Tea at Trianon: Ladies at Needlework

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, September 14, 2024

Ladies at Needlework

From Anna Gibson:

Needlework of all kinds was a common pastime for aristocratic and wealthy women in the 18th century; needle-crafts such as hand-embroidery, sewing, couching and even lacework were ways for upper-class women to occupy their hours of leisure time and create elaborate embellished gifts for close friends and family, or even embellished decor for their own personal use.

Needlework was ever-present in the lives of lower class women as well, although spending hours honing skills in elaborate decorative needlework was usually reserved for women who used that skill to bring in money instead as a leisure activity enjoyed by wealthy women. Needle skills were necessary for the everyday tasks of running a household, such as sewing, mending, and marking linens; as with upper class women, embroidery could be used to embellish gifts or personal items. (Read more.)