Raised Embroidery

Another example of historical needlework I'm a big fan of is raised work. In particular, I like stumpwork and raised goldwork. I wanted to show some examples of the craft here, but some of the best images are under copyright, and subject to very strict rules of reproduction on other websites, so I'll have to link. I think that what first got me interested in the technique was the Lord Chancellor's purse, held by the National Trust at Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire. Some pictures of it are available to view here on the NT's 'treasure hunt' blog. It's beautiful, and so refined! Stumpwork, on the other hand, is much more... colloquial? Here's an image of one of my favourite pieces, from the Royal Collection.

It's the top of an entirely embroidered casket. Further details can be found on it here. As I've been saying quite a bit recently, I love cross-overs between different art forms, and this is a brilliant expression of a flat art (embroidery, that is, and mostly in detached-buttonhole stitch) made into practically a whole sculptured landscape. Click on the image to be able to zoom in, especially to see the sheep. Another lovely version of the landscape casket can be found here, at Christie's. As you can see, this version has a whole garden of near-life-sized flowers inside the fold-out box.

I think if I was going to pick a favourite piece of raised - no, maybe of all embroidery - and I don't say this lightly, it would be Krakow Cathedral Museum's Kmita Chasuble. This close-up of it is unattributed, unfortunately, but as it was originally uploaded to Pinterest, I'm sure a few extra 'shares' won't do it any harm. It looks like layers of padding, built up with gold couching.

One day, I'll visit. Even the most amazing zoomed photo wouldn't be able to tell me how it was made so effectively as being there, I'm sure. God, it's fantastic. You can see it full length here.
It's important, when studying textiles, I think, not to look at any recent, unorthodox pieces and say 'but that's not how it was used in the past!' when clearly, it's always been as dynamic as it is today.