Raised work is decoration that stands proud of the surface it is applied to, giving a three-dimensional effect. In antiques the term is most closely associated with English embroidery of the seventeenth century, in which figures, flowers and animals were padded, wired and built up in relief; the same technique is now commonly called stumpwork, a name that only came into use in the nineteenth century.
Raised work embroidery reached its height in England between about 1650 and 1690, when young girls from well-to-do families completed elaborate pictures, mirror frames and caskets as the culmination of their needlework education. Typical designs show biblical or allegorical scenes, kings and queens in costume, caterpillars, butterflies, castles and fountains, worked in silk and metal threads with seed pearls, mica and padded satin. The term is also applied to other forms of relief decoration, such as raised gilding on porcelain and raised lacquer. Because these embroideries are fragile and light sensitive, collectors look for bright original colours, intact padding and minimal moth or water damage. Well-preserved pieces with their original frames or casket mounts are rare and should be handled and conserved with great care.
