Hanging
Object name
Date made
Circa 1930s
Place made
Description
Unfinished mid 20th-century hanging or tablecloth depicting five rectangular polychrome, cross stitched scenes separated by borders.
Content description
Unfinished circa 1930s hanging or tablecloth featuring five polychrome rectangular scenes. These scenes are all unique and have been separated by a border. The ground is linen and the thread cotton. Cross stitch is used throughout.
The top left scene depicts a 2x4 grid of squares in which appear alternating motifs of a blue bird resting on a fruit-bearing branch and a vase holding a stylised pomegranate. The top right scene depicts a golden vase from which polychromatic flowers blossom. Two birds appear in this scene, one resting in the vase, another on the stem of one of the flowers. The rectangular space is almost completely filled. The middle-left scene depicts the fairytale of Little Red Riding Hood, as she approaches a house in the distance. Three green trees appear in the background and ferns and flowers occupy the foreground; the girl is followed by a wolf, alluding to her fate in the fairytale. The middle right scene is another 2x4 grid of squares, this time depicting alternating scenes of a small fruit and a large red bird on the top row, and a small fruit and a vase bearing red flowers on the bottom row. The bottom left section of the hanging is blank, but the extension of the borders around it suggests that there was to be another scene. Finally, the bottom right scene depicts four of Aesop's Fables: The Tortoise and the Hare, The Fly and the Mule, The Miller, His Son and the Donkey, and the Fox and the Goat in the Well. The Fly and the Mule and The Miller, His Son and the Donkey are both incomplete, with the former missing the fly and the latter missing the miller's son. These fables are arranged in a 2x2 grid but lack borders.
All of these scenes are derived from the circa 1930s embroidery design book Cross Stitch New Designs, 5th Series, published by the DMC Library under the name of Thérèse De Dillmont, an Austrian needleworker and writer who passed away in 1890. The maker of this piece probably owned the book and used it to guide their designs, despite their omissions of some of the details of the fables. Frequent reprints of this volume and others in this DMC series make it difficult to determine exactly when its first edition was published.
The top left scene depicts a 2x4 grid of squares in which appear alternating motifs of a blue bird resting on a fruit-bearing branch and a vase holding a stylised pomegranate. The top right scene depicts a golden vase from which polychromatic flowers blossom. Two birds appear in this scene, one resting in the vase, another on the stem of one of the flowers. The rectangular space is almost completely filled. The middle-left scene depicts the fairytale of Little Red Riding Hood, as she approaches a house in the distance. Three green trees appear in the background and ferns and flowers occupy the foreground; the girl is followed by a wolf, alluding to her fate in the fairytale. The middle right scene is another 2x4 grid of squares, this time depicting alternating scenes of a small fruit and a large red bird on the top row, and a small fruit and a vase bearing red flowers on the bottom row. The bottom left section of the hanging is blank, but the extension of the borders around it suggests that there was to be another scene. Finally, the bottom right scene depicts four of Aesop's Fables: The Tortoise and the Hare, The Fly and the Mule, The Miller, His Son and the Donkey, and the Fox and the Goat in the Well. The Fly and the Mule and The Miller, His Son and the Donkey are both incomplete, with the former missing the fly and the latter missing the miller's son. These fables are arranged in a 2x2 grid but lack borders.
All of these scenes are derived from the circa 1930s embroidery design book Cross Stitch New Designs, 5th Series, published by the DMC Library under the name of Thérèse De Dillmont, an Austrian needleworker and writer who passed away in 1890. The maker of this piece probably owned the book and used it to guide their designs, despite their omissions of some of the details of the fables. Frequent reprints of this volume and others in this DMC series make it difficult to determine exactly when its first edition was published.
Dimensions
width: 132cm
height: 132cm
height: 132cm
Materials
Stitches
Techniques
Motifs
Catalogue number
RSN.1714
© Royal School of Needlework