Embroidery
Royal School of Needlework
Category
Textiles
Date
1900
Materials
Needlework with wool
Measurements
2370 mm (H); 5350 mm (L)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Wightwick Manor, West Midlands
NT 1289301
Summary
Needlework; Embroidery - Rectangular large wool embroidery by the Royal School of Art Needlwork, after Burne-Jones's picture The Mill. The "Three Graces" dance before a lake and water mill to the music of a maiden playing a dulcimer. The models for the "Three Graces" were Maria Zambaco, Maria Spatali and Aglaia Coronio who were part of the Ionides set. Largely faithful to the original painting, modesty dictated the omission of the naked bathers. The RSN added a carpet of flowers to the forground, a Virginia creeper to the right, and covered the bare stone portico with with a climbing rose. This piece was exhibited at the 1908 Franco-British Exhibition in celebration of the Entente Cordiale signed in 1904, where it won the French Grand Prix for embroidery and fixed decoration in houses. The Mill Embroidery is the largest by the Royal School of Needlework in the U.K.
Provenance
The Mill Embroidery donated by Mrs Hamilton - King, Principal of the Royal School of needlework in 1958 (Delivered to Wightwick 1959)
Makers and roles
Royal School of Needlework