18th Century Knotting

From the Letters from Mrs. Delany (a letter to Mrs. Frances Hamilton, October 10, 1783):

The King, with his usual graciousness, came up to me, and brought me forward, and I found the Queen very busy in showing a very elegant machine to the Duchess of Portland, which was a frame for weaving of fringe, a new and most delicate structure, and would take up as much paper as has already been written upon to describe it minutely, yet it is of such simplicity as to be very useful. You will easily imagine the grateful feeling I had when the Queen presented it to me, to make up some knotted fringe which she saw me about. The King, at the same time, said he must contribute something to my work, and presented me with a gold knotting shuttle, of most exquisite workmanship and taste; and I am at this time, while I am dictating the letter, knotting white silk, to fringe the bag which is to contain it.

She also references knotting for chairs in her Autobiography & Correspondence; see Tatting Myths Dispelled for photos of the knotting on Mrs. Delany’s chairs.

Several of the workbags & purses may also have knotted fringe and/or tassels.

• CW 1967-699,1, England, c. 1730; “Valance or bed furnishing textile of yellow (Munsell 5Y 7/6) silk satin with design of knotted and couched red wool threads stitched through innerlining of damask linen; couching done with red wool and coral silk thread.”
• The V&A has some examples of knotting from the second half of the 18th century, including several balls of knotted silk (T.353C-1965, T.353D-1965, T.353E-1965, T.353G-1965), some tassels (T.353B-1965), and some fringe (T.353-1965). The captions also feature a remark on the custom of knotting: “The Comtesse de Genlis, in her Dictionary of Court Etiquette, maintained that knotting had no other purpose than to enable a woman to appear composed when in company.”

Knotting shuttles

• V&A 560-1907, a pierced steel knotting shuttle, Woodstock, c. 1770-1790
• Fine & Mint 2699, knotting shuttle made of cut-out steel, France
• Elegant Arts M422, a pierced steel knotting shuttle, c. 1790
• Elegant Arts M302, a carved ivory knotting shuttle, c. 1790
• Inlaid shell knotting shuttle, England, c. 1790

Portraiture and depictions of knotting

• Lucy, Duchess of Montrose by Benjamin Vandergucht, 1793, after an Andrea Soldi portrait c. 1740
• Portrait of a lady by Arthur Devis, c. 1750-1751
• Madame Dange by Louis Tocque, 1753
• Princess Marie Adelaïde de France by Jean-Marc Nattier, 1756
• Madame Gougenot de Croissy by Jean Baptiste Greuze, 1757
• Anne, 2nd Countess of Albemarle by Sir Joshua Reynolds, c. 1760
• Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria, the later Queen Marie Antoinette of France, at the age of 7 years by Jean-Etienne Liotard, 1762
• Elizabeth de la Vallee de la Roche by Michel-Pierre Hubert Descours, 1771
• Detail from a family group by Francis Wheatley, c. 1775-1780
• Queen Charlotte with Charlotte, Princess Royal, by Benjamin West, 1776
• Mrs. Seymour Fort by John Singleton Copley, 1778
• Clara Maria Pope (also here) by Francis Wheatley, c. 1780
• Mrs. Pearce by Francis Wheatley, 1786
• The Rookes-Leeds Family by Arthur Devis