Correction - Punto Ricciolino (Umbrian Embroidery)

So many people wrote privately to tell me that I had misunderstood Punto Ricciolino used in Umbrian Embroidery that I thought I would do a post dedicated to correcting my errors.

Thank you so much everyone for clearing up my confusion! When you try to figure out things alone at home, it's so nice to know when you've done something correctly or incorrectly! I do apologize to anyone who followed my previous photo sequence though I kind of like that stitch too. I wonder what it's called?

I have done another photo sequence and although the stitch here looks very similar to what I posted before, the overall result is subtly different.

Some of you asked what fabric and thread I was using, so it's Sotema 20L 38ct Ivory Linen with DMC Pearl Cotton no. 8 (colour 842) and a no. 8 embroidery needle (sharp tip).

To start:


Go back under the diagonal stitch you have created, not taking any of the ground fabric. You can't see it here but the thread tail is held to the left with the needle passing over it:


Like this (don't laugh at my diagram!):


Back again under the diagonal stitch to the right of the stitch you just did:


I love the textural effect!


I don't think I will cut out the curls I did on my little sampler as it will be too time consuming but I will definitely be doing more of Punto Ricciolino in the future!

I will try to get back to working the edging to show you another way to use Punto Avorio in the near future, so watch for future posts.

Apparently it is necessary for me to again point out to readers that I am not a needlework teacher nor an expert. These posts here on my blog are my own personal investigations. If you choose to follow my diagrams, photo sequences and/or anything else I do, you do so at the risk of misunderstanding along with me!

An Italian woman from Perugia named Geneviève Porpora wrote to me with all kinds of links for finding out more information on Umbrian Embroidery. She wrote a book called Il Punto Umbro after having learned from the last surviving pupil (Margherita Biancalana) of the Marquess Romeyne Robert's "Scuola Ricami Ranieri di Sorbello" [Ranieri di Sorbello Embroidery School]. Unfortunately most of the links that she gave me are in Italian and seem to be often broken or leading to pages which no longer exist. If you would like more information, please contact her directly through her email address.

Romeyne Robert and Umbrian Embroidery - Part One

Romeyne Robert and Umbrian Embroidery - Part Two

Romeyne Robert and Umbrian Embroidery - Part Three

Romeyne Robert and Umbrian Embroidery - Part Four

Rome Expo of the Feminine Arts 1899-1900

I'm sorry, I've been very busy and unable to post for days. It may be a couple more days before I can get caught up so in the meantime, I want to share some photos with you which were sent to me by the fabulous Claudio at the Ning group MI1906 of postcards that he has in his collection.

Claudio tells me that there must have been at least 40 postcards in the series, so far he has collected about half that amount.

The postcards all read: Ricordo dell'Esposizione d'Arte e di Lavori Femminili nel Teatro Drammatico Nazionale [Souvenir of the Exposition of Art and Feminine Works in National Dramatic Theatre]. Rome 1899-1900.

Click on the photos for a closer look:


The only thing I can find on the exposition is in the biography of an Italian writer named Amelia Pincherle Rosselli (1870-1954). She was a member of the committee for the exposition. The Fondazione Rosselli has a listing of her personal papers online to peruse and it is here that I find the exposition "inaugurated on April 3, 1902" at the Hotel Suisse in Rome. Since these dates don't correspond with the postcards, I wonder if there was another expo? Unfortunately only some of the documents are online. I will post more at a later date after I have researched some more into this.

Deepest gratitude goes to Claudio once again for the photos!

Italian Openwork Embroidery - New website

Anna Castagnetti of Ricami a Fili Tesi in Verona has opened up her own website!

Click on the British Flag for the English version and have a look around.

On the "Courses" page, be sure to click on the title of each technique that Anna teaches (so many!) to see photos of her beautiful needlework.

Here is an example of her Hedebo stitching:


For intensive courses over a weekend you can invite her to teach at your place - I would love to bring her to Canada to teach! I've just got to work out that airfare...

Contact her (anna.castagnetti@ricamiafilitesi.com) if you want to bring a small group to Verona for classes.

This is my favourite option: Art-embroidery courses. Besides teaching your selected technique, Anna will take you around Verona to see important artistic sites (yes, she speaks English!). This I can tell you is fantastic. Anna and another lady from Mantua took me to the Don Mazza Museum in Verona and I have to say, if you love needlework and are in Verona, you shouldn't miss this little place. I have posted many times about the needlework in this museum and I still haven't showed you half of what is there. See Italian Stumpwork, Embroidery on Tulle in Verona, Fine Italian Whitework and Samplers.

Also to check out on Anna's website is a free Stumpwork project to download (instructions in English!) on the "Projects" page.


Included in this project are the instructions for those lovely tassel-buttons used on many different types of Italian needlework. The pdf file is loaded with excellent close-up photos.

You can read more about Anna and her needlework here and here.

Italian Needlework at the Textile Museum of Canada

Some days ago I read of the Textile Museum of Canada's online collection at the Needleprint Blog. I went right away and put "Italy" into the search engine and was delighted to get four pages of results with a total of 46 pieces to look at.

If you're going to look at these or other images on the website, I noticed some things (indicated in red boxes).

Sometimes there was some info on the piece:


And often there were alternate details views and "zoomify views":



Of the "Zoomify" views, I found the second one was always closer (click on the image or use the magnifying glass tool):



There are many different types of pieces to look at from needle lace and bobbin lace, whitework, threadpainting, goldwork, hand-weaving from Perugia, brocades and velvets, Assisi work and some particularly intriguing pieces - I'll give you the catalogue numbers in case my links get broken:

An Altar Cloth with a needle lace edging - Aemilia Ars work? Catalogue no. T96.0239

A Fragment - make sure to zoom in - the description says: Linen toile but I can see knots at the framework intersections and it's basted to gros grain like you would do for Filet work - I've never seen netting this big before or this kind of work done on it. Catalogue no. T95.0203

A Lace Edging - of all of them, I think this one is my favourite, a great piece of Venetian Gros Point. Catalogue no. T03.8.2

A "Shawl" (to me it's a table runner) with typical Antique Deruta work patterns but it's not pulled like the work I've seen, but rather filled in with what looks like Linen Stitch - don't miss the fuserole beads on the corner tassels! Catalogue no. T04.13.3

A Waistcoat - you must zoom in! Catalogue no. T93.0104

I'm off to see what putting "lace" in the search engine will get me...

Società Umanitaria - Humanitarian Society Followup

Just a small but important point to clarify regarding yesterday's post.

The Lombardy Regional Exposition for the Decorative Arts of 1919 was organized by the Humanitarian Society of Milan and held at their premises.

This exhibition was a prelude to the Decorative Arts Biennials of Monza, Italy held in 1923, 1925, 1927 - becoming a Triennial in 1930. The exhibition would then transfer to Milan in 1933. The Triennial of Milan is still held today.

I have been organizing material for both the Monza Biennials and the Milan Triennials to tell you about so look for that in future posts!

I also note that I forgot to include this coloured embroidery by the Humanitarian Society from the Emporium article yesterday:


Much thanks to Claudio at the Ning Group MI1906 for the additional info!!

Società Umanitaria - Humanitarian Society

In 1891 in Milan, entrepreneur Prospero Moisè Loria (1814-1892, originally from Mantua) proposed the idea of a Humanitarian Society as he was disturbed by the differences of extreme poverty and extreme wealth of the population in Milan at the time. He offered the city an annuity to set up the society but the idea was rejected. He then left instructions in his will (and 10 million lire!) for it to be realized after his death, hoping for recognition that there was a real need for change in Milan. His descendants contested the will but eventually his dream was realized.

The Humanitarian Society was based in Loria's home and would become one of the most important institutions in Milan. Programs for education and training for employment were carried out and in 1906 and 1909 separate locations were set up for encouraging the skills relating to the Arts and Crafts resulting in 1905 in an embroidery program taught by Adele Sottili (under the name Adele Sottili Calori, she would later publish at least one book: L'arte nei lavori femminili. Cifre monogrammi per ricamo. [Art in feminine works. Monogram Ciphers for Embroidery] - I can find one copy at the Libreria Naturalistica in Bologna if you have a spare 180 euros!) Eugenia Volpi is listed in the Society's archives as an assistant in the festival section of embroidery, 1906-07; Elisa Cantoni is listed as an assistant for courses of design and embroidery in 1915 but I can't find any other information on them.

In 1919 the Humanitarian Society participated in the Esposizione Regionale Lombardia d'Arte Decorativa [Lombardy Regional Exposition for the Decorative Arts] and in the catalogue for the expo there is this needlework:


In a 1916 issue of Emporium (Vol. XLIII, n. 254) I found an article by Alfredo Melani with lots of photos of the needlework produced by the Humanitarian Society.

The designs reflect the period and there are many techniques employed, sometimes all on one piece!





The Emporium article talks of courses in the women's section on embroidering household and personal linens (white on white) and on "luxury" embroideries (using coloured threads), on tailoring and even one on ironing!

The Humanitarian Society was bombarded in 1943-44 and many of the sections including the women's sections were completely destroyed. The courses on sewing and embroidery were not back up and running until 1947. However, the times were changing and by 1965, traditional domestic activities for women were passé and courses in needlework were no longer viable. The Humanitarian Society still runs today with programs in Decorative Arts though I could find no evidence that needlework was among them. Check out their website for lots of information (in Italian).

Special thanks to Claudio from the Ning group MI1906 who brought this bit of Milan's history to my attention and kindly donated the scan from the catalogue!

Romeyne Robert and Umbrian Embroidery - Part Four

Continuing our look at Umbrian Embroidery (Part One, Part Two and Part Three) today we'll have a look at Punto Avorio [Ivory Stitch] which we have talked about before when referring to Puncetto needle lace.

You will begin to note some similarities in the influences on needlework in Italy. Punto Avorio is used in Umbrian Embroidery which was created from studying ancient Arab embroideries and Puncetto needlelace is thought to have come to Italy through Arab influence.

Both Punto Avorio and Punto Ricciolino (which we looked at yesterday) are mentioned in a pamphlet from Marquess Romeyne Robert's Arti Decorative Italiane shop.

"The specialty of the School [Ranieri di Sorbello Embroidery School] is a knotted raised stitch of which there are many variations... to augment the effect of its embroidery, the School often uses inserts of Ivory Stitch which is one of the oldest needle lace stitches also brought to Italy by the Arabs. It is called Ivory Stitch because the lace motifs were copied from the ivory grates used in front of the windows of the harems. Although the stitches are Arab, the designs are Italian from the Renaissance period and the whole character of the work is Italian [referring to Umbrian Embroidery]."

In my little sampler, I have used Punto Avorio in two different ways so far. Once as a filling stitch for the little circle in the bottom right corner of the photo:


... and once spaced farther apart for these curlycues:


It is a nice stitch for the curlycues as it creates a raised line and also as a filling stitch as it is very compact. When I get to finishing the edging of the sampler, I'll show you some more characteristic ways that Umbrian Embroidery uses Punto Avorio.

The difference in execution of Punto Avorio is also interesting. In Umbrian Embroidery, it is done with the needle going towards the embroiderer (as in the photo above) but in Puncetto needle lace it is done with the needle going away from the embroiderer.

Check out some of the antique Umbrian Embroidery collection at the Palazzo Sorbello or a modern interpretation here and here.

Romeyne Robert and Umbrian Embroidery - Part One

Romeyne Robert and Umbrian Embroidery - Part Two

Romeyne Robert and Umbrian Embroidery - Part Three