Seat cover
Object name
Date made
Circa 1880s
Place made
Description
Circa 1880s Berlin wool work seat cover with roses in its centre and rose and architectural motifs along the borders.
Content description
Circa 1880s Berlin wool work seat cover made of purple net mounted onto red cotton, worked in polychrome wool threads to create a design with yellow, pink, white, and red roses and rosebuds at its centre. Along the borders are architectural swags interspersed with bunches of small pink roses. Its condition and mounting suggests it was never used as a seat cover.
Berlin wool work was a very popular style of embroidery in Europe throughout the 19th century, especially in the middle and later decades. It developed in Germany and rapidly spread across Europe and North America. Berlin wool work often involved brightly coloured threads, which were newly affordable thanks to the advent of aniline dyes. These colourful threads were made of wool, which were used to stitch on a canvas grid either in tent stitch or in cross stitch. Printed and hand-coloured patterns such as this one were inexpensive and distributed widely. Because Berlin wool work uses simple stitches and relied on inexpensive materials and patterns, it was accessible to embroiderers across a wide range of incomes and skill levels. This object is very likely the work of a woman in the home.
Berlin wool work was a very popular style of embroidery in Europe throughout the 19th century, especially in the middle and later decades. It developed in Germany and rapidly spread across Europe and North America. Berlin wool work often involved brightly coloured threads, which were newly affordable thanks to the advent of aniline dyes. These colourful threads were made of wool, which were used to stitch on a canvas grid either in tent stitch or in cross stitch. Printed and hand-coloured patterns such as this one were inexpensive and distributed widely. Because Berlin wool work uses simple stitches and relied on inexpensive materials and patterns, it was accessible to embroiderers across a wide range of incomes and skill levels. This object is very likely the work of a woman in the home.
Dimensions
width: 48cm
height: 51cm
height: 51cm
Materials
Stitches
Techniques
Motifs
Catalogue number
RSN.71
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