Oxburgh Hangings
The Oxburgh Hangings are needlework hangings that are held in Oxburgh Hall, made by Mary, Queen of Scots and Bess of Hardwick.[1][2] The hangings were made between the years 1570 and approximately 1585.[2] An accomplished needlewoman, Bess of Hardwick joined Mary at Chatsworth House for extended periods in 1569, 1570, and 1571, during which time they worked together on the hangings.[3] At that time Mary was imprisoned, in the custody of the Earl of Shrewsbury.[2] The hangings' design was devised at her request.[4] The Oxburgh Hangings consist of green velvet hangings, each with a square centerpiece with octagonal panels of emblems of plants and animals surrounding it.[5][6] The hangings have been made into a wall hanging, two bed curtains and a valance, although these were probably not the original arrangement of the needlework, but instead most likely an arrangement sewn together in the late 17th century.[2] There is also a group of 33 embroideries which are the remains of another hanging.[2] The panels in the hangings, of which there are over a hundred, were made in cross stitch on canvas and applied to a green velvet background, and the designs of the panels were mostly based on four continental emblem books which Mary had; the panel designs were copied from wood-cut illustrations by well-known authors such as Claud Paradin, Conrad Gessner, and Pierre Belon.[2][4][6] Some of the panels' emblems include a phoenix (the symbol of Mary's mother Marie of Guise), and a dragon and a unicorn.[5] The panels made by Mary have her monogram, the letters MA superimposed on the Greek letter phi, and the panels made by Bess have the initials ES.[2]
The hangings are now part of the Victoria and Albert Museum, although they are on permanent long-term loan at Oxburgh Hall.[2]
Further reading
- Emblems for a Queen: the Needlework of Mary Queen of Scots, by Michael Bath, published in 2008
- Needlework of Mary Queen of Scots, by Margaret Swain, published in 2013
- The Oxburgh Hangings, by Oxburgh Hall (England), National Trust (Great Britain), published in 1989
External links
References
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- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Digby, Elizabethan Embroidery, p. 58-63
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
