An early 18th century crewelwork panel, English, circa 1700-20

Competently worked all over in coloured wools on a linen twill ground with meandering 'tree of life' branches sprouting various exotic flowers and finely toothed leaves, the needlework historically re-applied to a replacement linen twill, backed with a mid-late 20th century cotton and edged with a long twisted cord fringe of similar date for use as a coverlet

It is extremely common to find crewelwork of the 17th and early 18th centuries has been historically re-applied to a replacement backing. This is due to the excessive pressure and consequent wear the wool embroidery imposed on the ground, which was traditionally a soft cotton and linen twill weave unsuitable for supporting the intrinsically heavy nature of the wool. This replacement ground is usually itself of considerable age, having been required within a century or so of the original making of the item. The frequency with which these charming textiles are found to be re-applied is testimony to the high regard in which they were held by successive generations

• Height 260 cm / 102 ¹⁄₂"
• Width 230 cm / 90 "