Bradford carpet
The Bradford Carpet is a canvas work embroidery made in the early 17th century (ca. 1600–1615) that originally belonged to the Earl of Bradford at Castle Bromwich.[1]
The carpet measures Template:Convert. In the Victoria and Albert Museum it covers an entire wall. However, it was made neither for wall nor floor, but as a table covering. Its Template:Convert border was designed to hang down over the edges of a table, and it would have been removed or covered with a linen cloth when the table was used.[2]
The carpet is worked with silk embroidery thread in tent stitch on a linen ground.[1][3] The stitching is very fine (400 stitches/inch, 62 stitches/cm[2]) and was worked in at least 23 different colours.[1] The tension of the tent stitches over time has distorted the shape of the carpet. It is characteristic of professional canvas work popular for furnishings in the Elizabethan era.[2] The field design is a grape vine trellis. The border, thought to represent human progression from a wild state to civilisation,[4] depicts a variety of country pursuits set against a pastoral landscape, described as "perhaps the finest range of genre scenes to come down to us from Elizabethan times".[1] A manor house, shepherd, travelling vendor with his packhorse, lords and ladies, hunting scenes, milkmaids, millers, water mills and windmills are all shown.[1][2]
Notes
Template:Sister project Template:Reflist
References
- Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".