Announcing a conference on Greensleeves at the Society of Antiquaries on Friday 4 July.
This interdisciplinary conference takes the iconic sixteenth century ballad Greensleeves as a focal point through which to explore the interconnections of texts, textiles and material culture in early modern England. Speakers will be looking at the representations of clothing, fabric and food in the ballad: and will also be examining the literary, social, musical and historical context of the song.
There will also be a chance to view the reconstructed garments, and to listen to a short concert of 16th Century music related to Greensleeves.
Once again with stockings we have a garment seldom seen in the pictorial record in the 16th Century. This detail, from a painting by Frans Francken the younger, does show some stockings, though it’s very slightly later than our period…
However, there are some surviving examples, even in England (though the Museum of London hold the only known example of a silk stocking foot found in England – the rest are of wool). By the C17th we have some surviving examples of stockings knitted with gilt threads being used to add patterns and decoration.
Stockings of Eleanor of Toledo, 1562
Greensleeves’ stockings, being from 1580, won’t be nearly as complex as these later designs, instead being plain knit up the leg, with the gold decoration at the cuff being based on figured designs of early stockings, such as those of Eleanor of Toledo.
Sally Pointer has made Greensleeves’ stockings, using a combination of methods. The basic leg of the stocking has been made on a 120 needle stocking machine for speed and cost reasons, while the the heel, toe and cuff are to be worked by hand. The silk is so densely knit that she’s had to fish out some Victorian 0.75-1mm knitting needles to finish the heel off, as she couldn’t get any of her more modern ones through the fabric.
Work on the stocking tops, using 2mm needles, silk for the red and a strand of modern gold embroidery thread carried with a yellow silk thread for the gold.
Work on the stocking tops: 2mm needles, silk for the red and a strand of modern gold embroidery thread carried with a yellow silk thread for the gold
