The Eye of the Needle

I  consider myself very lucky to to have attended the exhibition  The Eye of the Needle-English Embroideries from the Feller Collection at

The Ashmolean in Oxford on Friday. It is a private collection of

17th century English embroideries, which displayed extreme 

skill and detail.

The detailing in the flowers, animals and birds is quite astonishing. The figures

are beautifully stitched, the shading in the folds of garments is particularly fine,

and the faces and hair bring them to life. The overall quality is dimensional and

full of texture, as padding and relief stitches are used to make different elements stand out. As well as embroidered pictures, either of Biblical or Mythological 

subjects,  accessories such as gloves, caps, and coifs and boxes and samplers

are on display.

 The Ashmolean is running an English Embroideries Trail to go alongside 

this exhibition, showing work of the same date belonging 

to the museum.

Photography of the Feller Collection was not permitted, so I am posting a photo

of the book which goes with the exhibition.

Micheal & Elizabeth Feller-THE NEEDLEWORK COLLECTION : 1

The Sacrifice of Isaac

C17th embroidery in the Ashmolean collection. In order to achieve a relief effect, real birds' skulls and beaks were used underneath the stitching.

Book Cover: Isaac, Samson and Paul

Beautifully worked book cover in three sections.


Apologies for the unusual formating on this post, Blogger has changed my
format and won't let me alter it.