marine or a grenadier). The Tree of Life motif represents a back and forth of design ideas and inspirations from Western European and the East (China and Persia), but the motifs (flower and leaves, and the human figures at the bottom) are unmistakenly British. The flowering and foliated tree are featured in English and European textiles in many forms, including mordant- and resist-dyed painted and printed examples, as well as embroidered examples like this. The figures are probably taken from prints. That of a flute or lute player is also seen on 17th-century embroideries.
Label Text:
Embroidered in the traditional English technique of crewelwork, this panel was originally created as a wall hanging or narrow bed curtain. The central design of a flowering tree evolved from a back-and-forth of design ideas between England and Eastern cultures such as Persia, Iran, China, and India. It resembles the so-called "Tree of Life" design usually seen on mordant- and resist-dyed, painted and printed Indian chintz bed coverings or wall hangings known as palampores.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+F.676 |
