AV_embroidery

Alberto Vieira

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MADEIRA EMBROIDERY

MADEIRA EMBROIDERY Alberto Vieira

Funchal, 2007

TITLE: Madeira Embroidery 1st Portuguese Edition: December 2006 AUTHOR: ©Alberto Vieira PUBLICATION:

Bordal-Bordados da Madeira Ltd. Address: Rua Doutor Fernão Ornelas 77,1º 9050-021 Funchal - Madeira Portugal Tel.+351 291222965 Fax.+351 291227754 Web page: http://www.bordal.pt ISSUES: 3000 copies PAGINATION: Gonçalo Mendes PHOTOGRAPHS: Bordal, Alberto Vieira, Gonçalo Mendes, Vicentes Museum of Photography.

ENGLISH TRANSLATOR: Lou Mendes Teixeira PRINTING PRESS: Tip. Peres, SA (http://www.tipografiaperes.com) ISBN: 978-989-20-0416-7 Depository: 249553/06

Contents

Presentation..................................................................9 Embroidery Worldwide ..................................................19 From Homemade to Industrial Embroidery ......................27 Crisis or change in Embroidery ......................................45 Madeira Embroidery Houses. .........................................53 Techniques and Materials ..............................................75 The Madeira Embroidery Manufacturing Process ...............81 Madeira Embroidery Stitches .........................................93 Madeira Embroidery Markets........................................107 Foreigners and Embroidery..........................................117 Conclusion ................................................................131

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Presentation

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mbroidery is part of the culture and history of the Madeiran people.

Following the example of Madeira wine, it is one of the brands that identifies them. Its presence transcends the geographical barriers of the archipelago and it is found on rich tables and beds all over the world. It is hand crafted in a poor environment, but is nearly always sought after for noble tables or beds. Madeira embroidery is not a creation of the 19th century, as it was present on the island right from the time of the first settlement. It is known that embroidery was used as valuable merchandise in the system of exchange between the island and the exterior and as the source of income of many Madeiran families from the second half of the 19th century. It was also considered to have been introduced by Elizabeth Phelps (1820-1893), but in fact she was instrumental in opening the way for it into the British market. It was from then on that Madeira embroidery, which had been formerly considered a product for domestic use and consumption, became a commercial product in great demand and highly valued by foreign markets. This resulted in great transformation in the sector. Madeira embroidery manufacturing houses and exporters specialized in its commercialization sprang up, and they were 11

Embroiderers Postcard 1950

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responsible for a radical change in the production sector.

Embroidery production and availability became assured by the embroidery houses. The product was also perfected technically and the needlework was regulated according to the demands of the new clientele and the fashions of each era. The act of embroidery was no longer a form of leisure and became transformed into an activity of subsistence and sometimes a full time occupation.

Before the outsider of the nineteenth century discovered Madeira embroidery, it had been reserved for family consumption and was a household activity. Embroidery was made for personal use or as a gift for relatives and friends. For the maiden, the tradition of the bridal trousseau was often the motive of such patient dedication to needlework. Objects made outside of this circuit were rare. It was ancestral embroidery that followed family traditions, sometimes adapting new stitches and designs to the taste of the creator.

From the mid-nineteenth century, the appearance of Madeira Embroidery Houses and the growing interest among foreigners, namely the English, Germans, North Americans and Syrians for embroidered objects, led from handcrafted to industrial products. Here the clients began to define the type of order, and the houses became responsible for coordinating the work, defining the techniques and the materials.

Embroidery was no longer a free creation of the embroiderer, and a working process began with the sketching of drawings adjusted to market requirements or to the very demanding clientele. The creation of objects was passed on to the designer and the final form was dependent on the expertise of the embroiderer’s hands.

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Embroiderers

As it was a specifically feminine job, it was carried out at home so that the embroiderer could reconcile her daily housekeeping chores with her needlework. For the majority of Madeirans, embroidery was their means of survival in view of the difficult situation in agriculture on the island from the mid nineteenth century. The economic crisis, caused by the winegrowers’ situation, obliged people to look for new alternatives for economic survival, and embroidery was one of them. The daily life of the island was transformed so that the woman was ever more bound to the home and came to earn social importance.

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Household chores became the companions of the art of embroidery. The presence of embroidery in people’s daily lives was witnessed by the foreigners who visited the island and the Madeirans themselves are conscious of this. The young embroiderer was a prestigious person in rural society who soon became known for the showiness of the profits which were the fruit of her new labour. On the other hand, the act of embroidering became common and no longer exclusively for women, as according to a popular refrain: The father embroiders, the daughter embroiders, and the mother embroiders.

In the rural environment, contact between the embroiderer and the embroidery houses was made through the travelling agents and salesmen who covered all the areas to find agile and capable hands to give shape and prominence to the drawings stamped on the pieces of linen and cambric. In the city of Funchal, the wine houses gave way to embroidery houses and their commercial activity was transferred to new settings and streets. In the port, the passenger ships or boats from the Cape were harassed by small boats on which the bomboteiros exhibited large embroidered tablecloths for sale.

The first half of the 20th century was a difficult period for everyone. The world wars (1914-19 and 1939-45) severely affected progress and commerce. Markets were lost, many houses closed down, embroiderers emigrated and the competition of embroidery from other regions, namely the orient, made things worse for the Madeirans. Nevertheless, embroidery and wine were maintained as the local economy, as the indelible marks that identify the island. And as long as there are those who value needlework, Madeira embroidery will not die, remaining in the memory of its visitors as the prodigal souvenir of their visit and 15

Women embroidering.

Vicentes Museum of Photography.

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their discovery of this manual work which still persists in the post-industrial era.

After that dazzling production and commercialization period for embroidery, the island is still today identified by its embroidery and its wine. What has changed is only the ease of access to these authentic works of art, as in the words of the Madeiran writer, HorĂĄcio Bento de Gouveia, they are our “Tears travelling around the worldâ€?.

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Detail of tablecloth presented at the Madeira Pavilion at Expo-98 in Lisbon.

Designed by Leandro Jardim.

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Embroidery worldwide

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ontrary to what may seem to be true, the History of embroidery did not come to an end in Madeira and neither was it limited to its period of assertion from the late 19th century. This is because embroidery is not a Madeiran creation and needlework has always occupied women in the four corners of the World. According to tradition, the cradle of embroidery was in the East, Middle East and Russia. And it seems that this activity was lost in the annals of History. In 1964 the archaeological finding of a Cro-Magnon hunter, dating back to approximately 30.000 BC was the first register of a fossilized cloth revealing hand embroidered stitches.

The oldest preserved embroidery in existence on cloth is Chinese and dates from 3500 BC. China was one of the areas where the art of embroidery was asserted, dating back to the Shang dynasty (1766-1122 BC.) and became very popular during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). In the Mediterranean basin, the Assyrians, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans were responsible for spreading embroidery. The Greeks considered embroidery to be the invention of the god Minerva.

There are numerous archaeological registers witnessing to the importance of embroidery in Mediterranean civilizations.

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Embroiderers.

Postcard. 1909

Christianity, with its need for liturgical vestments embroidered in gold, supported and divulged the art of embroidery throughout the world under its influence. Rome, as the headquarters of the papacy, became transformed from the 16th century into one of the most important needlework centres, as a result of the demand for the ceremonial garments of the pope and cardinal. Christianity made the art known all over and the female convents were centres of prominence encouraging the tradition of embroidery. All over Europe, Christian and nonChristian, needlework became well known, and was popularized in the 18th century. The 17th and 18th centuries are considered the golden era of European embroidery, over a vast area from Italy, through the Slavic countries to Holland.

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The second half of the 19th century was marked by great transformation resulting from the mechanization of work with the embroidery machine, considered a serious threat to the hand embroidery of regions such as Madeira.

In 1913 there was a commotion caused by the news that the importation of embroidery machines had been authorized in Funchal. It was at this time that motifs were popularized through drawings in magazines, leading to the establishment of patterns that had been fashionable at various times. The popularization of printed designs began in the 16th century with the publication of the first books on the subject. Embroidery applied to items of clothing was traditional and was connected to royalty and nobility from the Middle Ages. Silk and gold embroidery were the main adornment on items of clothing, and thus became very pricy. It is said that traditionally, embroidered pieces of clothing were exclusively given as gifts to kings, emperors and princes.

In Portugal the art of embroidery was present from distant times, being evident in regions such as Viana do Castelo, Guimar達es, Castelo Branco, Nisa, Caldas da Rainha and Tibaldinho. The presence of settlers in Madeira originating from various regions of the country, but in particular from the north where embroidery was a great tradition, must have contributed to this art form being spread to the new areas of occupation in the Atlantic. One of the most significant groups of settlers in the archipelago came from Viana do Castelo. Therefore embroidery is as old as the first settlement on the island, since the first Portuguese people who set foot on Madeiran soil were worthy representatives of a cultural tradition that gave prominence to the land of its origin.

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Peasant, lithograph

Woman grinding cereal in hand mill.

Palhares Collection, 1842.

Lithograph by P. Springett, 1843.

Embroidery is directly linked to clothing and from the time that Man felt the need to cover his body, fabrics arose, made out of various products and sewing techniques, with appliques in embroidery. In Madeira the dress code followed the standards of the settler’s places of origin and availability of artefacts supplied by the environment and market. For this reason, linen was planted and the grazing of sheep was also a significant activity in the rural areas to supply wool for local clothing. In 1862 there were 559 looms for weaving linen and wool. The highest incidence was in Santana and Calheta, with 160 and 165 looms respectively. In Funchal there were fewer looms, as the port made it possible for people to have access to imported fabrics. Wealth allied to the supply of imported fabrics, which were excessively priced, made it possible for this luxury to be enjoyed by the diverse social strata.

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Spinning linen.

Lithograph by J. Gellaty 1840

The crown intervened in order to halt showiness in clothing.

In 1686 Dom Pedro had rules of etiquette published against it. Its main target was “all of the embroideries that are called silk”, which could not contain silver or gold, and “all the lace that is called embroidery”. Already in 1749 Dom João V condescended to some items of embroidered clothing: “one can wear white clothes embroidered in white or in colours, however they must be embroidered in my domains, and not be manufactured elsewhere.” The sumptuary laws, on prohibiting embroidered items of clothing, showed that it was common tradition in the whole kingdom and that it included many items of the men’s clothing (shirts, shorts, etc.) and ladies’ (skirts, waistcoats, capes, cloaks, etc.).

From the Liberal Revolution the retail sale of fabrics became free from the hindrances of sumptuary laws, which should have contributed to a reaffirmation of embroidery on items of clothing.

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Monument to The Embroiderer Sculpture by Anjos Teixeira Unveiled 30 June 1986.

IVBAM gardens.

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From homemade to industrial embroidery

Detail of antique trimming 27

Vantage point at Largo das Cruzes with Santa Clara Convent Engraving by Frank Dillon, 1850.

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Items of antique clothing

mbroidery has been present on the island since the first settlement. The embroidery tradition, brought over from the places of origin of the settlers, accompanied them on their Atlantic crossing and became established in the new territory. Embroidery has been carried out on the island since the beginning of settlement. Embroidery was done on linen, cotton, silk and organdy for tablecloths, decorative pieces, bed linen sets and items of ladies’ clothing. Many of the items of clothing were handed down from parents to children, not only for their sentimental value, but also for their rarity and the rich embroidery. The oldest testimony of Madeira embroidery appears in the late 16th century in the book “Saudades da Terra” dedicated to Madeira by Gaspar Frutuoso. Concerning the marriage of Isabel de Abreu with António Gonçalves of Arco da Calheta, the author refers that “the delicate wives on the island of Madeira, who (besides being commonly well built, beautiful, discrete and virtuous) are distinguished in their perfection and in all their creations of the rich things that they make, not only in 29

Item of antique clothing

cloth with refined handiwork ...”

And so it happens that Madeira embroidery was kept in secret for a long time within the linen chests of their creators. As they were such priceless pieces of work, they could not be sold, and were exclusively for the family’s use, for gifts as a trousseau or a bequest on a death.

For a long time embroidery was considered a non-saleable product which rarely left the family circuit. Foreigners who wrote about the island up to the mid-19th century did not make reference to embroidery. What attracted their attention most were the artificial flowers made by the nuns of Santa Clara Convent. In the account of James Cook’s three journeys (1768, 1772, 1776) the flowers were mentioned, but there was no indication of embroidery. Santa Clara Convent was a reference point for the majority of the foreigners that visited the island between the 17th and 19th centuries. It was a mandatory place of pilgrimage. Besides their confectionery, their flowers made of feathers were the high30

Item of antique clothing

light, for many visitors their best souvenir of Madeira.

As well as this, in the early 19th century, a real attraction for Madeira’s visitors was Madre Maria Clementina. In the convents, such as at Santa Clara, embroidery was also an activity that occupied the nuns in their moments of leisure, but the majority of foreigners were only interested in their artificial flowers and confectionery. Up until the mid-19th century, there are no references to the sale or export of Madeira embroidery. And in the various descriptions of handcraft activities, embroidery is not featured. It was in fact, with the Madeiran industries exposition held at S. Lourenço Palace from 1 April 1850, that embroidery was revealed as merchandise which would rescue the family economy. From here on, it became a capitalist enterprise, and hand embroidered items became a product yielding great economic profit. The industrial exposition was organized by the Civil Governor at the time, JosÊ Silvestre Ribeiro, in the aim of promoting the various industries and handcrafts of the archipelago 31

for both Madeirans and visitors.

The choice of the month of April owes to the fact that it was the month in which there was a larger number of foreigners on the island.

Success seems to have been due to the commercial value of the handcrafts displayed, namely embroidery. Thanks to the personal endeavour of the Governor, the exposition was a success and the most complete sample of the socio-economic potential of the archipelago.

José Silvestre Ribeiro (1807-1891).

Civil Governor of Madeira from 1846 to 1852

With regard to the embroideries, the report on the exposition was full of praises: ... Embroi deries in coloured stitches on silk with woven trimming, fine thread, in gold, within different frames, all made very neatly and beautifully.

Embroideries in voile, well finished and in good taste. Various white embroideries worthy of great merit. Medals and awards were distributed as an incentive to the exhibitors. In the embroideries and handcrafts sector, two medals were awarded as prizes to the white embroideries of Luísa and Carolina Teives.

The British interest in this exposition was enormous and Madeira received an invitation to be present in London at the World Exposition that took place in the following year of 1851.

Again, under the initiative of the Civil Governor, José Silvestre Ribeiro, Madeira presented a richly embroidered piece made by Mrs. Breciano with a reproduction of Madeira’s feather flowers made by the nuns of Santa Clara Convent. The comments about the items presented were favourable: embroideries in white that were generally applauded and considered to be of unsurpassable perfection. Both the expositions were a decisive landmark in the assertion of embroidery on both the local and London markets.

The first register noted on the exports dates from 1849 and

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Detail of antique embroidery

accounts for fine embroidered linen sent to Lisbon. However, Britain became the first promising export market for Madeira embroidery from 1854. The first exports were under the initiative of Miss Elizabeth Phelps, the daughter of Joseph Phelps, a notable wine merchant who had become established in Funchal in the late 18th century. She was responsible for advertising Madeira embroidery for some families and was also actively involved in teaching needlework. In the mid-century, she and other ladies of Funchal established a Lancastrian girls’ school where, besides basic education, without recourse to punishment, the youths were taught needlework. Teaching of the techniques of English embroidery was decisive in influencing Madeira embroidery in the early years, in such a way that Émile Bayard stated that it was known as English embroidery.

The connection of Miss Elizabeth Phelps, daughter of Joseph Phelps (1791-1876) and Elizabeth Dickinson (1795-1876), with Madeira embroidery has given rise to some confusion.

It is commonly said that it was this British maiden who introduced embroidery on the island. However, according to what 33

was said before, it seems to have been shown that embroidery already existed on the island long before her arrival and that her most significant contribution was making it known to British society and opening doors to a promising market.

Joseph Phelps (1791-1876) and Elizabeth Dickinson (1795-1876)

From the mid-19th century, English visitors began to pay attention to Madeira embroidery. Around 1853-54, Isabella of France, in her diary on her visit to the island, notes clearly the presence of embroidery in Madeiran clothing. At the pilgrimage of Saint António da Serra, in October, she makes reference to a man in a blue jacket adorned in magnificent embroideries in gold. As regards the ladies’ clothing she highlights a bodice of yellow fustian or similar material, very well embroidered in white stitches. And on the inevitable visit to Maria Clementina at Santa Clara Convent, once again her attention was attracted to the embroidery on a shirt: ...it had a pleated front around the neck, of muslin so fine and light that it showed the embroidered extremity of the shirt emerging below [...]. At the hand there was an embroidered handkerchief, of the same house,...

While the product was gaining ground on the English market, the first intermediaries began to appear. Robert and Frank Wilkinson were the first Englishmen involved in the business.

Commercial relations between Madeira and England had been assiduous since the 17th century, as a result of the connection of Madeira to the process of British colonial assertion, where the port of Funchal was one of the support centres in the Atlantic. The English were frequently present in Funchal and economic activity spread to all trading products. The British, by force of these circumstances, were the first to be interested in

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the commercialization of embroidery.

The value of embroidery as export merchandise had direct implications for the manufacturing process.

First it implied the need for more embroiderers to be recruited to match the demand for products. In 1862 there were more than a thousand embroiderers on the whole island.

Gradually embroidery conquered new markets, a consequence of the publicity made by the British in travel guides and literature on travelling. Its reputation surpassed borders and arrived in Germany. The first pieces of embroidery were taken there in 1881 on the initiative of Otto von Streit, who had set up home in Funchal in November1880, in search of a cure for consumptive lung disease. Its presence marked the beginning of German intervention which persisted until 1916, at the time when Portugal entered the First World War.

Embroiderers.

Vicentes Museum of Photography Collection

The intervention of the industrialists and German merchants was an important landmark in the History of Madeira embroidery.

A true revolution in the embroidery manufacturing process took place from the eighties. The first change occurred in the fabrics and threads used. The blue thread used up until then, was replaced by white thread. At the same time a new technique was introduced to apply the designs directly to the fabric, thereby doing away with the drawings basted underneath.

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Embroiderers.

Tile Panel in Avenida Arriaga.

Funchal. 1932

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Up until that point, the designs had been the creation of the embroiderers, but with this new technique, the drawings were stamped directly onto the fabric before being delivered to the embroiderers. To facilitate the process, new perforation machines were introduced.

The technique made it necessary to establish sales houses in Funchal for the purpose of proceeding with the work of preparation and distribution of the fabrics and threads to the embroiderers. The travelling agents proceeded to distribute the cloths to the embroiderers and later collected them already embroidered.

The whole task of ironing and packing the embroideries was reserved to the sales house, with its headquarters in Funchal.

The growing demand for embroidery implied the need for technical innovations due to the Germans, an increase in manual labour for embroidery and an improvement in the network of agents for distribution and collection. The fact that the cloth was handed to the embroiderers with the designs already stamped on them, made it easier for many women to take on this activity, which they could carry out while continuing with their daily routine.

The Industrialists and the German embroidery houses The Germans intervened in the commercialization of embroidery from the eighteen eighties, causing it to enter the international circuit through the duty free port of Hamburg. The Great House of Otto Von Streit began by sending unfinished embroideries to Hamburg, where they were later prepared for export bound for the United States of America, making it possible to easily control the commercial and production cycles. In this way, if for any reason the embroiderers’ work did not satisfy their interests, they would seek other labour markets, since they were the owners of the patterns used. The situation of 1916, caused 38

by the war reprisals, was doubly harmful to the island therefore the drain did not prevent them from selling the embroidery, but only drew attention to new markets.

The presence of the German community as from the last two decades of the 19th century was important, the Madeira domain being closely disputed with the English. The island was an open space of welcome to many Europeans, including the Germans, who sought out its mild climate for cures for consumptive lung disease. And it was in the midst of the group that enterprising merchants and industrialists arose.

In order to improve the reception service for patients, a project to build sanatoriums was drawn up. In 1903 Prince Friedrich Karl of Hohenlohe was the promoter of the initiative. But the Portuguese Government, by influence of the British, was forced to rescind the concession granted to the said company of Sanatoriums, by means of a large compensation, definitively preventing their establishment in Funchal. It is likely that the confrontation between the two communities, British and German, had a lot to do with the rapid withdrawal of the Germans in 1916 and the two bombings of the city of Funchal on 3 December 1916 and 12 December 1917.

Despite British animosity, the Germans managed to secure an important position in the sale of embroidery between 1890 and 1914. Hegemony became evident from 1895, at the time when Germany received 33173 Kg of embroideries, compared with the 2751 Kg for England.

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Humorous Drawing

by Re-Nhau-Nhau

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Detail of antique Embroidery

These figures do not reflect the real situation for the exports since they exclude the embroideries sent to the duty free port of Hamburg, one of the main export destinations. The involvement of the German community in the commercialization of Madeira embroidery was only possible with the presence of an influential group directly involved in its manufacture and export. In 1912, business was handled by six houses: Wilhelm Marum, Georg Wartenberg, R. Kretzschomar, Otto von Streit, Dutting & Gaa, Wolflenstein & Horwitz.

The exit of the Germans in 1916 was made up for by the arrival of the Syrians who soon dominated Madeira embroidery up until 1925. The North American market, which since 1910 had gradually grown, came to command exports. But the 20th century with its safe expectations for the commercialization of embroidery, brought French, English and American merchants to the island. The first few years of the 20th century were still marked by unrestrained competition.

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Detail of antique Embroidery

Internally, it involved the industrialists who manufactured and commercialized embroidery, while externally Madeira competed with the producing markets of Bohemia, Alsace, Ireland and Switzerland. In the case of Switzerland, the process of mechanization already under way from the eighteen sixties brought added advantages, since production costs were drastically reduced. The technological innovations in the mechanization of embroidery manufacturing which took place from the second half of the nineteenth century, did not affect the demand for Madeira embroidery. This was not only due to the quality of the handwork, but above all, due to the low cost of manual labour which for a long time guaranteed its competitive position in comparison with the mechanization of the process in other regions.

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Embroidery designedby Leandro Jardim

Crisis or change in embroidery 45

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he situation of the world economy in the first half of the 20th century was deeply marked by the two World Wars (1914-19, 1929-35) which effected the development of the embroidery market. The island became isolated, its contact with the raw material supply markets and embroidery consumers being cut off. Worse than this was the economic crisis associated with the war and which affected potential clients’ buying power. And as Madeira embroidery was considered a costly product, it was not easy to find a way out. At the same time obstacles arose in some markets. In 1917 prohibition on the import of Madeira embroidery was established in England, followed immediately after by the United States of

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Church of Santa Clara after German bombing on 12 December 1917.

Vicentes Museum of Photography Collection

America in the next year.

The First World War scared away the Germans and brought in the Syrians who consolidated exports to the American market, which was Madeira’s most hopeful. However, the fatal New York stock market crash occurred in 1929, causing one of the worst crises in the History of the United States. All of these circumstances severely shook the commercialization of Madeira embroidery. The crisis in the American market was counterbalanced by the upturn in the Brazilian market, which was to continue until 1956.

The Autonomy Movement of the twenties upheld Madeira embroidery and included debate and the defence of embroidery in its plans, as it was still considered to be a fundamental industry, if not only important to conserve its regional identity. It took Madeira a long time to achieve true autonomy, depriving the Madeirans of the opportunity to find solutions to the problems this activity was going through. Reprisals were felt at the economic level in the embroidery sector.

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Humorous drawings

Embroiderers

by Re-Nhau-Nhau.

In the face of such crisis conditions in the embroidery sector, as a result of the Revolt of 28 May 1926, the Government of the dictatorship established some support measures. On 9 September, the Government gave permission for silk and linen fabrics to be imported for embroidery in the drawback system, whereby duties would be remitted. This concession was also applied to textile yarns in 1928. The thirties were very complicated times for Madeiran society and for the survival of Madeira embroidery. Thus after the Madeira Revolt of 4 April 1931, the government sought to intervene in safeguarding the sector, and on 20 April issued credit of one thousand contos in favour of the industry.

In 1935 the embroidery sector was still a under the vigilance and special protection of the government, as referred by Salazar in a letter that he wrote to Dr. João Abel de Freitas, President of the General Board. Therefore, the creation of the sector’s Grémio (trade association) the next year in 1936, sup-

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KASSAB. Humorous drawings

by Re-Nhau-Nhau.

Document of the firm KASSAB.

ported exemption from import duty and the local impositions on the raw material required by the embroidery industry.

Once again in the forties, the war period doubled the difficulties caused to the embroidery sector and to the family economy, since the women worked almost exclusively on embroidery and the men on wicker. At the same time emigration to Brazil, Venezuela, South Africa and Australia came as a mortal blow to the industry. First the men left, leaving the women in charge of all of the couple’s responsibilities and so they had less time to embroider. Later, the rest of the family joined the women, which drastically reduced the labour available.

In the post-war period, everything pointed to the fact that the Madeira embroidery market was entirely lost and that there would not be a return to the golden times of the early century. In the sixties new difficulties arose caused by the economic instability of the main markets: the United States of America, South Africa and Rhodesia. The situation was made even worse by the competing hand embroideries made in China, the Philippines, 50

IVBAM Building.

View of IVBAM Museum.

Thailand and Korea, and machine made work from Switzerland and Hong Kong.

The Revolution of 25 April 1974 took place at one of the most difficult times in Madeira embroidery’s History and it was only the move to autonomy from 1976 that led to a definition of a policy for the sector. In 1978 the Madeira Embroidery, Tapestries and Handcrafts Institute (IBTAM) was created in the aim of maximizing the value, preservation and promotion of Madeira handcrafts. Among the activities of IBTAM in recent years was the creation of the Madeira Embroidery Brand, the Embroidery Museum and the Fashion and Design Centre. Finally in 2006 the Regional Government amalgamated this Institute with the Madeira Wine Institute, hereby creating a common organization to safeguard its interests and promote Madeira embroidery, handcraft and wine, and it became known as the Madeira Wine, Embroidery and Handcraft Institute (IVBAM).

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Interior of Embroidery House.

Vicentes Museum of Photography Collection

Embroidery houses 53

Travelling Agents.

Vicentes Museum of Photography Collection

Embroidery House Emil Marghab Co. Ltd. & Sons.

Vicentes Museum of Photography Archives

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he Madeira embroidery market has been marked over the past one hundred and fifty years by high instability, revealing the industry’s fragility on the world market. Not only the international situation but also the precariousness of the embroidery houses created by foreigners, namely the English, Germans and Syrians, contributed to this. Each group had its own form of intervention and distinct markets. The English were the first to intervene in the process. But it was the Germans who were the impelling force in diversifying markets. Moving ahead was blocked only by the influence of the English and finally interrupted by the First World War. Forced to leave due to political reprisals, they allowed the Syrians to take control of business.

From 1890 there was great transformation, the embroidery 55

Old Embroidery House Files 56

houses becoming more assertive, to the detriment of the exporters. The difference was in that the exporters were limited to acquiring the embroideries from the embroiderers, while the embroidery houses began to intervene directly in the production process, supplying the cloth with the drawings already stamped on it, to the embroiderers. For this reason, they mounted a network of agents on the whole island, who proceeded to distribute the cloth and later collected them once they had been embroidered. The change incremented by the Germans led to the assertion of the so-called Embroidery Houses. In the first barracks of the 20th century, there are references to the following Embroidery Houses: A. J. Fróes, Bradwil, Casa Grande, Hougas, Maru, Suiça, Portuguese Embroidery Company, H. C. Payne, Hamú, José Clemente da Silva, Mallouk Bros, M. R. Silva Diniz, Wagner, Schinitzer, Madeira Embroidery Union and Americana.

There were 100 Embroidery Houses referenced in 1923, which vouches for the vitality of the industry in the period between the two wars. The cost of customs led to the exit of the Syrians from 1924, who handed over the houses to the Madeirans, who began to control the sector. In the following years, the high number of companies in the sector was maintained. In the forties, Orlando Ribeiro (1949) made reference to 91 houses actively involved in the commercialization and export of the product. In 1953, a report on the Trade Association of the sector notes the existence of 103 houses, but it so happens that 61 of these houses were small and exported under 50 contos worth of products monthly. Only 12 houses invoiced over seven thousand contos monthly. 88 Embroidery Houses were referenced in 1969.

The New State policy of association and class also affected the embroidery industry. With Decree Law Nº. 25643 of 20 July 1935, the Grémio or Trade Association of the Madeira Embroidery Industries was established, and its mission was to guide the industry within the areas of production and commerce. As was announced in a Grémio advertising leaflet in 1958, the safe57

Embroidery School.

Vicentes Museum of Photography Archives

guarding of the interests of the Sector was assured, and under the auspices of this association, the periodic crises which in the past had so afflicted the industry’s economy and its workers would not be repeated.

According to Ordinance Nº. 8337, a tax was established on the value of exports and local sales, to come to the rescue of the association’s expenses. It was with the profits from this tax that its headquarters was built. It was inaugurated in the fifties and is at present the IVBAM building. The grémio had warehouses for the storage of fabrics and thread to supply the sector, similar to the situation still maintained in the same building today, for the storage of the fabrics.

The grémio, besides regulating the sector, acted to protect its own interests, promoting the teaching of embroidery to the youth, with schools created in Câmara de Lobos and Machico. At the same time, minimum prices for labour were established, based on a unit of measure known as industrial points. Between 1935 and 1958, there was a significant improvement in the price 58

Embroidery House Laundry.

Holographic seal.

paid for embroidery work, going from 35 cents for 100 points to 24 escudos and 20 cents in 1958.

This improvement also affected the 750 Embroidery House workers who earned a salary of between 3 and 6 escudos in 1935 rising to between 11 and 20 escudos in 1958. The creation of the Madeira Embroidery Industry Workers Union on 1 March 1937 also contributed to this. This workers’ union came to be called the Madeira Embroidery Industry Free Union in 1974, and embroiderers who worked from home were also able to join it.

The events of 25 April 1974 overthrew the regime and the Economic structures created by the New State were considered to be its mainstay. The grémios of the regime gave rise to the Associations which arose as was the case of the Madeira Embroidery, Tapestry, Handcraft and Wickerwork Producers Association of Madeira.

Safeguarding embroidery was one of the attributes of the Embroidery Grémio as from 1935. For this purpose, a Law was created on 8 of December 1938 whereby it became compulsory 59

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Advertisement

Old note; Bordal (1968) 61

Embroiderers.

Tile Panel in Avenida Arriaga Funchal 1932.

for embroidery for sale to carry a guarantee seal.

The creation of IBTAM by regional Decree in 1977 made the sector more dynamic and resulted in the intervention of the Regional Government. Ensuring the quality of Madeira embroidery was still a priority and as from 2000 the holographic seal was used to prevent imitations. On the other hand, investment in innovation led the Regional Government to create the Fashion and Design Centre. Among its aims is the creation of new products, using the latest technology and introducing Design, Image and Marketing. From this point, new opportunities were opened up for the embroidery sector. Today it is evident that Madeira embroidery has achieved specific importance in fashion and several Madeiran fashion designers have become recognized and successful in using embroidery on their garments.

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THE EMBROIDERER My Madeira or my enchantment For you I am so profane Jewel that God on a feast day Dropped into the ocean Like you there is no other And in the dreamy nights The fingers of the embroiderers Embroider foam on the waves. (song by MAX (1918-1980)

The Embroiderer Throughout the History of embroidery, it has been the embroiderer’s work that is most commonly referred to. It is she, with her fairy-like hands, who provides the touch of beauty in her embroidery stitches. Her dexterity, dedication and sacrifice are cause for constant praise and admiration by every person that discovers embroidery. The embroiderer was responsible for preserving the ancestral tradition of embroidery on the island and before the mid-19th century when foreigners intervened to dominate the production circuit, it was she who created the drawings that were so gracefully outlined on the cloth.

The tireless work of the embroiderer, through long nights, is witnessed in the embroidered pieces that charm visitors, beauti63

Humorous Drawings

By Re-Nhau-Nhau

fy whoever wears the items of clothing, aggrandize receptions and banquets and enrich the cosiness of sheets and pillows. The ineradicable mark of the work is ever present.

The typical picture of the embroiderer seated during the night in front of the little house that shelters her, is an image frequently remembered by Madeira’s visitors from the late 19th century. Together with this isolated work goes another image of the groups of women who collect at the roadside and footpaths.

All over the island it was common to see gatherings of married and single women, elderly and infants, whose hands embroidered, but their thoughts were on their own and others’ daily lives. They embroidered but also conversed about one another’s lives. Sometimes someone would sing a popular ballad, the kind that is commonly sung, but never heard on the radio.

Embroidery is the testimony of the Madeiran woman’s art, as much as of her daily difficulties. Embroidery was carried out not for pleasure, but to guarantee a meagre living for the home.

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Embroiderers.

Postcard

The survival of embroidery still today depends on her patient work. For a long time it was an activity guaranteed by her work and dedication. She had freedom of choice regarding the fabrics, threads and patterns she embroidered. Once she had finished her work, she went around the city or from door to door offering her handwork for sale for a few pennies that would guarantee the survival of her family. Many foreigners who had been captivated by these authentic works of art, witnessed that it was here that the best embroidery made on the island was found.

The demands of exports led to the appearance of new agents in the process, implying a radical change in the making of the product. The embroiderer lost control of the process, acting as a mere producer of the embroidery design already stamped on the fabrics. In exchange she would receive a meagre reward counted in points.

Although the embroiderer’s work is ancestral, the first reference to the number of women dedicated to embroidery dates

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66

Finishing in embroidery production.

from 1863 in the report of Francisco de Paula Campos e Oliveira about the industries of the archipelago.

Here embroidery was already considered to be a very important household industry which occupied 1029 women on the island. Although it was a common household activity, it was in the city and the parishes neighbouring the urban areas that a notably larger incidence of women dedicated to this activity was found. Funchal and Câmara de Lobos alone represented up to more than 97% of the total. This probably was due to the proximity of the place of sale and the fact that there was still no established distribution and collection network organized by the sales houses. The North of the island was not yet significant.

The period that ran from the second half of the 19th century and the mid-20th was marked by an ascending movement of female labour indispensable to the assertion of embroidery.

Vitorino Santos’ industrial report for the year of 1906, at the time of full assertion of the industry, is evidence of this situation, presenting a total of 32.000 embroiderers. Funchal and Câmara de Lobos, with 58% remained dominant, but there were embroiderers in all the councils.

The number of embroiderers grew during the 20th century.

Orlando Ribeiro (1949), quoted a report for 1940, which stated that there were 50.000 rural embroiderers, who together with those of the city and the shop assistants raised the number of handcraft labourers connected to embroidery to 70.000. The highest number that we know of is for 1950 with the presence of 60.000 women dedicated to embroidery, which represents 21,2% of the population. The last data for 1983 stated a figure of 33.000 and in the first year of the new millennium, it had dropped to a mere 6.000. The geographical distribution of embroiderers in the seventies and eighties of the 20th century shows that there was a change in the dominant geographical configuration. Figures for Funchal and Câmara de Lobos decreased, while they rose in 68

Embroiderers.

Postcard

council areas such as Ribeira Brava and Machico.

At the time of the euphoric peak in the embroidery industry, when more than thirty thousand women were actively occupied, the appearance of epidemics such as cholera in 1911, had evident consequences for the industry. In 1910 labour costs were 760.000 escudos, decreasing in the next year to 480.000 escudos, which reflects an accentuated decline in available labour, seeing that there was no alteration in the value of the points paid and neither had there been a decrease in demand.

In the first reference to labour related to embroidery in 1862, there is only data on the embroiderers, but in 1906 there was a differentiation between them and other workers at the embroidery houses, who were 2000 in number. These workers included all the professionals required in the final phase of the process of preparation of the embroidery for export and those that were occupied in the preparation of the designs and materials to be delivered to the embroiderers. This means that the establishment and full operation of the embroidery houses only began from the eighteen sixties.

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Humorous Drawing

By Re-Nhau-Nhau

The embroidery production technique imposed by the Germans from the eighteen eighties meant that the embroidery manufacturing process was no longer the embroiderer’s exclusive domain.

A production cycle was begun in which various agents such as designers, stampers, agents, checkers and ironers took part.

Besides the embroiderer working from home, people started to work in the embroidery houses. There were other workers who took part in the process as well. However, this group was a small one. In 1922 there were 2500 workers employed in the 70 embroidery houses, while in 1968 the 88 houses employed only 450 workers and they had 1500 agents.

The means of payment to the embroiderers for their work was changed from the nineteen twenties. Up to that time, their work had been paid by the inch, and from this date on, it became paid by the stitch, being subject to an industrial reckoning by use of a curvimeter. One of the aspects that attracts the attention of all those who describe this industry and praise the embroiderers’ work, is the low price paid for this exquisite work. As far back as in 1863, the embroiderer was in comparison with all the activities that were occupied by women, the worst paid. They were paid a mere 100 “reis” in Funchal, while others earned average salaries of over 300 “reis”.

In the twenties, the situation was reverted by competition with new markets, to one where the embroiderer once again became responsible. The authorities were conscious of the situation and in 1929 ordered the establishment of a commission to study the possibility of increasing the price paid for the embroiderer’s work by fixing a minimum. Another issue was the need for assistance for the workers in case of illness and disability. The

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reason for the embroiderer’s resignation was a result of the fact that this work was carried out either during her breaks from housekeeping or during the long nights, in many cases not being an activity that would occupy her all day long.

The pennies earned by of the stitches were always welcome. In 1952, 47.252 contos was earned by over fifty thousand families spread throughout the island, which represented 18% of the total population.

The interests of this sector’s workers were protected as early as in 1894 with the creation of the José Júlio Rodrigues Society for the Protection of Madeiran Embroiderers. Little is known about this Welfare Association. As from December 1907 there were similar proposals by initiative of the Germans. At this time the embroidery houses Wilhelm Marum, R. Kretzchan and George Wartenberg created a Caixa de Socorros (a type of social security) for the approximately two thousand workers employed by them. Everyone began to benefit from medical aid and free medicine. Funds for the maintenance of this service were collected by each embroidery house monthly by discounting 50 réis per worker. The expansion of this system of social security only took place from 1946 with the establishment of the Caixa de Previdência.

Embroiderers. Postcard 71

Detail of Antique Embroidery

The Grémio dos Industriais dosBordados, established in 1935, was also prominent in its support to the sector and to the embroiderers. In Câmara de Lobos and Machico, children’s schools were created, to teach needlework to over 691 children.

Later in 1961, the embroiderers were provided support through the construction of a residential neighbourhood of 30 dwellings.

The 20th century was marked by the spread of Madeirans to a variety of destinations abroad. The crisis and the difficulties caused by the World Wars and by the situation of abandonment and underdevelopment led to strong emigration pressure, particularly in the fifties and sixties. Many left for Brazil, Venezuela and South Africa in search of better life conditions. Firstly the men left, but later they were joined by the remainder of their families.

Wherever the Madeiran woman went, she would take embroidery with her. She and the art and tradition of embroidery were inseparable.

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It is known that in the fifties, there was an appeal for the immigration of embroiderers and their promotion in the case of Brazil.

In Rio de Janeiro, S. Paulo, Santos and Ceará, the presence of Madeira embroidery is famous. At São Bento, in Santos, embroidery is not of the same high quality as of the sixties and is disappearing. At Itapajé, in Ceará, Fortaleza it has been kept alive. The city is known as the embroidery capital, because it is one of the main economic activities. In Venezuela, the testimonies of many of the Madeiran women who left the island in the fifties reveal that they did not lose the habit of embroidery, and there are cases where pieces were sent from Funchal and later returned already embroidered.

Homage was only to be paid to the work of the embroiderer, insistently praised by all those who knew her work, with the unveiling of a statue by the sculptor Anjos Teixeira in the gardens of IVBAM on 30 June 1986.

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Equipment used for stamping designs onto cloth. IVBAM Museum

Techniques and Materials 75

Design stamping machine IVBAM Museum

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T

he second half of the nineteenth century was marked by great changes in the techniques used in embroidery, fabrics and in the patterns embroidered, as they became adjusted to the demands of the embroidery destination markets. Firstly the English, through Miss Phelps, and later the Germans, made the most significant contribution to the embroidery revolution and its assertion in the foreign market.

The most common fabrics for embroidery were muslin cotton, cambric, linen and natural silk. An off-white thread was used and more rarely, blue and red thread. Embroidery on cotton and silk was promoted by the Germans who also sought white thread. But the introduction of embroidery on silk is considered to be the contribution of Mrs. Counis. Regarding the fabric used, there are several references: in 1849 embroidery on linen was sent to Lisbon; and the next year, at the exposition organized by the Civil Government, items embroidered on silk, with coloured thread and lace.

Most of the fabrics that were embroidered were imported.

Linen was imported from England and Holland while cotton came from Germany.

Cotton was clearly promoted on the local market from 1897 77

History of embroidery, perforating machine and some rolls of designs.

Humorous Drawing

By Re-NhauNhau

Bordal.

by the German government through the customs system known as drawback, i.e. the cotton fabrics left the country and returned with the added value of having been embroidered, to later be re-exported, exempt from taxes. This situation persisted until 1906. The generalized use of linen imported from England led the German authorities to increase taxes from 1 March 1906 which was a burden to embroidery on linen. The taxes charged at Funchal customs on embroideries done on cotton and linen caused a dispute, resulting in an appeal to the government to intervene by reducing taxes on fabrics imported for embroidery, as well as pointing out the need to follow the example of Germany, by introducing the drawback system.

The difficulties experienced in the sixties were the result of prejudicial customs measures. In 1967 Madeira embroidery did not benefit from EFTA privileges if the fabrics were not from a member State, and were taxed according to the minimum rates for fabrics without any embroidery work on them, as established in 1953.

From the time when embroidery came to be produced by order and the manufacturing process was controlled by the embroidery houses, changes were evident in every sense.

Miss Phelps introduced English embroidery motifs, such as 78

Design and perforation workshop

ilh贸s and cavacas. Already in the nineteen twenties, the crisis in the sector led the industrialists to seek an alternative that would consist of making the embroidery suitable to other European regions. So Madeira embroidery came to be a mixture of the French (with the Richelieu), Swiss and Venetian styles. In the fifties, the Italians imposed their designs and there was a distinct artistic tendency towards embroidery designs with art nouveau and art deco trends. From then on, this style has been maintained, while creative artistic imagination and good taste are utmost. In this Madeira embroidery transformation process which took place in the 20th century, there was a demand for multicoloured work by request of the consumer market.

At present cotton, linen and organdy are essentially used for embroideries for export as well as for those on sale on the local market. The most common stitches are still the French stitch, shadow stitch, bastido, ch茫o, and richelieu, which is used less for exportation due to imitation by oriental markets. The embroidery of the 21st century still holds its share of the market, clearly smaller than it was 100 years ago and now caters more for personalization rather than for quantity.

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Perforation Machine

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Falta Traduzir

O processo de fabrico do bordado madeirense 81

The Madeira embroidery manufacturing process can be divided into five phases, as described below by Maria da Soledade.

[Bordados da Madeira (Viagem numa Fรกbrica de Bordados), Funchal, 1957, 7-13]

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O

Embroidery drawing

ne would fail in classifying the skill of the designer, as his task is not, as one would judge, to copy, magnify, trace, etc; he is sooner a creative artist of inexhaustible resources�.

Drawing He begins by outlining, in charcoal, the motif that he visualizes in his imagination; once the idea is set, the charcoal returns to the paper to trace new lines and improve on the first ones; the final lines are drawn in crayon, and once this operation is finished, the paper, which a short while before was blank, contains a variety of motifs, where flowers generally predominate, fantasical, joyful and faithful reproductions. In general the designer “does not know� what he is going to draw, except for those rare exceptions in which a specific request is made, his hand will draw what his brain conceives and orders. Just as the poet writes his verses dominated by the divine power of the muses, so the designer transfers to paper what his inspiration whispers, most often composing true perfection; he is not driven by folly, therefore place him in the foreground of the good and indispensable contributors for the honour of this precious indus83

Curvimeter

Counting stitches with the curvimeter

try.

However it is curious that the drawing is a true work of Art, and is nearly always ordered to be made, prosaically, under the determination and limitation of the “budget” factor, because it is to be sold.

To exemplify: the industrialist orders a “stripe” on a tablecloth of a particular size that will have to be sold for x escudos.

Under this guiding line, and within this vague indication, the designer performs true miracles of precision. Those who have had much practice, and a far developed sense of calculation, rarely make mistakes; eliminating some lines, increasing some sheets, simplifying some “stitches”, the result is exact.

Sometimes there is a need to transpose the drawing into a larger or smaller format; it is still the designer who interprets it aesthetically in the required proportions.

And his hands never stop!

Inspiration never runs out!

Pretty flowers, delicate figures, the strangest allegories, geometrical lines of the most disparate configurations, and so many other motifs of unmistakable beauty, all of which spring from the inexhaustible imagination of this artist whose real merit 84

has still not been recognized.

Let us continue on “our journey”.

The drawing goes right away to the stitch counting section in order for the amount paid to the embroiderer to be worked out.

Prices formerly were calculated by the industrialists by means of criteria acquired through practice.

Recently there was reference to the matter and it was reported that twenty years ago, ilhós and grega stitches were paid x cents... per inch...

Once the stitches have been classified and an average has been worked out, the price is calculated. Then all of the lines of the drawing are measured (including the “richelieu”) to arrive at an exact total.

Measurement is done with the curvimeter – a device used for measuring the length of curved lines, which registers the measures of which the counting foreman “reckons” the corresponding number of stitches: “x” meters of caseado is equal to “y” stitches, (…)

The curvimeter has a small end which is where it is held, and a round face, with an approximate circumference of 9,5 cm.

A small wheel runs over all of the lines and the hand on the face registers the measure, each turn equalling one meter. With his free hand, the worker notes down the meters, marking the lines already traversed by the curvimeter lightly in red, so that there are no lines left out or repeated. (...)

Once the format of the item and the model of the drawing are found to be adequate, these and the measurement constitute only a quarter of the job, which is afterwards quadruplicated.

Once the “stitch counting” has been done, the drawing goes to the perforation section.

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Perforation Machine.

Perforation of the drawing.

Perforation This phase is also very interesting. The perforation machine perforates the paper, which has been drawn on, faithfully following the lines, traced in order for the design to be stamped onto the fabric. The machine is worked by a pedal while the worker’s hands simultaneously guide the paper and the needle that is perforating holes a fraction of a millimetre in size. It is a very delicate job and one that requires a lot of practice to manage to synchronize the pedal and the needle. One needs many years of experience to achieve a firm hand and sight, necessary for a perfect result, besides good attention and patience, so that the person that performs it satisfactorily, deserves recognition.

Perforation may be done on one or more sheets of paper at the same time, but never more than four.

Needles of several thicknesses, relative to the delicacy of the drawing and type of stitches, may be used on the same machine.

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Stamping.

Stamping Stamping or tracing (transferring a drawing onto the fabric) is done on large tables, placing the paper well spread out, on top of the item that is to be embroidered and fixing it with weights so that it doesn’t slip. Then using a ball of cotton wool imbibed with blue dye, oil and a mixture of wax, the workers rub over the entire perforated surface, immediately transferring the drawing to the fabric.

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Drawing painted for the embroiderer 88

Embroiderers. Vicentes Museum of Photography Archives

Ticket-Bordal

Embroidering From here we proceed to the section where the register is done, control labels are put on items, coloured work is marked in coloured pencil, if the work requires colour; then it is taken to the sending out and receiving area.

The “agents” for the rural areas come to collect and deliver the orders. These “agents” distribute the work to the embroiderers and receive a percentage of the full price that is paid to the embroiderer, from the industrialists.

In all the factories there is a “reception” room for the handling of delivery and reception of embroideries, with a counter where the “agents” are attended to.

Once the work has been received, it passes on to the “checker” to be analyzed for imperfections. If there are any, they are returned to be corrected. (…)

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Washing and ironing

Washing the embroidery.

Ironing the embroidery.

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Now, let us go into the laundry, where the items are washed by hand, just as any common piece of clothing would be, whether it be a large rich tablecloth, or pretty little dress for a baby, in silk or organdy, or even tiny handkerchiefs.

The items, still damp, are moved on to the ironing section, where big tables await them; and here begins the arduous task of the ironers, if we keep in mind that the majority of the embroideries are done on linen, how rebellious it is to the iron, and the perfection that we witness later, seeing them in the shops. Very large pieces with a lot of embroidery on them, require several workers; some stretch, others iron, and sometimes there are eight women around the same table, working on one, large tablecloth on which a little part is not yet embroidered.

The electric wires connected to the irons come down from above, from an individual socket, to not get entangled.

But other workers are still waiting to trim and “repairâ€? the embroideries and it may happen, as is to be expected, that there is a mishap where scissors inadvertently cut some stitches that other hands soon repair; others still sort out the open leaves and eyelets with a perforator that is popularly called furalhĂł. And only then is it finally ironed, folded and prepared to be exhibited in the showrooms of the embroi-

Final finishing touches to embroidery.

Vicentes Museum of Photography Archives

Cutting an embroidered item.

dery factories, in commercial establishments, (…) or for export.

We refer in a general way to embroidery itself, because the works of making up of dresses, shirts, etc., is done by seamstresses that work from home and either take them themselves or send for them from the factories. There are also specialists in the process called filetar (very fine rolled hem of invisible stitches for finishing off handkerchiefs or scarves). This word in general, is used clumsily and in several forms: “Filitrar”, “filhetar”, “filtrar”, “flitrar”. [..]

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92

Madeira Embroidery Stitches

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94

N

owadays, embroideries made on our island include practically all the popular types of stitches that are in fashion in the country, both with regard to layout and to the embroidery “stitches” and for this reason, there are many names by which they called. They are going to be outlined below as far as possible:

Granitos or “garanitos”, as they are commonly called, are small circumferences which are filled in, a little larger than the head of a pin; Ilhó; Folha Aberta and Folha Bastida (bastido refers to embroidery that has been filled in and is applied in several shapes and formats); Richelieu and Oficial (the design is of the same type, but the Oficial stitch is all done in cordão, or chain stitch, including brides while the well known Richelieu is 95

Madeira Embroidery Stitches

used for edging; Ponto francês, (or the French Stitch, called the Paris stitch on the continent) single or double, for applications on plain fabric or overlay; Grega (ilhós) or eyelets outlining a piece, while done in cord stitch inside and filled in on the edge with cutting out); Arrendado (crivo); in this type of stitch there are several models all of which are known in turn by other names: latadinha, olho de passarinho etc. Cavaca is not positively a “stitch”; what gives it its name is the shape of its design; Pesponto (ponto de areia) is used to fill in smooth surfaces; shadowing the fabric; Caseado (stitch for cutting out) which also includes: caseado bastido and caseado bastido de unhas, Ponto de Sombra or revés (shadow stitch) which is only used on transparent fabrics; Viúvas (a sort of five leafed clover, which has been filled in).

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Madeira embroidery Tablecloth, Bordal

There are also the cordĂŁo, (cord stitch), or Ponto de corda (flower stem) Ponto Ana and Escada which are the commonly used open stitches with threads previously removed. In ponto escada the threads are caught by the needle in the same direction, from either side; in ponto Ana stitch the threads are caught in opposite directions. When the design requires the best results, matiz, and ponto de cruz, and so many others are used, although they are not stitches that have been classified and tabulated by the GrĂŠmio.[..]

[Maria da Soledade, Os Bordados da Madeira

(Viagem numa fĂĄbrica de Bordados), Funchal, 1957, pp.7-13]

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MATIZ and ponto ch達o stitches Ponto ch達o is a stitch that is not filled in with thread before it is woven, a little slanted and not tight.

In the case of Matiz, the threads are embroidered, arranged as in ponto ch達o, some shorter and others longer, and colours are thus interwoven.

ARRENDADOS, Crivo stitches This is one of the most difficult stitches to do, both due to the removal of the threads, and the finishing stitches on the remaining threads. According to the resulting structure, it may be called cruzinhas, latadinha and olho de passarinho.

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BASTIDOS or Ponto Cheio stitch The bastido is a stitch produced in high relief due to the urdidura, meaning that threads are lain down before being embroidered over with ponto de cetim or the satin stitch.

The granito stitches of over 6 mm in diameter are known as granitos bastidos, the same is the case with the closed leaves of over 8 mm that are called folhas bastidas.

CASEADOS «As in the case of the cordão stitch, from which it must have arisen, the caseado stitch is done over a thread lain down twice.

But the second time the needle passes over the thread to be pulled and produces an effect called lançada whereby, on being tightened creates a strong edge and enables the adjacent cloth to be trimmed without undoing the stitch.» [Leandro F. Jardim, Elucidário dos Pontos Mais Usuais nos Bordados da Madeira, duplicated text).

It is normally used for finishing off the extremities of embroidered items.

There is the other option of the caseado bastido, which is fuller, and the undulating “unhas” instead of a straight line.

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CAVACAS Several circles divided into four half semi-circles whose centre is generally embroidered with a garanito or ilh贸.

This stitch derives from the ilh贸 and from the folha aberta.

GRANITOS or garanitos Small separate dots which have been neatly filled in.

They are called seguidos when the space between them is small (3 mm) and the embroiderer goes from one to another without cutting the thread. They are called rematados or finished off, when the space between them is over 3mm.

When bastidinhos are used instead of garanitos in the shape of forget-me-nots, the composition is called by the name of malicioso or vi煤va and solteira by the rural people.

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ILHÓS «The ilhós should be embroidered one at a time. When they are small and done on light fabrics, the circle cover is drawn on the cloth, forcing the threads and opening the forced hole by the passing of the needle and the thread by the first opening; and, like this, circling it. There are embroiderers who use the fura-ilhó to make the hole.

They are not urdidos, or do not require the initial thread to be lain down for embroidering over when very small (1 mm in diameter). However, when bigger in diameter, the embroiderers who do them neatly, laying a thread on the cloth before threading over; that is, they cover the circle drawn for the ilhó in cordão stitch on the thread” )» [Leandro F. Jardim, Elucidário dos Pontos Mais Usuais nos Bordados da Madeira, duplicated text].

The continental tradition of Tibaldinho embroidery is reported, appearing in the oldest representations of embroidery on the island.

Escada Stitch This is a stitch made between two threads removed in parallel. Between the two threads which set the width, all the other threads are removed, so that only the descending (or ascending) threads remain.

Next, in exactly equal quantities, these threads are caught and tied with plain stitches: it begins to resemble a ladder, from which it derives its name.

It holds hems and trimmimgs very well.

[Leandro F. Jardim, Elucidário dos Pontos Mais

Usuais nos Bordados da Madeira, duplicated text].

101

PESPONTO or Areia stitch This stitch is used for shading spaces.

It is a stitch that requires much expertise and patience of the embroiderer so that they are evenly distributed and the same in size and density in the area to be filled in.

RICHELIEU AND OFICIAL STITCHES The Richelieu stitch from France, opened the doors to the creativity of the designer, setting aside the formal look, to become an authentic work of cutting out and embroidery.

The oficial stitch is composed of the cord達o, while the Richelieu is composed of smooth caseado. The oficial is, however, one of the older stitches in Madeira embroidery.

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Cordão or Pau stitch «A thread is lain down and afterwards covered in uniform spirals. They also call this stitch pau, because compositions suggesting stems and trunks or branches, are known as pau, by the embroiderers.»

[Leandro F. Jardim, Elucidário dos Pontos

Mais Usuais nos Bordados da Madeira] a text on the common embroidery stitches of Madeira.

FRANCÊS AND SOMBRA STITCHES French stitch - This stitch is used specifically for binding the fabric where the drawing to be applied is drawn (stamped) onto the fabric where the embroidery develops.

Shadow stitch - is done under light transparent fabrics (cambric, organdy etc.), and on the reverse. It naturally produces the perfect effect of shadow.

[Leandro F. Jardim, Elucidário dos Pontos

Mais Usuais nos Bordados da Madeira, duplicated text]

103

Bomboteiros.

Photograph Collection Vicentes Museum

104

Madeira Embroidery Markets

105

Funchal.

19th century

Embroidery House Alexander I Hamrah Inc. – Washers, 1919.

Vicentes Museum of Photography Archives

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I

n about a century and a half the Madeira embroidery market had developed according to the contingencies of the international situation. It was a vulnerable product in relation to the changes in the destination markets, due to the simple fact that it was luxury item. Throughout this period, it was evident that there was an almost exclusive fixation in one market at a specific time, which affected the development of the industry.

First there were the English, followed by the Germans, the North Americans, Brazil and finally Italy. Added to this, is the fact that from the 19th century, the European embroidery market was extremely competitive, depending not only on the existence of the island of Madeira, since in several regions of Europe this handcraft industry existed and was going through a slow process of transformation. The process of mechanization of work from the mid-19th century and later, competition with the oriental market, were serious obstacles to the assertion of handcrafted Madeira embroidery.

Madeira embroidery began first by being a product which was entirely foreign to the system of exchange. People embroidered for personal use or for gifts for family and friends. Only much later was its commercial value discovered in local exchange and later in exports to distinct markets.

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In the mid-19th century, before embroidery arrived on the British market, it was sold door-to-door to the endless number of foreign visitors who were visiting or passing through Funchal. For a long time the local souvenir market was supplied by items sold by the embroiderers who made the embroideries themselves.

Several testimonies of foreigners who visited the island in the course of the second half of the 19th century corroborated as to the importance of this local sale of embroidery. In 1854 the house-keeper Auguste Werlich referred to the door-to-door sales, highlighting the case of Lady Harche who ordered handkerchiefs to send to Germany. The patterns had been chosen by the lady herself, from a magazine, and the work was undertaken by an embroiderer.

As early as in 1864, Rudolfo Schultze recounted that embroidery was one of the many souvenirs that were offered to visitors on their arrival at the port.

According to E. Taylor (1882) it was Miss Phelps who promoted trade with the United Kingdom from 1856. These exchanges were assured by Franck and Robert Wilkinson. Then followed the German market and merchants.

Embroidered Item of Clothing.

108

There is incomplete information about the exportation of embroidery for the first few years, and some loose facts only really arose from 1878 vouching for the amount of embroidery among the other artefacts. The predominance of embroidery became evident, while other artefacts lost importance from the following year, which showed that it was going through a crisis which would be overcome with the presence of the Germans from the eighties.

Funchal. 19th Century.

Then there is only information from 1890 indicating a change in the embroidery destination market. From 1881, the Germans began to intervene locally and at once assumed a dominant position, deviating the embroidery export route to Germany. The change was significant from 1895 and remained as such until 1911, time at which it began to decrease in importance. The English market was always very limited, never surpassing 3,5 tons, while the German market had risen above 30 tons since 1895, reaching over 50 in 1907.

In the first years of the 20th century, embroidery took on a prominent position in the exports, while wine remained the leading export.

Embroidery House Alexander I. Hamrah Co. Inc., 1920.

Vicentes Museum of Photography Archives

The First World War caused the Germans to leave, although this situation was not reflected in the exports, as would have been foreseeable.

The consequences of their exit was only felt in 1916, as the export figures show.

In 1915 income from embroidery export was only 201 contos, going down to a mere 29 contos in the following year, but this figure went up the next year to 702 contos. In 1912 there was another setback, but this one was brought about by a cholera outbreak that spread all over the island in 1911 and was responsible for the deaths of many of the embroiderers.

The facts available about exports for the war period prove precisely the opposite of what is commonly stated. The war did not cause any cri109

sis in the embroidery sector, as it still had its market guaranteed and found in the Syrian, the perfect replacement for the German market. In fact, the period was one of prosperity for embroidery and the twenties was a time of full assertion in exports. Sales that in 1906 were at 6 contos reached 100.000 contos in 1924. In 1923 embroidery occupied more than 70.000 Madeirans and its trading was handled by 100 embroidery houses which exported to North America, Canada, England and France.

Difficulties began to arise only from 1924, at the time when the Syrians began to leave the island. There was a 100.000 contos loss in exports, 30.000 being in embroidery. The crisis situation, aggravated by the New York stock market crash in 1929, had repercussions in the embroidery industry leading to unemployment for more than 30% of the labour in the sector. But the island soon recovered, even during the period of the second World War. The debate surrounding autonomy also had an effect on the crisis in the embroidery sector, establishing a direct relationship between the solution to the crisis of the sector and attribution of more autonomy.

The war directly affected some of the competing embroidery markets of Europe and the Pacific, leaving the way open for Madeira. In 1936 Madeira was still exporting embroidery to specific destinations such as 110

Detail of antique Embroidery

England, the United States of America, Australia, Canada, France, the South African Union, Brazil, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Peru, Malta, Norway and Singapore. In 1952 the island exported 259165 Kg of embroideries, predominately to the United States.

In 1956 Madeira lost the Brazil market when the town of Santos became a competitor. Many of the embroiderers and Madeirans who had been employed in the embroidery sector and emigrated to Brazil, did not stop the work that they were involved in on the island.

In the sixties, Madeira embroidery arrived at new and traditional markets such as the United States of America, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France, England, Spain, Australia and South Africa. In this decade, more precisely in the years of 1966 and 1967, there was a notable reduction in exports resulting from the internal crisis in some markets such as the United States of America and South Africa and the competition of handmade embroidery from the East and machine made embroidery from Switzerland and Hong Kong.

Even so, America was still the predominant export market until the early seventies. Italy emerged as a new market from 1967 and only managed to supplant the U.S.A. market as from 1974, taking on a dominant position in the eighties.

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Funchal Early 20th century

Funchal today.

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Portuguese Embroidery House.

Vicentes Museum of Photography Archives

Perestrellos Embroidery House.

Vicentes Museum of Photography Archives

Embroidery exports were notable in the seventies and only began to reduce from 1974, in spite of the growing embroidery business. As from the seventies, the concentration of exports was evident to five markets: Italy, the United States of America, the Federal Republic of Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain and France. The national market was still somewhat significant in embroidery sales, but never higher than a quarter of the total volume of business.

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Bomboteiros in Funchal Port.

114

Foreigners and embroidery 115

Detail of antique Embroidery

116

Antique handkerchief.

B

esides knowing information regarding trade and export, it is of interest to know how the locals and outsiders saw and valued this activity. Through tourist guides and accounts of journeys, it is possible to measure the importance of embroidery to the foreigners who visited Funchal between the mid-19th century and the early 20th century.

Reports revealed that the attentions of both nationals and foreigners were attracted. Even the Madeirans themselves were aware of the significance of Madeira embroidery, noticeable in the prose and verse which were written about it.

THE GERMANS The importance of the German embroidery market was reflected in the literature of journeys of the same origin, which draws the reader’s attention to the situation. Mrs. Auguste Werlich (1822-1892), who was in Madeira from 17 November 1854 to 4 July 1855, refers to Madeira embroidery with special prominence, stating that she considered it to be so rich and magnificent. The Madeirans were said to be excellent embroiderers in working with white thread. In 1857 Prof. Schacht presented the Madeiran women of the lower classes as indolent but distinguished in the art of 117

Detail of Tablecloth.

IVBAM Museum

embroidery, as they made fine embroideries of all sorts.

In 1864 doctor Rodolfo Schultze was impressed with the high number of ships arriving at the port of Funchal, in that the foreigners bought handcrafted works of wicker, embroidery, crochet and artificial flowers as gifts for relatives and friends. In 1909 Boedecker stated that he was amazed at the home craft industry products, highlighting especially the embroidery which was being exported by German firms. And in the next year, Meyer noted that the Madeiran girls and women dedicated their time to embroidery.

THE ENGLISH From the mid-19th century Madeira embroidery became an important reference in tourist texts and journey diaries. Even so, in 1901, Ellen M Taylor referred to the prevailing ignorance about the superior work carried out on the island by the embroiderers.

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However, this did not prevent embroidery exports from rising to 25 tons. In the same year the North American Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, stated that Madeira was famous for embroidery, the industry occupying women in both urban and country areas. Miss Phelps’ work in the promotion of embroidery from 1856 is a motive of pride for the British.

Detail of antique Embroidery.

THE PORTUGUESE The Portuguese were also attracted to the beauty of Madeira embroidery, present in the clothes that locals wore and in the separate pieces that were sold to the visitors.

In 1864, Vilhena Barbosa, in his description of the feast of Monte, drew attention to the clothes with “embroideries of bobbins or beads” and the shirts with decorative lace.

Manuel Gonçalves (1858-1927) locally known as the “feiticeiro do Norte”, dedicated one of his books to the

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Bedroom items.

View of tablecloth IVBAM

IVBAM Museum

Museum

“ Embroidery Girls”, making ridiculous presumed wealth.

Girls who have luxury Are those with the embroideries They put we poor boys Outside degraded Popular poetry, transferred from generation to generation verbally, was enriched between the late 19th Century and the early 20th century by the verses alluding to the embroidery that the women sung about while they did their needlework.

If I were a woman I would inherit A needle and two thimbles As I am a man I only inherited My parents hoes One day my fiancée will leave For some embroidery house In which there are More than twenty gossips.

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Oh, embroider Rich Daughter, embroider, embroider Oh embroider Rich Daughter, embroider well At home Rich Daughter, everyone embroiders The father embroiders and the daughter embroiders and the mother embroiders.

In 1901 embroidery was acclaimed by José Cupertino Faria to be the main source of wealth on the island: Madeira embroidery, well known abroad, a very difficult work and of unsurpassable perfection in its finishing, is one of Madeira’s main industries. Rivalling, if not exceeding in fine taste and exquisite work all the similar industries abroad, for example, the famous lace d’Alçon; and at home, the renowned embroideries of Peniche, the Madeira embroidery industry, up until recently, was limited to the work of one or another embroiderer, and has recently developed and numerous women are occupied exclusively in this area.

In 1924 Raul Brandão on a tour of the islands, reporting in The Unknown Islands, presents the work of the island embroi- Bedroom. derer: The women embroider. It is the women’s industry of the Azores and IVBAM Museum Madeira. In almost every cabin you see girls attentively bent over the threaded needle and thimbled finger. America takes everything. The dealer supplies the ladies with the stamped cloth and they buy the threads.

They earn little. But they create work habits. They are attentive and delicate. When they embroider in the countryside people are more softly spoken.

The image of embroidery is always present in the memory of the many people that had the happy occasion to visit the island or to stop-over in the port.

The image of the bomboteiros displaying their wares of embroidered tablecloths on their little boats and the delicate way their pieces are exhib121

Ladies underclothing IVBAM Museum

Embroidered item of Clothing.

ited in the embroidery houses was impressive to all who saw them.

In 1929 Alberto Mário de Sousa Costa in Ilha das Três Formosuras is an example of what has just been referred to: still I keep in my recollections the sight of all the symphony in white in the embroidery shops — symphony performed by patient hands of girls that embody in the thread the variations of foam breaking on the waves.

Between 1932 and 1933 Ferreira de Castro’s contact with the island impressed the writer such that he chose it for the background to his novel Eternidade.

In the novel, one of the characters, Álvaro, is a businessman trading in embroidery. It makes reference to Madeira embroidery and to the main people involved. There is a similar case in another text on journeys [Pequenos Mundos, os Velhos, A Civilização (1938)] which states that (…)

Madeira’s economy is based on its wines, embroidery, dairy products, tourism, bananas and on fresh produce.

There was a crisis in the Embroidery sector, however, not only due 122

to competition with other lands specialized in the same industry, but also the fact that it was no longer fashionable to decorate (...) clothing and to adapt to modern designs.

For António Montes (Terras de Portugal, 1939) what impressed him most on his visit were the gatherings of women embroidering: Of the Madeira regional industries, however, embroidery is the most notable, and precisely for this reason, it constitutes an appreciable economic factor (...).

Whoever traverses the island of Madeira will find in all the parishes, groups of women, gathered together in humble cabins, silently bent over complex, graceful embroideries which their grandmothers were taught to do in the tranquil cloisters of convents, transferred from generation to generation, up to our time, a rich souvenir for those who visit Madeira.

Luís Chaves also exalts Madeira embroidery in A Arte Popular em Portugal. Ilhas Adjacentes e Ultramar (1968): Those who disembark will be able to admire the embroideries and the lace in the shops of the city and in the market. They will come to know, if they do not know already, one of the artistic wealths of Madeiran tradition, its best advertisement of ethnographic and tourist publicity. Those who continue their journey have palpitating opportunities on the boat to admire the imagination, the dexterity and the aesthetic feeling of composition of the embroideries, abundantly displayed on the deck.

Maria Lamas, an assiduous presence in Madeira in the fifties, left us a true poem to the land of exiles in Arquipélago da Madeira Maravilha Atlântica (1956), which makes a historical reference to embroidery. In As mulheres do meu País (1948) she pays tribute to the Madeiran embroiderer: They themselves know only that they learned from their mothers and older sisters, who had the same experience from generations ago, as if embroidery was part of the essential things of her life. (...) What was therefore the primitive embroidery of the island or “Broderie Madère”, as it is known abroad? A pretty embroidery in white, almost entirely made with eyelets, in thread slightly tinged blue and of the well-known type of 123

Detail of Embroidery.

Detail of antique Embroidery. Embroidered item of Clothing.

English embroidery, that was all the rage at the beginning of the century, and that was so refreshing as the summer garments of the elegant ladies of the belle époque.

The Madeiran writer Horácio Bento de Gouveia also dedicated one of his novels about Madeira’s daily life to the life of the Embroiderer. Lágrimas Correndo Mundo (1959) can be considered a book in honour of the Madeiran embroiderer of the first half of the 20th century. Dealing closely with the difficult life of the embroiderers of Ponta Delgada lead him to conclude that the items in embroidery are tears that run around the world, transformed into wonders to our eyes made by patient hands of ignored artists.

Calvet de Magalhães, in his eminent text about Embroideries and Laces of Portugal in Bordados e Rendas de Portugal (1963), devotes much space to the secrets of the Madeira embroidery: The most well organized embroidery industry is that of the island of Madeira. At the ages of nine or ten, the little village girls are sitting at the doors of their simple hous124

Embroidered items with holographic seal 125

es, needle in hand, bent over the cloth, carrying out with expertise the easier part of the embroidery and leaving for their mothers or their grandmothers, the most difficult parts. There are 70.000 recruited workers of all ages, from the time when they begin to grow up to the pleasant old wearers of eyeglasses perched on their noses. They work a lot, heroically battling for a living.

The embroidery industry was the first undertaken in the district of Funchal. Rare is the Madeiran woman who does not know how to embroider and who does not use her free time away from her housework to earn some money in this way (...).

The famousness and importance of embroidery continued into the sixties and still attracted the attention of visitors. Once again in Lopes Oliveira (ArquipÊlago da Madeira-Epopeia Humana, 1969) the art of embroidery and of the patient work of the embroiderers is praised: Madeira embroidery goes around the world, it is found on the tables of the palaces of the great men of wealth and society, in the underwear of the ladies of high society and in the adornments of babies’ sets. A world of dreams and of beauty! Embroidery, like the foam on the waves that break on the wild clusters of rocks on the Madeira coast, is the most representative artistic message of a population devoted without noticing it, to the consummation of the ideal art. An art that was hidden for some time in the mountain folds and in the sandy soils at the seaside. The delicate hands of the Madeirans who in their spare time leave the lid on the fire, the work of the farmlands, the battle for survival, where she applies herself to the embroideries which are true wonders (...).

People of different ages, both men and women may be embroiderers. There are bodies bent over a large sheet of cloth, a tablecloth, or other simpler pieces, such as scarves and other pretty domestic decorations (...). Embroidery is the Madeiran identity of honour which has been passed down from generation to generation, becoming more and more attractive and more desirable to those who acquire it for the pleasure of their eyes and the contemplation of their soul.

126

127

Embroiderer.

Picture by Max Romer, 1925

128

Conclusion 129

Bed linen items. Bordal.

130

E

mbroidery as merchandise for export as an appreciable weight in the island’s economy is little more than a hundred and fifty years old, but it has been present in the homes of the Madeirans on the archipelago since colonial times. During this silence of over three hundred and fifty years, the Madeirans have embroidered indoors to create their trousseaus or presents to give their relatives and friends. There has been reference to the frequent presence of foreigners on the island, either passing through or on business and their evident interest in the customs revealing the daily lives of the people of Madeira and the value of their handcraft, such as the flowers, lace and embroidery.

From the 18th century onwards, there were more frequent visits by European holidaymakers and their periods of stay began to be more prolonged. Besides the adventurers and merchants, now there were scientists and, above all, the patients of consumptive pulmonary disease, who sought out the mild climate of the island in the winter season for relief from the illness.

Many well-known personalities of European society visited Funchal at the time. The customs entry registers and at times, the newspapers, recorded the presence of aristocrats, princes, writers and scientists.

131

Tablecloth. Bordal 132

These visitors, on long stays in houses and stately mansions belonging to Madeirans, unravelled the hidden secret of the handcrafts guarded indoors, falling in love with the needlework that the women did.

The news got around by word of mouth and soon embroidery left the family cocoon to be transformed into a backup to family incomes. The embroiderers took the drawings of the pieces they had inherited out of their chests, and transformed them into real works of art, which they sold to foreigners on their arrival at the port or from door to door at the houses and stately mansions where they were accommodated. The famousness of the needlework of the Madeirans charmed aristocrats and the European bourgeois alike, and soon was seen as an added value to business. By the effort of a woman known as Miss Phelps, embroidery came to do well on the British market. It was not this young British lady who discovered or created Madeira embroidery from 1856. She was responsible for promoting embroidery on the London market and the fact that she had sought to adapt embroidery patterns to the taste of clients.

The Funchal of the mid-18th century was a cosmopolitan city. On its streets met citizens of various nationalities, generally British and German.

The dispute between the two powers for the dominion of the Atlantic also involved Madeira. Up to that time the British had almost entirely dominated the Madeiran market, which it began to lose with the independence of the United States of America.

The Germans came in from 1880 and began to intervene directly in the production and sale of embroidery. Its entrance was the stylish elegance required for the complete renewal and assertion of Madeira embroidery not only on the German market, but also on the American market.

The Germans introduced the most significant technological innovations into the sector and completely altered the process of embroidery production.

The embroiderer came to take on exclusively the function of embroidery and the cloths, the threads and the drawings became imposed by the manufacturer. This change implied the appearance of new participants in 133

Embroidery items. Bordal Embroiderer.

the process and the assertion of the imposing embroidery houses in the city. Old wine companies and even some hotels changed tenants and functions. From the last quarter of the nineteen century, embroidery became one of the main sources of wealth, while wine had become the agonized victim of the blight and phylloxera.

With the 19th century began the golden era of Madeira embroidery.

Only world conflicts and competition with other areas placed this hope of the Madeirans at risk. The First World War scared away the Germans but brought in the Syrians who contributed, even if only for a short time, to the reinforcement of the North American market. The difficulties of the twenties scared away the Syrians, but did not put an end to embroidery.

This was the beginning of the return of embroidery to the hands of the Madeirans.

Madeira embroidery, faced with the evident difficulties of a limited and demanding market, did not agonize over this, but rather knew how to overcome its difficulties, diversifying the markets and adjusting itself to the demands of its clients. Innovation has always been present in the history

134

Detail of Embroider

of embroidery as from the eighties. This situation has continued up to the present and the new technologies and design have become part of the tradition of embroidery in the new millennium. In the whole process the work of the designer, who traces the floral motifs and their composition in an exquisite way, as well as the embroiderer, with her fairy-like hands were fundamental in giving the items shape and prominence.

History registers two products that in the past just like today, are the trademark of the archipelago. Madeira is identified by the wine and embroidery that it produces and that are known worldwide. They were, and continue to be, products of significant economic interest for Madeira.

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Tablecloths Bordal