Delightful with a sweet squirrel at the base below exotic birds. Great colours and beautifully embroidered. A little different from the usual crewel work. It has been used as a curtain with original hooks to the top.
With two exotic birds perched on the entwined tree trunks, the branches bearing huge exotic acanthus style leaves, fruits and flowers with different fillings, emerging from earthy hillocks, the centre with a squirrel munching a nut, all worked in many shades of red, green, brown crewel wools with a large variety of stitches, on a natural linen ground, lined with blue cotton.
6ft 9 in x 3ft 5 in; 2.06 x 1.04 m
Excellent apart from the little area surrounding the seeded fruit to the left of the lower bird. There were little embroidered spots surrounding the fruit, but it seems the dye in the wool has rotted and left little holes. A clever needlewoman could embroidered over these. 7 have small holes to their centres. There is a small light brown mark, the size of a pencil head to the lower right hand side, but this hardly notices.
All images and text © meg-andrews.com 2021
