Needlework of the 18th century

During the 18^th century needlework reached an excellence never surpassed in terms of variety by any other period in history. It is a captivating time to look back on as it was a professional occupation, dominated by men. It served as employment and a leisure activity for women when it was the main source of decoration for clothes and interiors. Machines had not been invented so the craft was truly hands on requiring expertise and patience.

I believe these original and stereotypical past times with the medium of thread are able to represent how polite accomplishments ruled the distinction of the genders in 18^th century interiors, evoking a representation of the development and its culture within society.

The interiors were outrageous in their ornamentation and style and enormous sums of money were spent on decoration. I am fascinated with the romantic interiors and fussiness of this bygone era of grandeur as well as the social and economic issues surrounding it. This is where my historical research is based. Interiors of that time could be considered an instrument of repression within domesticity but also could be regarded as an emerging expression within the form of socialism at that time. Later Eighteenth century London was faced with a variety of innovations; industrialisation, integration of immigrant cultures and systems of mass manufacture. This created a division of home and workplace, with women losing their form of education from home based businesses, being forced to the confines of the household they started to develop and articulate a more forceful and privileged ability to comment on the nature of fashion arrangements of interiors.

Women started to make significant choices in the form of visual sensibility, acquiring a voice with special interest in the organisation of domestic space, this generated an energetic and independent confidence with an acute awareness of surroundings. In turn this gave assertion to females maintaining and developing an independent sphere of influence.

This gave rise to the ‘Bluestocking’ professionals, which were a group of middleclass, educated Women who were involved in exacting changes in the face of traditional society. This was at a time in history when women were becoming more present and powerful. Many turned to a career in writing as part of the publication process to get their message across, occasioning the male and public sphere with their opinions and ideas.

The ‘Bluestocking’s’ professional activity, its range, ambition and diversity is little known today and that is why I want to develop these ideas into a series, almost narrative to the development of the interiors and its culture of the Eighteenth century, its interiors becoming a natural expression of personality as I believe they had a large impact on British society influencing environments and their relationship with interior styles of that time.