Beschreibung:

Needlepoint Picture. A marriage portrait, British, 1620s/30s, finely-worked in tent stitch on canvas, in a variety of coloured silk threads, depicting an affluent couple with joined hands in the centre, before a dwelling on a hill, the lady wearing a gown with virago sleeves and stand-up collar, the gentleman dressed in a crimson doublet and hose, with feathered hat, and rosettes at knees and on shoes, in a landscape with numerous floral motifs (carnation, tulip, Tudor rose, heart's ease, iris, sunflower), birds, including a parrot, insects (2 caterpillars and a moth), and animals (a hare, dog, rabbit, and lion), with the sun shining out from clouds above, edges toned and with some small holes, 23 x 24 cm (9 x 9.5 ins), edged with a narrow canvas border with holes where previously tacked (Quantity: 1) Provenance: Alexandra Mary Freesia Pelham née Vivian, Lady Worsley (1890-1963); thence by descent. A rare early Carolean embroidery in fine condition, undoubtedly made to celebrate the marriage of the couple pictured. Their rich and fashionable dress demonstrates their wealth, and the verdant landscape, with its overtones of fertility, is full of symbolism: an iris for faith and hope, a tulip for deep love, a parrot for wisdom, a lion for courage, and so on. The sun beams down on their union, and the gentleman turns in profile to gaze at his chosen one, a reflection too of the relative calm before the raging of civil war to come in the 1640s. See The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York for similar iconography on an embroidered mirror frame (accession number 64.101.1332).