CANVAS WORK

Canvas work is the term applied to any decorative needle work applied to a canvas base, usually covering the whole area.

Canvas work includes:-
1. General Canvas work A wide range of canvas stitches.
2. Needlepoint Tapestry uses tent or half cross stitch.
3. Florentine Waves in multiples of straight stitches.
4. Bargello Geometric shapes: straight stitch.
5. Hungarian Point Several long + 1 or 2 short straight stitches.

HISTORY
Needlepoint tapestry gained prominence in the 16th century when the new middle-class, anxious to add touches of luxury to their homes, began to make embroideries in tent stitch on canvas in imitation of the huge woven tapestries found in the houses of the aristocracy. Later different designs, faster to work – Florentine, Bargello and Hungarian point - were introduced. Some work was done as far back as the late 13th and 14th centuries, but really advanced during the late 16th century.

Inventories in England reveal that even the large houses had only one or two chairs for the master of the house and important guests. The rest of the household would have sat on wooden benches and hence the necessity for cushions. Many were square, others long to fit the benches.

At the French court, the king and important statesmen would receive visitors in the bed chambers which were not the private places they are today. As a result, the bed linens, hangings and furnishings, important for keeping out the draughts in unheated rooms, were grand and beautiful. Many were amongst the family's most valuable possessions.

The period after the Restoration of Charles II in 1660, was one of luxurious living. Woven fabrics had become more readily available and were used for larger furnishings. Women worked fancier projects than previously, fire screens, small pictures and seat covers. Gradually designs became simpler and the size of the individual designs became smaller.

REFERENCES:
Synge, L Editor
The Royal School of Needlework BOOK of NEEDLEWORK and EMBROIDERY, Collins, London, 1986
Petschek, Joyce
Beautiful Bargello, Trafalgar Square, Collins , 1997
Rhodes, Mary
Needlepoint: The Art of Canvas Embroidery, Cathay Books, circa 1987