THE ATLAS OF WORLD EMBROIDERY

Celebrating an ancient craft.

Vogelsang-Eastwood, a design historian and textile archaeologist, offers a visually captivating, deeply informative overview of the materials, tools, designs, and symbols represented in embroidery from around the world, from prehistory to the present. Organized geographically by region and country, the entries are illustrated with more than 300 color images, amply fulfilling the author’s goal of creating a “feast for the eyes.” The oldest extant samples of embroidery, she reveals, come from garments in the tomb of Tutankhamun, and embroiderers were at work throughout the Middle East as early as 1400 B.C.E.; by 1000 B.C.E., embroidery was practiced from Europe to Asia to Africa. Technology affected the craft: The development of the printing press in the 15th century led to the production and dissemination of embroidery pattern books, and in the second half of the 19th century, machine embroidery was introduced, though it did not overtake handwork. The author provides a brief inventory of tools, from ari hooks to thimbles, and examines the plethora of fibers used for threads and fabric, such as silk, wool, hair, felt, leather, bark cloth, cotton, flax, hemp, raffia, and straw; she looks also at materials used for embellishment, such as beads, seeds, and metal coins. Stunning illustrations depict embroidered items from distinct regions of the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent, China, Mongolia, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia. For each region, Vogelsang-Eastwood details materials and techniques, such as the gold-thread embroidery of Sumatra, quilted armor of the Sahel, and delicately patterned Kashmir shawls from Pakistan. An appendix provides a motif directory, with line drawings that may be used as a template for personal use.

An exquisite, fascinating volume.