ntirely confined to
apparel, for we find an occasional piece as the front panel of one of
the large, carved fire screens, which at that date were universally used
in drawing-rooms as a shelter from the glare and heat of the great open
fires which were the only method of heating. As the back of the screen
was turned to the fire and the embroidered face to the room, its
decoration was shown to admirable advantage, and one can hardly account
for the rarity of the specimens of these antique screens, except upon
the supposition that the roses, carnations, and forget-me-nots were
still more effective when wrought upon the scant skirt of a colonial
gown, instead of being shrouded in their careful coverings in the
deserted drawing-room, and my lady of the embroidery might more
effectively exhibit them in the lights of a ballroom. In recording the
changes in the style and purposes of embroidery, from the days of
homespun and home-dyed crewel to the almost living flowers wrought with
lustrous flosses upon breadths of satin which were the best of the
world's manufacture, one unconsciously traverses the ground of domestic
and political history, from the days of the Pilgrims to the pomp of
colonial courts.

French Embroidery

The character and purposes of the art varied with every political and
national change. In the middle of the eighteenth century, a demand had
gone out from the new and growing America, and wandering over the seas
had asked for something fine and airy with which to occupy delicate
hands, unoccupied with household toil. The carefully acquired skill of
the earlier periods of our history became in succeeding generations
almost an inheritance of facility, and easily merged into the elaborate
stitchery called French embroidery. I can find no trace of its having
been _taught_, but plenty of proofs of its existence are to be seen on
the needlework pictures under glass still hanging in many an
old-fashioned parlor, or relegated to the curiosity corner of modern
drawing-rooms. It is possible that the close intimacy existing between
France and England at that period may have influenced this art. Many
French families of high degree were seeking safety or profit in this
country, and the convent-bred ladies of such families would naturally
have shared their acquirements with those whose favor and interest were
important to them as strangers. There was another form of this French
embroidery, the materials used being cambri