English Embroidery

In Medieval times, embroidery involved both men and women in guild workshops and was considered to be equal in status to other art forms such as painting and sculpture.

The Victorians changed these convictions combining history with ideas of femininity and inferred that embroidery had always been an inherently female craft.

Women, when embroidery for their own pleasure, were accused of vanity and embroidery as a vain and merely decorative occupation undermined its expressive power.

It was not until after the second world war that creative embroidery in contemporary design began to gather impetus. The emphasis moved towards purely decorative pieces such as pictures and hangings. This has evolved into what is considered today as 'textile art' and is pursued by both men and women.

In some pieces stitchery of any but the most rudimentary variety has been abandoned and finished pieces depend on the blending of an increasing disparate range of materials.

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