Naval woolwork, 1891
- Title(s):
- Naval woolwork.
- Additional Title(s):
- Naval woolie
- Published/Created:
- 1891.
- Physical Description:
- 1 embroidered panel, with tintype : wool and silk on linen backing ; 38 x 34 cm, in frame 41 x 38 cm
- Holdings:
- Rare Books and ManuscriptsFolio A 2010 50Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund[Request]
- Copyright Status:
- Copyright Undetermined
- Full Orbis Record:
- http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/7880741
- Classification:
- Three-Dimensional Artifacts
- Notes:
- Naval woolworks (or "woolies"), embroidered mementos of a sailor's service, were common from the mid-19th century, and were generally made to be hung in a family parlor. The tintype, introduced in 1853, was a cheap, simple, and quick method, popular both in Britain and the United States, of capturing an image on a metal plate. As the plate of black painted iron was not terribly fragile and was easy to cut to mount in an album or frame in a piece of needlework, it was common by the end of the 19th century for "woolies" to incorporate a tintype of their creator. Cf. A.J. Lewery's Popular art, past & present (1991).
Colors of some of the silks are noticeably faded.
A naval woolwork picture, from 1891, by an unidentified British sailor. The entire surface of the canvas is covered with stitches, with wool and silk threads of at least 10 different colors. The present woolwork may have been intended for the sailor's mother, with the lower half depicting the ship (flying a British flag) on which he served, and the upper half depicting flags of 28 countries he likely visited. In the center of the upper half is a mounted tintype of the young sailor. The full-length portrait depicts the subject, out of uniform, in a formal interior. The date 1891 is embroidered immediately above the tintype. The entire woolwork is mounted in a wooden frame, behind glass. The reverse is also enclosed behind glass, facilitating examination of the embroidery technique. - Subject Terms:
- Fabric pictures -- Great Britain -- 19th century.Great Britain. Royal Navy -- Sea life -- 19th century.Naval career -- Great Britain -- 19th century.Sailors as artists -- Great Britain -- 19th century.Seafaring life -- 19th century.Voyages and travels -- 19th century.Wall hangings -- Great Britain -- 19th century.
- Form/Genre:
- Tintypes (prints)
Embroidery (visual works) - Export:
- XML
- IIIF Manifest:
- JSON
A Decade of Gifts and Acquisitions (Yale Center for British Art, 2017-06-01 - 2017-08-13) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
If you have information about this object that may be of assistance please contact us.