Blackwork

Katherine of Aragon is reputed to have been responsible for introducing blackwork into England as an innovation from Spain, when she came in 1501 to marry Arthur Tudor, but there is evidence that counted-thread embroidery in black-and-white was known in England before this.

When Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales between 1388 and 1400, he described Alison, the carpenter’s wife in the “Miller’s Tale” wearing a blackwork smock and cap:

“White was her smock, embroidered all before and even behind, her collar round about. Of coal-black silk, on both sides, in and out; the strings of the white cap upon her head were, like her collar, black silk worked with thread…”

Blackwork did achieve widespread popularity in England when Henry VIII married Katherine of Aragon in 1509. Collars and cuffs of blackwork embroidery soon appeared on the courtiers clothing because of the resemblance to, and high tax on, lace. These collars and cuffs were equally beautiful on both sides as both the back and front were visible. This reversible blackwork became known as Holbein stitch, due to the wonderful rendering of the blackwork by Hans Holbein the Younger. Holbien’s first visit to England from Antwerp was in 1526 when he stayed nearly 2 years. His second trip was in 1532, when he became court painter to Henry VIII and settled in England. The first of Henry’s queens he painted was Jane Seymour.

I have created a Blackwork Backgammon board using designs from the Tudor period. Samplers were made in period; this is a useful sampler. Also displayed is the blackwork favor that I made for my husband.