Picture
Object name
Date made
Circa 1900-1910
Place made
Description
Circa 1900-1910 embroidered picture of a flower figure with Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau influence.
Content description
Circa 1900-1910 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.
Though it is not known who embroidered this piece or from where the design originated, it is clear that the picture is influenced by the aesthetics of the Arts and Crafts movement and Art Nouveau style. It is especially sympathetic with fairytale-like illustrations by Kate Greenaway and Cicely Mary Barker. The embroidery illustrates an interest in the natural world, an imaginary blending together of reality and fantasy, and soft curling, naturalistic shapes. An embroidery held in a private collection, dated 1909, shows an embroidery of the same design but reversed and done by a different hand, suggesting this depiction of a 'Flower Human' derives from a printed source.
Though it is not known who embroidered this piece or from where the design originated, it is clear that the picture is influenced by the aesthetics of the Arts and Crafts movement and Art Nouveau style. It is especially sympathetic with fairytale-like illustrations by Kate Greenaway and Cicely Mary Barker. The embroidery illustrates an interest in the natural world, an imaginary blending together of reality and fantasy, and soft curling, naturalistic shapes. An embroidery held in a private collection, dated 1909, shows an embroidery of the same design but reversed and done by a different hand, suggesting this depiction of a 'Flower Human' derives from a printed source.
Dimensions
width: 36cm
height: 42cm
height: 42cm
Materials
Stitches
Techniques
Motifs
Catalogue number
RSN.483
© Royal School of Needlework