Biography

Mary Linwood was born in Birmingham, England in 1755 to Hannah and Matthew Linwood. Her father was a wine merchant but unfortunately went bankrupt which led to the moving of the family to Leicester in 1764. Her father died young and her mother Hannah decided to open a private boarding school for girls. Mary later started embroidering and created her first picture when she was 13 years old. By the time she was 20 years old, she had decided she would make a career out of her needlework, specializing in the technique of needle painting, where she would recreate oil paintings and other works like landscapes copied in embroidery.
Embroidery was a common skill for a lot of women to have because they had the time and items to create or fix their clothes and home materials. These types of skills could progress to more decorative pieces where they could be displayed (“Embroiders of the 18th century”). Because of the growth in trade with China at the time, there was an influence on objects of nature such as birds and flowers (“Embroidery History”). Embroidery is also a social pastime where upper class ladies could sit in a room and chat while they worked.
Linwood specialized in worsted or crewel embroidery. This specific type has been used for over a thousand years. It is used mainly with wool thread that was popular in the 17th and 18th centuries (“Crewel Embroidery”). What makes this technique interesting is how it varies from going in and out of style because it is not like canvas work where you have to count the threads but more of a free style of embroidery. It was practiced from the higher class systems like catering for kings to girls buying patterns for handkerchiefs or aprons.
She became really famous through her needlework, especially in the way she was different compared to the traditional embroidery trend. When people would come by and see her work they would be surprised at how much the embroidery looked like a painting. Another difference between her work and tapestries was the way she embroidered. The trend at the time was working behind a shuttle whereas Linwood worked only with the needle and from the front. Her stitches ranged in lengths and would use silk in order to make highlights in her needlework.
By the time she was 31, Linwood had been scouted by many royal and high ranking officials in regards to her work, one of the biggest fans being Queen Charlotte. Linwood opened an exhibition for her needlework at The Pantheon, Oxford Street and later had them portrayed at the exhibition of the Society of Artists from 1776-1778. When her reputation led to royalty she got to show her needlework at Windsor Castle in 1785 by George III.The next year Linwood sent pieces to the Society for the Encouragement of Arts where she was given a medal which led to one of her pieces being sent to the Empress of Russia when asked (Walton). Another one of her bigger fans was the King of Poland and was even supported by Napoleon Bonaparte who awarded her the Freedom of Paris in 1825 for needling a portrait of him (Artseer). One of her most famous pieces, the Salvator Mundi piece originally painted by Carlo Dolci, was offered 3000 guineas but had declined the offer and later gave it to Queen Victoria in her will.
Linwood wanted to preserve her collection when she drew closer to her death, but unfortunately her style of needling fell out of style, so when she went to the British Museum and asked if they would take and hold her collection in a proper room to be displayed, they refused. The museum felt they would deteriorate through the years and believed they wouldn’t survive and be recognized in what is today known as history in addition to a lack of national character.
Mary Linwood took over the school after her mother died in 1805 and continued to run it in addition to working on her art (“A Legacy”). Around 1844, her health started to deteriorate thus hindering her ability to continue her work, yet she still showed her collection until she died. Her last piece was finished by the time she was 75 years old, and later died of the flu just before turning 90 in 1845 unmarried and with no children (“A Legacy”). She was buried in Leicester in the same place where her parents were buried (Murden).
In the 19th century, embroidery was falling out of style in terms of the work being an art and this was because of the rise in machine production and items being sold in the masses. In addition, there was not a lot of time for women to partake in making crafts at home (“Embroidery History”). Articles of clothing like costumes and aprons were not as elaborate as they used to be because they could be made with machines rather than completely by hand.
In 1849, her pieces ended up being sold in an auction by Christie and Mason where the works were sold for less than £1000 despite having one of her pieces being sold for more than the original painting when she was alive. In addition, her work made one of the original artists, Gainsborough, become famous through his painting and her needlework, the Woodman. Gainsborough had died in 1788, but his painting was bought by the 1st Earl of Gainsborough, Charles Noel and Linwood had borrowed the Woodman for three years so she could recreate it. Sadly, the Earl’s house had caught fire and the painting was destroyed, making Linwood’s Woodman one of the three copies that ended up furthering the popularity of Gainsborough’s art (Walton).
Mary Linwood was eminent because of her technique in needlework. She appeared to make the most out of what she was making and ended up making a name for herself. She stepped in as a teacher and headmistress for her mother’s school after she had passed away while creating her artwork at the same time. Following her father’s bankruptcy, she was able to make a comfortable living and provide numerous pieces for others to enjoy until her death. Yet her work transcends this as we are able to still acknowledge and appreciate the artwork today.

Works Cited
“A Legacy of Needlework – Part Three – Mary Linwood.” NumberOneLondon, 2019, http://numberonelondon.net/2019/01/a-legacy-of-needlework-part-three-mary-linwood/.
“Crewel Embroidery.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Sept. 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crewel_embroidery.
“Embroiderers of the 18th Century; Who Were They?” The Costume Society, https://costumesociety.org.uk/blog/post/embroiderers-of-the-18th-century-who-were-they.
“Embroidery History - Sixteenth to Nineteenth Century.” Needlework Tips and Techniques, https://www.needlework-tips-and-techniques.com/embroidery-history.html.
“Mary Linwood.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Aug. 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Linwood.
Artseer. “Straw Men and Quilts – British Folk Art, Tate Britain.” Artseer, 12 June 2014, https://artseer.wordpress.com/2014/06/12/british-folk-art-tate-review-feature/.
Murden, Sarah. “Mary Linwood (18th July 1755- 2nd March 1845) – Needlework Artist.” All Things Georgian, 28 May 2019, https://georgianera.wordpress.com/2019/05/28/mary-linwood-18th-july-1755-2nd-march-1845-needlework-artist/.
Walton, Geri. “Mary Linwood and the Linwood Collection.” Geri Walton: Unique Histories from the 18th and 19th Centuries, 3 August 2015, https://www.geriwalton.com/mary-linwood-and-linwood-collection/.