Antique Needlework Tour

We meet in the Grand Entrance foyer of the Victoria and Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, South Kensington, London SW7 2RL.

The duration of the tour is approximately 2 hours 30 minutes (including a short break during the tour).

We offer a guided walking tour around selected galleries of this world-renowned museum, led by Ann, concentrating on the history of European needlework from medieval times onwards. We will look at a mixture of hand-made domestic needlework, the works of noble ladies from the 16th to 18th centuries, the hobbies of the Victorian middle classes, and a selection of commercially made pieces, and consider the relationship between amateur and professional work over the centuries.

During the tour we will encounter many types of needlework, including 13th century religious embroidery, a 14th century quilt, Elizabethan and Jacobean whitework and coloured silk embroidery and raised stumpwork, crewel work, needlepoint and woven tapestries, patchwork, samplers, blackwork, 18th century silk needle painting, 19th century Berlin work and and Art Needlework.

Ann will also bring along a few small pieces of antique needlework from her personal collection, which you will be able to examine during our break.

Please click on this button to view dates and to make a booking for this tour.