A HISTORY OF GOLDWORK EMBROIDERY
A History of Goldwork Embroidery
The history of goldwork embroidery stretches deep into the past and draws from many cultures. As silk traders carried their goods across Asia and through Beirut, they also spread the art of gold embroidery. After the birth of Christ, the use of gold thread became widespread. The Bible, particularly the Book of Exodus, mentions cloth of gold. Ancient civilizations such as Egypt, Babylon, Greece, India, Persia, and Italy used it to adorn vestments and garments. In Egypt, for example, archaeologists have found gold-embroidered textiles in the tombs of pharaohs. Japan and China also produced magnificent gold-embroidered garments. Imperial robes richly stitched with gold threads that reflected both artistry and cultural tradition. This is closely tied to the secretive craft of silk making.
Throughout history, people have regarded gold as a symbol of wealth and status. Goldwork embroidery ranks among the oldest English embroidery techniques, with records dating back to before the 10th century. Earlier evidence appears mainly in pictorial form from the 7th century, showing that this craft has ancient roots. Around two thousand years ago, artisans in the Middle East practiced gold embroider. The technique spread across continents before becoming firmly established in Europe. Traditionally, craftsmen used goldwork embroidery to decorate ecclesiastical vestments and church furnishings such as altar frontals and pulpit falls. Members of royal and aristocratic families also embraced it as a vivid display of wealth, power, and prestige.
Churches and guilds
Churches and specially trained guilds carried out most of the goldwork embroidery. People regarded it as a great art form because of its fine craftsmanship and historical significance. Only the upper classes and the wealthy could afford to hire these highly skilled embroiderers.
Early artisans created goldwork threads from pure gold, flattening the metal and winding it around strands of animal or human hair. Because pure gold proved too brittle, they later wrapped it around silk, animal gut, paper, or parchment instead. Craftsmen produced all of this by hand, which made goldwork incredibly expensive. One of the most celebrated surviving examples of historical goldwork embroidery is St. Cuthbert’s Stole and Maniple, commissioned by Queen Ælfflæd around 901 AD. Artisans covered the entire piece in gold laid work and couched thread. Today, it remains on display in Durham Cathedral.
Between 1095 and 1291, the two-hundred-year war drained much of Europe’s wealth. At the beginning of the Crusades, money posed no limit—the crusaders decorated themselves and their lavish tents with treasures, including pure gold embroidery. But as the war dragged on, the knights grew poorer. They began cutting up their once-beautiful works of art to pay their soldiers’ wages, resulting in the tragic loss of countless masterpieces.
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A History of Goldwork Embroidery cont…
A large proportion of English goldwork embroidery still survives because people took many pieces to the continent for safekeeping during the Reformation. The Vatican, which holds at least a hundred examples in its collection, highly valued these works. Many major cathedrals, museums, and private collectors across Europe also continue to preserve them.
The style from this period, known as Opus Anglicanum, featured the highly prized technique of underside couching—a complex and demanding method. After trying and sampling the technique myself, I understand why it eventually fell out of fashion. It requires immense practice and precision to master. The process was also expensive, and as goldwork embroidery became increasingly fashionable and desirable, artisans adapted their methods to speed production and make it accessible to a wider audience. The glorious era of Opus Anglicanum embroidery flourished from the mid-13th to the mid-14th century.
What first drew me to goldwork embroidery was the striking contrast between its highly polished threads and the rich fabrics beneath them. I have loved this art form for as long as I can remember. Growing up in the North West of England, I was fortunate to visit the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, where I saw the magnificent Syon Cope. Its design and craftsmanship captivated me—the fine split-stitch work truly embodies the Latin phrase acu pictura, meaning “painting with a needle.” I also found myself deeply fascinated by Becket’s Casket, another breathtaking example of medieval artistry.
St. Cuthbert’s Stole and Maniple
When artisans created St. Cuthbert’s Stole and Maniple, they widely used a thread called floss silk, which gave the embroidery a brilliant sheen and complemented the couched metal threads beautifully. The silk cores came from the Orient, while embroiderers in Russia enhanced their work with pearls and jewels, adding even greater opulence to the craft. Artisans lined the backs of their embroidery with linen and stitched through both layers to give the delicate silk extra weight, prevent the heavy metal threads from showing through, and strengthen the fabric so garments would hang properly.
Velvet also became a popular fabric during this period, enriching the embroidery of the 13th century with deep color and luxurious texture. Although the velvet’s pile initially posed challenges for embroiderers, they soon found creative solutions to work effectively on its surface.
As goldwork embroidery evolved, English ecclesiastical embroidery underwent dramatic change after demand grew both at home and abroad in the mid-14th century. Craftsmen met this demand by using sumptuous woven silks and velvets and by reviving surface couching techniques. During this time, long and short stitch rose to prominence, and embroiderers began using thicker floss silk to complete commissions more quickly. To further reduce the time spent on dense embroidery, they developed orphreys—decorative bands placed along the edges of copes and other vestments, often with smaller designs stitched on either side.
15th Century Goldwork Embroidery
By the 15th century, raised work became highly popular. Embroiderers used wire purls laid over string and padding to create intricate diaper patterns across rows of laid threads. The resulting designs dazzled the eye—the placement of each stitch altered how light reflected across the surface, giving the embroidery a shimmering, dynamic beauty. The creativity and skill of the artisans who produced these works of art earned them great admiration and made their creations highly sought after by the wealthy patrons who could afford to commission them.
The reign of Henry VIII, however, brought this glorious era of English goldwork embroidery to a tragic end. His break from the Catholic Church triggered the destruction of everything associated with ecclesiastical art, including goldwork embroidery. Officials destroyed or melted down countless treasures for their gold content, erasing an irreplaceable part of England’s artistic heritage. The loss of these masterpieces—whose craftsmanship can never be replicated—was immeasurable.
A few precious vestments from that time still survive, preserved only because people risked much to protect them. Devout families who continued their religious practices in secret hid these garments, safeguarding them from confiscation. Others smuggled them to the continent, where many remain today, displayed in European museums and cathedrals as national treasures.
Portraits of Henry VIII reveal another side of this story: his obsession with wealth and splendor. Artists depicted him wearing garments heavy with jewels and rich embroidery. Contemporary records describe his use of “Venice gold” and “Damask gold”—flat gold threads wrapped around a silk core and couched onto luxurious fabrics. These depictions show how Henry VIII continued to use goldwork embroidery as a powerful display of status, turning what had once been sacred art into a symbol of royal extravagance.
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Elizabeth 1st reign
During her reign, Elizabeth I wore magnificently embroidered garments decorated with jewels, pearls, Venice gold, twist plate, and wire purls. Inventories of the time recorded these items, and her fashions set a new wave of rich embroidery. When she grew tired of a dress, court embroiderers cut away the worked pieces and applied them as slips to new dresses. They also reused detachable parts such as sleeves and stomachers, allowing the precious embroidery to appear on multiple garments. Her pictorial dresses told symbolic stories of nations, morals, and status, showcasing the power she held across the world.
When Elizabeth I died, she left over one thousand dresses documented in her Great Wardrobe. Later, many of these dresses were cut and refitted for Anne of Denmark, wife of James I.
Around this time, craftsmen invented fine wire-drawing machines capable of producing hair-thin wires. Most wires consisted of silver coated in gold, wound around yellow silk cores. Artisans called this Japanese thread. Inventors and embroiderers experimented with new textures, using finely drawn and hollow-spun wires. They attached the wires to fabrics, combining them with beads of various lengths to create striking three-dimensional effects that enhanced the artistry of embroidery.
Skills of yesterday
In our opinion, we have lost the skills of yesterday. We can never fully regain the dedication and craftsmanship once shown in goldwork. We make every effort to encourage the continued use of Goldwork Embroidery, using the limited knowledge that remains, so that artists can still produce beautiful works with a modern twist.
Workshops such as Hand and Lock still create masterpieces under the guidance of Carn Griffith. People recognize their military embroidery for its fine execution. Benton & Johnson, along with Bill Barns and his family, preserve and share their heritage and knowledge. The Royal School of Needlework demonstrates excellence in teaching. And last, but certainly not least, GOLDEN HINDE continues to contribute its own artistry and expertise.
We hope that people enjoy practicing this historical technique in its simplified form and come to appreciate the remarkable skill of Goldwork Embroidery.
Thank you for reading our history of Goldwork Embroidery
In our opinion, we have lost the skills of yesterday. We can never fully regain the dedication and craftsmanship once shown in goldwork. We make every effort to encourage the continued use of Goldwork Embroidery, using the limited knowledge that remains, so that artists can still produce beautiful works with a modern twist.
Workshops such as Hand and Lock still create masterpieces under the guidance of Carn Griffith. People recognize their military embroidery for its fine execution. Benton & Johnson, along with Bill Barns and his family, preserve and share their heritage and knowledge. The Royal School of Needlework demonstrates excellence in teaching. And last, but certainly not least, GOLDEN HINDE continues to contribute its own artistry and expertise.
We hope that people enjoy practicing this historical technique in its simplified form and come to appreciate the remarkable skill of Goldwork Embroidery.