Lochac Order of Grace Pouch (Silk Seal Bag)

This project sought to deliver on the brief of a late period pouch for the Crown while provding an additional option for the Worshipful Company of Broiders (WCOB) when constructing these pouches.
My goal was to deliver authentic period artifact within the brief.
Period: 16th century
Place: England
Style: Embroidered seal bag with sweet bag embellishments
Techniques: 

• Long and short stitch embroidery 
• Kimihimo/Trollen braiding
• Wrapped Bead (button)

Materials:

• hand dyed silk embroidery thread (gumnuts brand)
• silk grounds (supplied by crown)
• felled wool padding,
• cotton thread for cord
• cotton thread covered beads (wood was not available in the shape so acrylic was substituted)
• silk thread for construction

Pockets as we know them today were not in use in the 14th century. People required some other conveyance for everyday items like money, a paternoster (prayer beads later known as rosaries), a small book of hours, or wax tablet and stylus. The purse, which came in many shapes and sizes, was a common accessory for both men and women….Women seem to have been partial to the rectangular drawstring variety, which dangled from a carrying cord. p1 (McGann, 2013)
“Sweet bags are generally regarded to be small, square and densely decorated. Their surface are usually covered with needlework, worked in coloured silks and metallic threads, and their designs often feature floral motifs with coiling stems. They frequently have a long braid handle and two matching drawstrings that terminate in large ornate tassels. Three decorative features are commonly found along the base of each bag…. They are thought to date from the sixteenth, to early seventeenth century, and are said to be of English origin.” p6  (Carey, 2009)
“English medieval embroideries are widely admired for the beauty of their workmanship, and the inventiveness and expressiveness of their designs. The embroidery mainly survives on ecclesiastical vestments, but it was originally used to decorate countless other items, ranging from small seal-bags, book covers and cushions to clothing…. Ground fabrics were made out of three principal fibres: linen, silk and wool.””p7 (Browne, Davies, & Michael, 2017)

Inspiration
The below illustration from the guild’s Goldwork instructions was the inspiration to undertake long and short stitch to complete the work and to deliver it in a style which blended several colours together to get this painted effect

The picture below shows a “Dalmatic embroidered with centaurs shooting deer, c1200-50, silver-gilt thread and coloured silks on silk” p33 (Browne, Davies, & Michael, 2017) that has a stag motif that is identical to the one I used for my embroidery.  The period is a little early but it is also similar to the goldwork example provided by the WCOB

The style of embroidery, long and short stitch blending colour, was used in this marigold and poppy flower from an embroidered 17th century box p71 (King & Levey, 1993). While this is out of period, Elizabethan Embroidery by George Wingfield Digby contains long and short as a period stitch (de Treves, 2008) (Digby, 1963

Some of the extant bags used for inspiration

​The main inspiration is the first bag for my embroidery.

Seal Bag ca. 1575-1599 (made)
England Flat, rectangular bag of dark red satin, folded along the bottom with side seams and a drawstring top. Embroidered with silver cord, silver gilt and silver thread, metal purl and coil and a little floss silk in shades of red, green, blue and yellow: padded, laid and couched work with some satin stitch and applied pieces of cloth of silver and gold. On one side, a Tudor rose is surmounted by a crown. The top edge was originally trimmed with a plaited braid of silver thread and red silk. Attached to the centres of the upper edges are the remains of a square, plaited cord of a more elaborate tassel (attached to one lower corner), all of red silk and silver thread. The holes for the drawstring have raw edges.  (Seal Bag ca. 1575-1599 (made) T.383-1976, 2024)

10th or 11thc Byzantine relic purse
​Byzantine relic pouch from the 10th or 11th century; stored at St. Michael in Beromünster, Switzerland; “lattice-work wreath pattern worked on a [silk] ruby red ground. It is made from a single linen-lined piece of cloth, and has seams on two sides. These are concealed by a narrow gold tablet woven border. The red silk drawstrings and carrying-cords are adorned with 25 silver balls.” (Flury-Lemberg 273) (McGann, 2013)

Bag 1600-1650 (made) Great Britain
​Embroidered linen canvas with silk and silver threads, hand sewn, hand embroidered, hand plaited, lined with silk.
Flat and square bag of embroidered linen canvas worked in tent stitch with a silver thread ground and floral pattern of coloured silks. The bag is lined with coral-pink silk, with a plaited silk drawstring, and silver loops and finials.

Bag 1625-1650
Flat square bag of embroidered linen canvas worked with a silver thread ground in tent stitch, with scrolls of plaited braid stitch in silver thread and flowers with petals of semi-detached buttonhole stitch in silk, silver thread and silver purl. The bag is lined with coral-pink silk, with plaited coral silk and silver drawstring, silver loops and coral silk tassels. (Bag 1625-1650 (made) Great Britain T.248-1960, 2024)

Great Royal Seal Bag of Edward I (1239-1307)
The Muniment Room in Westminster Abbey houses a royal seal bag that is attached to a document dated to 26 November 1280, and used to protect a wax impression of the Great Seal of King Edward I of England (1239-1307, he reigned from 1272) The seal bag is made of wool with a linen lining, intarsia (inlaid) appliqué (with motifs surrounded by laid linen cord) for the main designs, and silk thread embroidery for the details. The embroidery is worked in split stitch. (Great Royal Seal Bag of Edward I (1239-1307), 2024)

Choices and Compromises
When undertaking such a project there are always choices and compromises that have to be made. For instance, ideally the tassels and cord would have been woven from silk, but that was impractical due to cost which was estimated at over $100.
The silk grounds were supplied and slightly heavier weight would have been preferred and matched the period silks better.
 
Bibliography
Bag 1600-1650 (made) Great Britain T.246-1960. (2024, April 5). Retrieved from Victoria and Albert Museum: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O158633/bag-unknown/
Bag 1625-1650 (made) Great Britain T.248-1960. (2024, March 6). Retrieved from Victoria and Albert Museum: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O158662/bag-unknown/
Browne, C., Davies, G., & Michael, M. (Eds.). (2017). English Medieval Emboriderry: Opus Anglicanum. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Carey, J. (2009). Sweet Bags: An Investigation into 16th and 17th Century Needlework. Devon, UK: Carey Company.
Carey, J. (2012). Elizabethan Stitches: A Guide to Historic English Needlework. Devon: Carey Publishing.
de Treves, O. J. (2008, October 27). Retrieved from Embroidery Stitches found in Period: (2007). 'Embroidery Stitches found in Period', Available at: http://casbal.100webspace.net/classes/Embroidery_Stitches_found_in_Period.pdf
Digby, G. W. (1963). Elizabethan Embroidery. London: Faber and Faber.
Goubitz, O. (2017). Purses in Pieces. Zwolle: Stichting Promotie Archeologie.
Great Royal Seal Bag of Edward I (1239-1307). (2024, April 6). Retrieved from Textile Research Centre: https://trcleiden.nl/trc-needles/individual-textiles-and-textile-types/storage/great-royal-seal-bag-of-edward-i-1239-1307
King, D., & Levey, S. (1993). The Victoria and Albert Museum's Textile Collection: Embroidery in Britain from 1200 to 1750. New York: Canopy Books.
McGann, T. D. (2013, February 01). Aumônières, otherwise known as alms purses. Retrieved from La cotte simple: http://cottesimple.com/articles/aumonieres/
Michaael, M. A. (Ed.). (2016). The Age of Opus Anglicanum. London: Harvey Miller Publishers.
Paine, S. (1990). Embroideredd Textiles; Traditional Patterns from Five Continents with a worldwide guide to identification. London: Thames and Hudson.
Perigrynne, R., & Spencer, R. (2024, April 2). 16th c Goldwork - Designs for the Lochac Order of Grace Version 1.3 Jan 2003. Retrieved from Worshipful Company of Broiderers: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dKmerQt3lVTuoivdM65BZ-VhW6Rhx1wO/view
Seal Bag ca. 1575-1599 (made) T.383-1976. (2024, May 14). Retrieved from Victoria and Albert Museum: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O362367/seal-bag-unknown/
Swain, M. (1973). The Needlework of Mary Queen of Scotts. Melbourne: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company.
Synge, L. (1982). Antique Needlework. Dorset: Blandford Press.
Synge, L. (1986). The Royal School of Needlework Book of Needlework and Embroidery. London: Collins.
Warner, P. (1991). Embroidery: A History. . London: B.T. Batsford Ltd.