Museum number
F227
Object
Embroidery: Orpheus charming the animals, English, silk, metal thread, spangles on satin, about 1630
Description
The subject is taken from Ovid Metamorphoses 10, 86-105. Orpheus, the legendary Thracian poet had such musical skill that he charmed not only the wild beasts but also the trees and rocks. Orpheus was much depicted during the 1630s. The design of the central area appears to be adapted from an engraving of Orpheus playing to the animals by Adrian Collaert (d. 1618) from a design by Adam van Noort (1557-1641). Above Orpheus is a Pelican 'in her piety', piercing her breast to feed her young with her blood. Four dolphins occupy roundels and would appear to derive from A New Book of All Sorts of Beasts published by John Overton. The panel is worked on a white satin ground fabric with many different types of silk and metal thread combinations. The main strapwork pattern is complex and made of thick strands of fibres bound by plate metal and then bound again by regular coils of wire. This is then outlined with twisted plate-wrapped silk threads along each side. The couched coils of metal threads. Raised and padded figures of a lion, leopard, elephant and camel frame the central figures. The elephant is particularly remarkable for it's completely three dimensional trunk and the camel has a similar long neck and head which stands free from the ground fabric.
Materials
Silk
On display?
Yes

Further description

Simple name
Embroidery
Dimensions
framed: 32.0000cm (h) x 42.5000cm (w)
Orpheus Charming the Animals English Raised embroidery worked on a satin ground, embroidered in silk, metal threads and spangles, about 1630 F227 Gift of Miss Mildred Alice Carr, 1961 Perhaps the product of a professional workshop, this is the earliest embroidered picture in the collection. It shows the legendary Orpheus, charming the animals (including a lion, camel, bear and elephant) with his lyre. Above and below Orpheus are the Christian emblems of a flaming heart and a pelican plucking its breast to feed its young. They may indicate a Catholic designer or client. The Holburne Museum has a remarkable collection of embroidered pictures. Most were made by young, highly skilled amateur needlewomen in wealthy households although a few may be the work of professional embroiderers, who were usually men. Many of the embroideries incorporate raised work (or stumpwork), the technique of embroidering over padding in high relief. Their enduring appeal comes from the combination of exceptional craftsmanship with the naive charm of designs which often include outsized animals, birds and insects.

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