Ninya Mikhaila recreates Elizabeth's "painted petticoat" gown

[gem]

I'm not sure how I found this blogger (tho' evidently I subscribed to her), but she recently posted about portraying Queen Elizabeth at Hampton Court in 2003, in a gown by Ninya Mikhaila (Tudor Tailor), recreating the epic Nicholas Hillard portrait with the painted petticoat: http://tudorwoman.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/being-bess/ and http://tudorwoman.wordpress.com/2013/12/03/being-bess-part-2/



There are only a couple of photos, with the better one in Part II, but I thought it would interest the RF.com garbers, nonetheless! It's a neat find; I don't recall seeing this among Mikhaila's work before. 

[mollymishap]

Oh, thanks for the link, Gem! 

IIRC we had a discussion about painted vs. embroidered...maybe it was on the old board...and someone had posted a link to that dress which I thought I kept, but couldn't find it when I was looking for it a while back.   

I also think I remember an article by Ninya herself (or where she was interviewed) where she talked about the research for that gown.  Maybe someone else has it bookmarked & can share?

[gem]

I remember the conversation, but not the supporting evidence. The links posted above say that Mikhaila examined the portrait and believes it to be painted. My personal feeling (as a needlewoman) is that it looks much more like paint (or printing) than any sort of needlework embellishment to the fabric.  I have Anna Reynolds's beautiful new book In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stewart Fashion, and have grabbed it to see if she mentions this painting. It's in the royal collections, and that's where Stewart works as Curator of Paintings, so if it's *not* mentioned, it's a gross oversight. 

Egad! It's not in there!! How bizarre. At any rate, Hilliard was *very* accomplished at depicting the details of textiles in paint (there are closeups of his reticella--showing the heavy application of white paint for texture--blackwork, beading, etc, and they are about as photo-realistic as you could want a painter to achieve), so I would expect that the details of Elizabeth's skirt are very easy to see in an in-person examination of the painting. Likewise, there may well be other records of this gown to draw from.

As an aside, despite the glaring shortcoming of this painting , I can't recommend Reynolds's book highly enough. Like all her books, it's magnificent. There's an entire chapter that just lavishes over the process and technique of rendering clothing details in paint. *Gorgeous.*

[gem]

A little more info... found this blogger, who is also an accomplished embroiderer, who has made a painted silk forepart inspired by the Hilliard gown.  She references Santina Levey's 1998 survey of the Hardwicke Hall textiles as a source for information that the original was painted and not embroidered. She also includes other information and resources regarding painted silk and linen textiles in the era.

[mollymishap]

There is (or was) another costumer that was working on a painted forepart, but I'm not finding it in my links.  Something about the way the creatures were depicted seemed to indicate that Hilliard may have used some license in the placement/portrayal of the creatures...like if the middle or head of the creature were hidden in a fold, he went ahead and drew it/placed it in such a way that showed the animal to better effect...though still with the meticulous eye that you've already commented on, Gem. 

I wish I could find it...I remember this as being some 5-6 years ago and if that's the case, the links may be in my old computer, not this laptop.  I remember also finding what seemed to be the source--an engraving--of all sorts of creatures that look amazingly like the ones in the Queen's forepart, though naturally in black & white.

It's going to take some rummaging through old files to see if I still have the links, but I'll see what I can do.

OH!  And good find on that blogger; that's one I hadn't seen before!

ETA:  I found the website I was looking for!  You've probably seen it before, but here's the link to it: http://www.naergilien.info/my-costumes/elizabethan/hardwick-portrait-gown/analysis/  and the costumer is now offering reproduction fabrics based on historical garments here: http://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/1700866.  Very cool!

[Rowan MacD]

Oh, thanks for the link, Gem! 

IIRC we had a discussion about painted vs. embroidered...maybe it was on the old board...and someone had posted a link to that dress which I thought I kept, but couldn't find it when I was looking for it a while back.   

I also think I remember an article by Ninya herself (or where she was interviewed) where she talked about the research for that gown.  Maybe someone else has it bookmarked & can share?

I think the question on the original topic was whether or not a painted forepart was period...
  Found it!

http://www.renaissancefestival.com/forums/index.php/topic,83.msg132704.html#msg132704

[gem]

Good find, Rowen!  And if Kate will join our discussion, perhaps she has more details on what she said in that thread?

Not really adding anything to the "embroidered VS painted" pondering... But have y'all seen this recreation by Ninya Mikhaila?

http://www.kissthefrog.co.uk/queen.html

She/her workshop went for a painted front, and it looks quite awesome.

I kept the National Trust magazine article about this being made a few years back.  Ninya's research did seem to point towards it having been painted.  Must look out the details...

[Kate XXXXXX]

No.  Haven't found out any more.  Sorry.