Picture

Object name

Based on design by

Date made

Circa 1890-1910

Place made

Description

Circa 1890-1910 embroidered picture of a flower figure with Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau influence, inspired by a drawing of a 'Christmas Rose' by Walter Crane, first published in his 1889 Flora's Feast.

Content description

Circa 1890-1910 embroidered picture showing a figure with a human head and arms and a body and hands made of leaves, flowers, and stems. The androgynous figure wears on their head a five petalled, pink flower and a matching flower grows from behind them. The picture is worked in silk threads on a neutral silk ground, stitched primarily in split stitches with additions of long and short stitches and straight stitches.

This design is borrowed from Walter Crane's drawing of a 'Christmas Rose', first published in 1889 in his book Flora's Feast. In the book the figure is representative of December. An embroidery held in a private collection, dated 1909, shows an embroidery of the same design but reversed and done by a different hand.

Dimensions

width: 36cm
height: 42cm

Materials

Stitches

Techniques

Motifs

Catalogue number

RSN.483
© Royal School of Needlework