Embroidery

is one of the oldest of the ornamental arts. Some specimens of ancient Egyptian embroidery are exhibited in the Louvre, and Hero dot us mentions the embroidered vestments of the gods in Egypt. The Israeli tes appointed Aholiab, “a cunning workman, and an embroiderer in blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen,” to be chief embroiderer to the sacred ark. The prophet Ezekiel mentions the embroidery of Tyre. It was the principal domestic occupation of ladies in Greece, from the days when Penelope embroidered a garment for Uly es, representing a dog chasing a deer. The Romans called embroidery “Phrygium,” and imported it largely from the East. In later times Byzantium was celebrated for its embroidered ecclesiastical vestments. Pope Paschal, in the 9th century, was the greatest patron of the art. When the Caliph Omar pillaged the Persian palace of Khosroes, he found there a carpet of silk and cloth of gold, sixty cubits square, having a garden depicted upon it, and rubies, emeralds, sapphires, beryls, topazes, and pearls arranged with consummate skill to represent trees, fruit and flowers, rivulets, fountains, roses and shrubs. Our English word “embroidery” is derived from the Celtic “brouda,” to prick. Anglo-Saxon embroidery was celebrated throughout Europe as Opus Anglicanum. The celebrated Bayeux tapestry is attributed to the 12th century. A copy of it may be seen in the South Kensington Museum. The art decayed in England during the Civil War of the 17th century.