[Sca-cooks] Re: embroidered table linens (fwd)

[jenne at fiedlerfamily.net]

Response from a fiber laurel I forwarded the quote to:

> On Tue, 16 Apr 2002, Munson,Jennifer N. wrote:
>
> > > Peter Brears in All the King's Cooks
> > > mentions on page 164 in the chapter on
> > > "Serving the King" that:
> > > "George Villiers, sergeant of the ewery,
> > > or his yeoman ewerer for the King's mouth,
> > > would now lay a tablecloth of white linen
> > > worked in damask with flowers, knots, crowns
> > > or fleur-de-lis.(fn5 which cites the HO which
> > > is the Household Ordinances) He does not mention
> > > that the tableclothes used for dining in the
> > > chamber and great hall where most dined were
> > > worked in this fashion. This would apply for at
> > > least Tudor England under Henry VIII.
> >
> > "Damask" is actually not an embroidery technique, but a
> weaving one. It is
> > the effect you may recognize from seeing white woven
> tablecloths with
> > sections that catch the light differently from other sections. The
> > light-catching effect is made by making areas more
> warp-faced and their
> > neighbors more weft-faced. Damask as a technique goes back
> to Roman times
> > and custom figured damask towels were indeed very popular
> by the 16th
> > century.
> >
> > Other techniques I know that were used on table linens:
> >
> > Blue cotton thread (see the recent Compleat Anachronist on
> Perugia towels)
> > patterns, usually woven in geometric bands and more
> complicated figures, but
> > the effect could also have been produced with
> pattern-darning embroidery. I
> > don't recall whether anyone has found specific evidence
> that they actually
> > did that type of embroidery.
> >
> > Figured sprang and lacis (cloth stitch embroidery on a net
> ground) were both
> > called "openwork". "Openwork" can also refer to cutwork
> embroidery. All
> > three techniques can be used to create the same effect -
> geometric solid
> > designs on an open mesh ground. It is very difficult if not
> impossible to
> > tell from written records which exact technique was used for a given
> > inventory item just described as a "towel with openwork"!
> >
> > Sprang - There are documented pictures and at least one
> extant example of
> > linen circular-warp sprang table cloths from the 15th C.(per Peter
> > Collingwood's sprang book). Some historians theorize that
> sprang borders
> > could have been sewn onto plainweave towels for decoration.
> The extant one
> > is entirely sprang. The meshes on sprang would be diamonds,
> while the meshes
> > for lacis would be squares (relative to the selvedges).
> >
> > Lacis was actually known as far back as 10th C. in Iceland.
> I'm not sure if
> > it remained in constant use through the following
> centuries, but became
> > common over much of Europe in the 16th century when other
> laces became
> > popular and loom-woven Burato nets started being produced
> in Italy. It would
> > have to be sewn onto the ends of a towel or table cloth.
> >
> > Cutwork that looks like lacis may have only been invented
> in the late 15th
> > or 16th century as an imitation of lacis, but I'm not sure
> on that point. It
> > could be done by withdrawing threads from linen fabric and
> binding the
> > remaining threads into open and filled squares.
> >
> > Other laces may have been applied to the borders of towels
> & table cloths,
> > as well as other types of whitework may have been done (like German
> > whitework of pulled thread techniques combined with
> stitches like stem
> > stitch and satin stitch to make an image).
> >
> > Why only cotton and linen and not pretty dyed wools and
> silks? Because when
> > you get a stain on your towel or table cloth, lye and other alkaline
> > solutions make a great stain removers for linen and cotton
> but tend to eat
> > away at wool and silk.
> >
> > AnneLiese
> >
> > +
> >
>
> -- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa
> jenne at fiedlerfamily.net OR jenne at tulgey.browser.net OR jahb at lehigh.edu
> "Are you finished? If you're finished, you'll have to put
> down the spoon."
>
>
> +
>

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