Needlepoint Cushions - Pillows - Samantha Taylor Needlepoint for the Museum Thyssen-Bornemisza - Memling Motif Available as Needlepoint Kits.

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On loan from the

Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza

The Frick Collection

Phone: 212-288-0700 - Fax: 212-628-4417

http://www.frick.org/ - E-mail: info@frick.org

1 East 70th Street ( between Madison and Fifth Avenues )

New York, NY 10021-4967

Needlepoint Cushions - Pillows - Samantha Taylor Needlepoint for the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum - Memling Motif Available as Needlepoint Kits.

The fabric we chose ( and recommend ) is a raw silk picking up the central color. The four front pieces are cut on a bias and pieced with the bias running in different directions. The cushion is cut stark with straight edges to compliment the composition of Memling Motif Needlepoint. We inserted a zipper into the back to one side - also a unique and interesting addition to this Memling Motif Needlepoint Pillow.

The raw silk surrounding is our favorite solution for our Needlepoint Cushions and Pillows. This fabric refreshes the yarn and eases the needlework into a light elegant object visually. The textures of these natural fibers compliment each other beautifully. The irregular quality of the raw silk surface actually enhances the perfection of the needlepoint stitches. We add a small history of this fabric below - for your entertainment.

These Needlepoint pillows are a lovely addition to any decoration and fun to combine in different cushion colors. A white raw silk background would also be a fabulous solution framing the Needlepoint Motif.

Dress up any room with exquisite - durable needlepoint pillows. Decorative cushions will bring classic and distinctive elegance to your home.

A very handsome design - combine the different Memling colors and group the pillows and cushions together on any bed or couch. We suggest any of the seven colors for the backing - then mix and match for a striking display.

Needlepoint pillows also make unique and thoughtful gifts. Match the recipients personality to one of the Memling Motif color combinations.

A Brief History of Raw Silk - Our Favorite Finishing Fabric for Needlepoint Pillows and Cushions - this is Fascinating

According to Confucius - in 2640 BC the Chinese princess XI Ling Shi was the first to reel a cocoon of silk which - legend also says - had dropped into her cup of tea. From that historic moment - the Chinese discovered the life cycle of the silk worm - and for the next 3000 years were to keep their monopoly of silk.

In the 3rd Century BC - Chinese silk fabrics began to find their way throughout the whole of Asia - and were transported overland to the west - by sea to Japan - in those long itineraries known as the silk roads. It was in Asia that the Romans discovered these incredible fabrics but they knew nothing of their origin.

In 552 AD - Emperor Justinian sent two monks on a mission to Asia - and they came back to Byzantium with silkworm eggs hidden inside their bamboo walking sticks - he earliest known example of industrial espionage! From then on - sericulture spread throughout Asia Minor and Greece.

In the 7th Century - the Arabs conquered the Persians - capturing their magnificent silks in the process - and helped to spread sericulture and silk weaving as they swept victoriously through Africa - Sicily and Spain. In the 10th Century - Andalusia was Europe's main silk-producing center.

Later - in 1536 - François I gave Lyon the monopoly of silk imports and trade - thus effectively creating the Lyon silk industry.

The next significant event in the development of the silk industry was the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. The French Huguenots - again subject to religious persecution - fled the country in large numbers. Many Huguenots were expert throwsters and weavers - and they contributed in a very large degree to the development of the silk industry in Germany - Great Britain - Italy and Switzerland.

Then the Crusaders - the formation of the Mongol Empire - Marco Polo's journeys in China led to the development of commercial exchanges between East and West - and to an ever-increasing use of silk. In this way - Italy started a silk industry as early as the 12th Century.

In the period 1450-1466 - Lyon became a major warehouse for foreign silks - but these imports caused a harmful outflow of capital - and in 1466 Louis XI declared his intention to *introduce the art and craft of making gold and silk fabrics in our city of Lyon*. Throughout the 18th Century - silk continued to prosper in Europe - Japan and above all in China. European missionaries to China reported > *Even the simplest soldiers are dressed in silk*.

In 1804 - Jacquard perfected the method of producing figured fabrics - by the use of perforated cards. This was a revolution in weaving techniques and gave a tremendous impetus to the creating of silk industry in Lyon and then in other European countries.

The 19th Century is characterized by two contradictory trends > increased mechanization and the consequent increase in productivity in the silk industry - on the one hand - and on the other - the beginning of the decline of European sericulture in the last quarter of the century. From 1872 - and the opening of the Suez Canal - raw silk imported from Japan became more competitive - thanks also to Japan's progress in reeling techniques. The rapid industrialization of European silk-producing countries - notably France - led to transfer of agricultural labor to the cities and towns. Diseases that affected the silkworm - although overcome by Pasteur - made silk-rearing a less reliable source of income. And the first man-made fibers were beginning to make inroads into the markets traditionally reserved for silk.

The early part of the 20th Century - whereas European sericulture continued its slow decline - the silk industry succeeded in maintaining a strong position through its technical innovations and the development of silk blended with other fibers.

The next major turning point was to be the Second World War. Raw-silk supplies from Japan were cut off - and the new synthetic fibers captured many of silk's markets - such as stockings and parachutes. This interruption in silk activity in Europe and the United States sounded the death-knell of European sericulture.

After the war - Japan restored her silk production - with vastly improved reeling - inspection and classification of her raw silk. Japan was to remain the world's biggest producer of raw silk - and practically the only major exporter of raw silk - until the 1970's. Then China - thanks to a remarkable effort of organization and planning - gradually recaptured her historic position as the world's biggest producer and exporter of raw silk. In 1985 - world production of raw silk was about 56000 tones (the same as in 1938) of which over 50% were produced in China.

The other major producers are Japan - India - the USSR - the Republic of Korea and Brazil. Silk is still produced in smaller quantities in many other countries - and several developing countries are studying new sericulture projects.

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