The Art of Embroidery
by Joanna Fromstein
In February, I happened to be visiting London (UK) when the Broderers’ Annual Exhibition was on display at a small gallery near the Tate Modern. I was amazed at the variety of materials, techniques and subject matter of the items displayed at this wondrous exhibit, and thought you might also like to see the stunning array of artwork created using embroidery techniques.
The exhibition was organized by The Broderers’ Company in London, who strongly believe that embroidery is fine art and want to provide embroiderers with a platform to gain exposure, display and sell their artwork. While I wouldn’t have necessarily thought of embroidery as fine art before viewing the exhibition, I certainly do now! All of the pieces that were displayed at the exhibition can be viewed here, in their exhibition catalogue. The lead photo on this post, called Fry Up by Caroline Davies won the viewer’s choice award. I’ve added a few more of my personal favourites to the bottom of this post just to give you a taste of the 157 pieces that were on display at the exhibition.
After seeing the exhibit, I decided to learn a little more about the Broderers’ Company, which has a very long history. The full name of the company is the ‘Worshipful Company of Broderers’, and it is a livery company that was first established to regulate the standard of embroidery during the Middle Ages (1331), when embroidery was a major trade in the City of London. It was granted its first Royal Charter in 1561. The Company continues to support the art of embroidery and operates the Broderers’ Charity Trust, which is devoted to supporting, encouraging and fostering the art of embroidery; something they feel is especially important as there are so few professional embroiderers today.
A fun, random fact: each year on Pancake Day (Shrove Tuesday) in London, all of the livery companies, including the Broderers, have a race outside the Guildhall where they have to run with frying pans containing a pancake while dressed in their full livery dress (regalia), flipping the pancake as they go. It looks like a really fun time.
