Much of their work was inspired by medieval designs, especially those created by architects such as Augustus W.N. Pugin (1812-1852), who re-invented the Gothic style in first half nineteenth century Britain and elsewhere. Their work was also seen as a reaction against the popular form of embroidery at the time, namely Berlin wool work. Anglican churches commissioned the Society to create and make various items, such as altar cloths and vestments.
Various architects and designers worked with the Ladies Ecclesiastical Embroidery Society, including George F. Bodley (1827-1907), William Morris (1834-1896) and George Edmund Street (1824-1881), to produce designs that were regarded as suitable. The designs were then embroidered by members of the Society. The embroideresses gave their time freely and the only charge made was for the materials used.
In 1863 the Ladies Ecclesiastical Embroidery Society merged with the Wantage Needlework Association (also known as the Wantage Church Needlework Association), which consisted of the Exterior Sisters and Friends of St Mary's House, Wantage, Oxfordshire (until 1974 part of Berkshire), UK.
Sources:
- MORRIS, Barbara J. (1962). Victorian Embroidery, London: H. Jenkins, p. 87.
- PARKER, Rozsika (1984). The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine, London: The Women’s Press, p. 35.
- WHITE, James F. (2004). The Cambridge Movement: The Ecclesiologists and the Gothic Revival, Eugene (Oregon): Wipf & Stock Publishers, p. 212 (originally published by Cambridge University Press, 1962).
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