Margaret Layton, c. 1620, wearing a jacket with Jacobean work, portrayed by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger ((1561–1636).
Jacobean work may be regarded as a form of crewel embroidery, although it also uses silk or even metal thread. It is characterised by its floral designs, but it also includes animals, birds, etc. It became popular in England in the early seventeenth century, in the reign of James (Jacobus) I. A portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, from c. 1599, heralds this style of embroidery (see the pertinent entry).
A classic study of Jacobean work is by Ada Wentworth Fitzwilliam and A.F. Morris Hands, and is entitled Jacobean Embroidery. The Gutenberg Project has made this book directly available. Download it here.
Digital source (from Mary Corbet's Needle n' Thread 2016; retrieved 9 May 2016).
V&A online catalogue (retrieved 6 July 2016).
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