Embroidery packs launched in Battersea

Today was the big day - a large turnout (with a waiting list) at York Gardens Library, Battersea, for the first class on the pomegranate motif (blackwork). Why the pomegranate? It was the emblem of Catherine of Aragon and appears on her coat of arms and in portraits. It is widely cultivated in the Middle East- and is one of the blessed fruits of Islam. According to the Koran, pomegranates grow in the gardens of Paradise...
Workshop led by Hannah Walker with Royal School of Needlework tutor Lizzie Lansberry.

Catherine of Aragon's pomegranate sparked discussions about talismans and lucky charms. Glynn Christian pointed out that the unicorn, thought to have magical powers, was on the Royal coat of arms as a 'defence of the faith'. A unicorn has the beard of a goat, tail of a lion and feet of deer. The origin of the western unicorn was a deer seen by the first Crusaders on the hill of Jerusalem. Glynn has a personal connection with the unicorn - it is on his family crest.

Seeda Islam said Muslims on the Asian subcontinent often use verses from the Koran as a form of protection - one word or short phrase written outside a front door to protect children. Or carried written on a piece of paper in a locket. Sometimes dots are drawn in kohl on a child's forehead to protect from the evil eye.

Jean Morgan said the Christian cross was a sign of protection..

Ibtisan Ahmed, the translator who helped with the class, said blue was a colour in Islam thought to ward off evil spirits. Blue beads were often carried with this in mind....

The pomegranate and Persephone

A blog reader in stormy Cornwall has remembered Persephone and the pomegranate - another link with the first image that we studied in the embroidery packs launched last week.

Persephone, beautiful daughter of Zeus and Demeter, was kidnapped by Pluto, King of the underworld. Her parents were – naturally – devastated. Demeter, goddess of agriculture, went into mourning. Crops failed, people starved. Such was the devastation that Zeus ordered Pluto to free Persephone – as long as she had not eaten in the underworld. Pluto let her go as he thought that she had not eaten.

Persephone fled back to her mother’s arms (as in Lord Leighton’s painting above) but close on her heels was a gardener who revealed that she had eaten seven pomegranate seeds in the land of the dead. She had to go back.

But there was a compromise. It was decided that she could live on earth for nine months each year then return to the underworld for the other three.Every year while Persephone was away Demeter refused to allow any plants to grow. Trees lost their leaves; plants withered. Hence winter. All flourished again in the spring when Persephone returned.

More paintings (though not the above) by Lord Leighton at Leighton House, Kensington - a place full of pattern and motifs.

The Madonna of the Pomegranate

Later in the evening - Hannah Walker, who designed the motifs for the embroidery packs, sends over her powerpoint. A brilliant mix of images that illustrate the point of the first class - and the stitch involved (blackwork). The pattern, a pomegranate, is important in Christian symbolism as well as Islam. As this painting by Botticelli (in the Uffizi, Florence, shows...