Manuscript Needlework Embroidery Pattern Book, English Regency Era

Anonymous

Published by Circa 1810, 1810

An album dating from the late 18th or early 19th century, measuring approximately 23x19cm and containing 87 pages of drawings, the majority in ink, with a few in pencil towards the rear. The first 57 pages appear to be by the same hand and are intricate and highly accomplished, with the inspiration for the designs taken from nature. The artist has left no indication of their identity but there are a few annotations: "Lace", "open work", Cambric", "A pattern for an Apron or Handkerchief" and "To be worked on the hems". The patterns towards the rear look to be slightly later and probably by a different hand, these are looser and more varied and include some unfinished pencil or partially inked sketches. The album is bound in red half-leather, simply decorated in gilt and blind, with hard wearing cloth boards, it has been re-backed, probably in the mid-twentieth century, in brown leather with a black title label, the extremities are bumped and it is lightly rubbed and marked. The text block has gilt to all edges, the endpapers look to have been replaced when the book was re-backed, the pages are slightly wavy with minor marks and foxing and some have repairs to the edges. These designs would have been produced by either a professional needleworker or a skilled amateur, while patterns could be found in periodicals, perhaps the most famous of these being Ackermann's Repository, many embroiders preferred to create their own. Seller Inventory # 5880

Bibliographic Details

Title: Manuscript Needlework Embroidery Pattern ...
Publisher: Circa 1810
Publication Date: 1810