Letteringand text have been used for centuries in the craft of embroidery. Sometimes ithas been used in a relatively minor way, while at other times it has been atthe centre of an embroidered piece, even to the point of defining acomposition. Written language in a textile format can often date a piece ofwork and its maker by the sentiment of the message, but also by the style andconstruction of the individual letters that make up the message.
Allof the alphabets shown in this article come from a period ranging from 1858 to1869 and although, by embroidery standards, this is a very small moment intime, it does help to show that even though limited to a decade in time, theembroidered alphabets cover a significantly large range of individual styles andmotifs. All of the examples are derived from popular women's magazines of theperiod, many of which regularly contained embroidery designs either to be usedas the individual embroiderer chose, or for specific items such as handkerchiefcorners, baby bonnets, general clothing and domestic items which could entailanything from a cigar case to a glove box.
This article isoriginally published in 'Design, Decoration, Craft'.
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