In 2014 I was invited to give a presentation to the Friends of the National Galleries, Edinburgh. My chosen theme was to research into 16th & 17th century jewellery in historical portraiture; examining its status, significance and symbolism. What particularly caught my jeweller’s eye was the exquisite detail and fine craftsmanship that went into the embellishment of the clothes, in particular, Elizabethan blackwork embroidery. 

Elizabethan blackwork embroidery is a distinct genre of decorative needlework that dates from 16th and early 17th centuries. It was first introduced during the reign of Henry Vlll and is also known as Spanish work; it is believed to have been brought to England and made popular by Catherine of Aragon.

In parallel, suits of steel armour were often embellished with combinations of engraving, punched tool work, gilding and, latterly, acid etching to emulate the richly decorative surfaces of woven brocades and embroidered cloth.

The extraordinary effect of blackwork embroidery owes its distinctiveness to the contrast of black silk thread worked on white linen. New stitching styles were developed such as the ‘speckled stitch’ inspired by woodblock printing.

Studying this embroidery, I noticed the random disappearance of the black silk thread.  Iron was used as a mordant to fix the black dye of the thread. The natural corrosive properties of iron resulted in the gradual disintegration of the thread over time, leaving holes in the fine woven linen where the stitching had been, resulting in perforated cloth with the distinctive remnants of the black silk fibres and a trace of a past age.