Help Please - Identify age details of old needlepoint / tapestry piece

Hello,
I am currently sorting through two family deceased estates trying to decide what to keep and what to sell and this item caught my attention and needs more information if possible.

I know the frame is pre 2000 as the framing place closed down then. Most of the framed pieces are pre 1988 (dated prints) and were framed either in England (the oldest frames) or Australia. This one stands out as really odd because they cut 1914 into the back of the frame.

I don't have the skills to pull it apart and put it back together without damaging it but I am curious if such a thing might really be over a hundred years old. It looks like it was stitched with woollen thread but my knowledge is lacking of such things beyond a grandmother on the other side of the family used to do similar smaller projects with wool when I was very small.

Any help or information would be greatly appreciated. Also I apologise if I format this incorrectly as I am not particularly tech savvy and am trying to figure this out as I go.

Thanks in advance,

Renee Nicole

 

Yes to needlepoint, no to tapestry.
Colors make me think mid-20th century but see what others have to say.
That frame doesn't look 100 years old to me...
What part of the world are you in? Here in the Midwest USA, it might sell for $25 on my local Facebook marketplace, if a buyer could even be found... foxhunting scenes aren't all that popular, LOL. That said, I grew up in suburban Detroit with an English mother and a foxhunting print above our living room couch.

 

These types of needlepoint pieces were typically done from kits with canvases pre-printed with the design. Think 1914 a little early for both work and frame. Carefully done and in very good condition but I'd think value largely sentimental.

Debora

 

I should add that hunt scenes were once a very popular subject for needlepoint pieces. If you do a Google Images search many examples of similar will come up. Here's an example for one that is unworked, i.e. canvas only.

Debora

 

Thanks. I am in Australia - I didn't think it would be 1914 but I did think it odd that someone took the time to scratch that into the back of the frame when they wrote on the back of everything else.

 

Thanks Only reason I asked was I thought it very odd that they took the time to scratch 1914 into the back of the frame when everything else has the information written on the back.

 

That is odd, isn't it.

Debora

 

Maybe something else was in the frame originally. Or is underneath.

 

IMO your needlepoint could be from 1914. Perhaps it was reframed at some point and the framer scratched the original date into the back? Needlepoint colors can vary dramatically depending on storage conditions, light exposure, etc...

Here's a fantastic 19th century needlepoint with provenance. A tapestry picture | Mallams Auctioneers While the blues had faded a bit, most of the colors held up well.

 

to me it looks too clean to be that old...

 

Recommend OP check to see if the canvas itself is printed or is plain. If the piece was framed in the UK, there is a chance it's an antique. Needlepoint has been around for hundreds of years, especially in the UK and Europe. Needlepoint - Wikipedia

I pulled apart a couple of the frames holding the British needlepoints in my recent thread and although the pictures are vibrant, they all appear quite old (3/5 130yrs+). I don't believe it's possible to determine the age of a particular needlepoint just by the vibrancy of its colors.

P.S. I've been stunned by the quality and execution of some antique needlepoints. It's a shame that many sell for so little.

 

just by the vibrancy of its colors.....

I didn't mention it's pretty colours....!

I said clean....as in a lack of visible atmospheric pollutants between the stitches that I would expect to see on a 100 year old plus fabric , displayed on the wall in a home..!

 

I was just referring to the appearance of the picture in general (whether affected by grime, sunlight, etc.). Not implying anything else.

OP indicates the needlepoint was perhaps framed in the 70s or 80s. I can't see any glazing now but maybe it was stored or glazed in a previous frame. Maybe it was cleaned in the 70s or 80s when it was framed. Maybe its been stored in a closet the past 4 decades. Maybe the previous owner vacuumed it every few years. Who knows?

If glazed and kept out of sunlight, needlepoints can endure!

P.S. needlepoints are occasionally referred to as "tapestries" in the UK.

 

& maybe, it's just not that old !

 

Another possibility is that whoever scratched the 1914 was told by somebody else that it was from 1914, and just went with that.