Sketches of Miss Linwood

Biography and Obituary

The Lady’s Monthly Museum October 1817 at 181-184

        This lady is of a respectable family, who, for some ages, resided in Northamptonshire: she was born in Warwickshire; and has from her infancy, dwelt with her mother the proprietor of an eminent ladies’ boarding school in Leicestershire, which she conducted for three succeeding generations with great credit. Since her decease, Miss Linwood has continued the same approved establishment principally for the benefit of a family of orphan nieces; and this praise-worthy conduct, her numerous charities to the poor, and the general benevolence of her disposition, have procured her the respect and esteem of the chief inhabitants of that town and neighbourhood.

        Independent of the reputation Miss Linwood has acquired by her matchless works of art, she is distinguished by strong intellectual powers, unaffected manners, and correct conduct; and may very fairly be said to be the boast and ornament of her sex.

        Miss Linwood confirms the truth of the assertion, that, most of those who have excelled in any art or science, receive the bent, or inclination of their minds from accidental or trifling circumstances. In the year 1782 a friend sent her a large collection of engravings, in the various styles of stroke, mezzotinto, &c, which were left with no other view than that of affording her a few days’ amusement. Inspecting them with the eye of genius, she conceived that the force of engraving might be united with the softness of mezzotinto; and unacquainted with the use of aqua-fortis in etching, a stranger to the mode of scraping in mezzotinto, and totally ignorant of the art of engraving in stroke, she had no instrument but her needle wherewith to make the experiment; and with that she endeavoured to realize her first idea by copying such prints as struck her attention with rovings of black and puce coloured silk upon white sarsnet; and succeeded beyond her most sanguine expectations.

        The applause bestowed on her first performance, induced her to make copies of a larger size; and one of these was presented as a specimen to the Empress of Russia, in October 1783, by General Landskoy; her Imperial Majesty expressed the highest admiration of the performance, said it was an exquisite work, and in that branch of art unquestionably the finest in the world. The death of the General prevented the artist from receiving the reward due to her ingenuity; but the picture holds the station it deserves, and is conspicuously placed in the Emperor’s palace.

        Miss Linwood’s first attempt to imitate paintings was in the year 1785; and she so far succeeded, that in 1786 she submitted to the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, &c. The St. Peter, from Guido; the Head of Lear, from Sir Joshua Reyolds; and a Hare from the Houghton Collection. For this the society voted her a medal, on which is engraved between two branches of laurel, “Excellent Imitations of Pictures in Needle Work.”

        From that period to 1789 she made great additions to her collection, and in that year copied the Salvator Mundi, from a picture by Guido, in the collection of the Earl of Exeter, for which admirable production, it is said, she was once offered the immense sum of three thousand guineas.

        Miss Linwood had the honour of presenting the united corps of cavalry and yeomanry of Leicestershire with the first banner that was offered to any association during the late revolutionary war; it was wrought from a well conceived composition of her own, and finished with a neatness that is rarely united with so much force.

        Miss Linwood’s skill is the more extraordinary, as it is confidently said that she never received any regular instructions in drawing; she, however has uncommon merit in crayons, distemper, and colours; draws with accuracy, taste and spirit; and in her paintings at the Leicster ball-rooms &c., the perspective was accurately correct.

        The law of the Royal Academy, which rejects copies of all kinds, and every thing wrought by the needle, obliged Miss Linwood to make a separate exhibition of her works;  but, though contrary to the rules of that institution to exhibit them in their rooms, the President of the Royal Academy at the time, his successor since, and indeed almost every other artist of eminence in the kingdom, including the late Sir Joshua Reynolds, have expressed their high approbation of her works; the latter even pointed out which of his own pictures would have the best effect in her worsted copies.

        Miss Linwood’s admirable collection has since been greatly increased and enriched; among the most striking of these pieces, we notice, The Woodman in a Storm; The Shepherd’s Boy, from the late inimitable Gainsborough, as well as Lady Jane Grey; Ephraim and Manasseh from Northcote.

        The first year of Miss Linwood’s exhibition in Hanover Square was attended by 40,000 visitors; and with a proportionate number in the following years. It was afterwards removed, with extraordinary success, to Liverpool, Edinburgh, and Dublin. There is now a permanent exhibition of her works in the metropolis, in a large and elegant suite of rooms built on purpose in Leicester-square.

        The great praise of Miss Linwood is that she has revived and brought to a perfection hitherto unknown, an art that gave rise to painting; and was nearly lost among the fair sex; and that, in her hands, has been rendered a formidable rival of the pencil, giving to the picture an inconceivable splendour, richness, and magnificence of effect; and making all former attempts appear mean and insignificant. In the first rude samples, we see the Lord’s Prayer, or the Ten Commandments, surmounted by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, or Daniel in the Den of Lions, which, in massy Gothic frames, were wont to decorate the walls of our ancient castles. Among the first curious pieces of needle-work wrought in England, were a suit of chair-bottoms, worked by and under the direction of Queen Mary, consisting of some heavy trophies in honour of her husband. In the beginning of the present reign, the wife of Worlidge the painter, copied some prints in needlework, which, though dry and feeble, excited considerable attention. About thirty-eight years ago, several orphan daughters of clergymen patronized and protected by her Majesty, under the direction of Mrs. Wright, wrought in needle-work some bed furniture and other pieces which were executed with singular taste and elegance. The establishment is still continued. Her Majesty allows 500 pounds per annum for the education of five orphan daughters of clergymen. From the many names that might be added, we select Mrs. Knowles, widow of the late Dr. Knowles, the quaker, whose fruit-pieces had quite the appearance of nature.

        But nothing, of either ancient or modern date, will bear any comparison with Miss Linwood’s performances; who has pre-eminently distinguished herself by producing an entire collection of works, which, from its magnitude and excellence, surpasses every former effort; and is a monument to genius, industry, and perseverance that ought, if it does not, eternalize her name.

Obituary of Miss Linwood

The Gentleman’s Magazine, May 1845 at 555-557

        March 2. At her residence, Belgrave Gate, Leicester, in the 90th year of her age, Miss Linwood.

        The name of this distinguished lady is too intimately associated with the fine arts to need any elaborate comment. Her works, which for upwards of forty years have formed one of the most interesting exhibitions of the metropolis, consist, as is well known, of copies from the paintings of the best masters, wrought in worsted after so unique and exquisite a manner, that it is absolutely impossible for the eye to detect the fact that it is gazing upon the production of the needle, and not of the pencil. They differ from the famous Gobeline tapestry, in as much as the latter is produced by the mechanical operation of the shuttle, the artist working from behind, whilst the pictures of Miss Linwood were worked entirely with the needle; the embroideress standing before the canvas and contemplating the work with the eye of a painter, as each part was gradually brought out and developed in the manner most calculated to produce the required effect. Some idea of the delicacy of the performance may be obtained from the circumstance that in the working of the human eye many thousand stitches are introduced. The entire collection consists of nearly one hundred pictures: the largest of these, “The Judgment upon Cain,” was completed in Miss Linwood’s 75th year. The gem of the whole is probably the “Salvador Mundi,” worked by her when staying at Burghley, from the original by Carlo Dolce, in the possession of the Earl of Exeter. From this exquisite picture she refused the offer of 3000 guineas. By her will she has left it to Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria, to whom it will, we understand, have been presented in due form before these remarks will have been committed to the press.

        Miss Linwood’s exhibition was first opened at the Hanover Square Rooms in the year 1798. In 1804 her works were exhibited in Edinburgh, and during the five subsequent years at Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin, Limerick, and Cork. In March 1809, they were transferred to her present rooms in Leicester Square, where they have since continued. A vexatious Chancery suite respecting these rooms was commenced in the year 1818 against Broom et al. to which Miss Linwood was made a party. Concerning this suit, which still continues, it may be sufficient to quote the words of Judge Best, who heard it in 1824, for the then Master of the Rolls and emphatically said that “Miss Linwood had been very improperly mixed up in it.” In another hearing last autumn, which was given in Miss Linwood’s favour, the judge expressed his surprise that any barrister could be found to bring the matter before him.

        It was always the earnest wish of Miss Linwood that her collection should be preserved entire. With a view to this, she offered them, first, to the British Museum, on condition of a proper room being appropriated to their reception; and, afterwards, to decorate one of the apartments belonging to the House of Lords. Both offers were with much courtesy declined by the authorities; by the former on the ground of the pictures, from the nature of the work, being liable to decay; and the latter as not being of a sufficiently historical and national character to be suits for such a purpose. Miss Linwood, however, never laid aside the wish that this might be accomplished; and has for many years kept the exhibition open at a considerable annual loss in the hope that it might be affected after her death.

        Miss Linwood was not destined to be one of those whose labours are not appreciated until the grave has closed over their remains. Indeed, few persons can have received more marked honours than attended her during the whole of her protracted life. When in Paris she had a long interview with Napoleon in the presence of Tallyrand and others; the honour of a public presentation was declined by her out of delicacy to her own sovereign. A specimen of her art, which she then presented for inspection, was so exceedingly admired, that a negotiation was immediately opened for her works to be exhibited in the French capital. When, however, they were about to be sent, it was pointed out to her, that in the letters of Tallyrand no mention was made of their return, and it being thought that this was never intended by the artful diplomatist and the war again breaking out between the two countries, the scheme was abandoned. In the year 1783 she had the honour, through General Landskoy, to present one of her performances to the Empress of Russia: this is, we believe, now in the imperial apartment at St. Petersburg. From our own Royal Family Miss Linwood also received the most flattering attention; and on one occasion spent several days in the palace by the express invitation of Her Majesty Queen Charlotte, who visited her exhibition both in Hanover and Leicester Squares.

        But whilst the works of Miss Linwood must for ever hold a permanent place among the triumph of unaided genius, she has left behind her a still nobler monument to her fame, the memory of her virtues, and of her numerous acts of dis-interested beneficence. She was one of whom it might be truly said, “when the ear heard her then it blessed her; and when the eye saw her, it gave witness to her.” In her the poor have lost a benefactress; her friends a faithful and affectionate counsellor, and unassuming merit a kind and encouraging patroness. To her own personal ease and comfort she was utterly indifferent; but what she denied herself, furnished the means of her bounty and charity to others. Her religious character was of that order which prefers to exhibit itself in acts rather than evaporate in words. She was sincerely attached to the faith of her fathers in the communion of the English church; and,  as her life was exemplary, so were her opinions orthodox.

        Although a woman of powerful intellect, Miss Linwood was not what may be strictly termed a literary character; her genius led her chiefly into a more original channel. But in whatever else she did, her superiority was abundantly conspicuous. With a perseverance the most untiring, she combined a most clear and penetrating judgment on whatever subject she chose to call into exercise. Her energy of character amounted at times even to impetuosity; in vindicating a right or in redressing a wrong she needed no other support than her sense of the justice of her cause and her own inflexible resolution. During the tedious law-suit, in which, as we have stated, she became involved for the last 25 years of her life she frequently excited the astonishment of those who were witnesses of her conduct under the most harassing and perplexing circumstances. In person, she was singularly prepossessing, and of a graceful and dignified carriage; of this she retained evident traces even to the latest period of her life.

        The family of Miss Linwood is of ancient standing. One of her ancestors, William Lyndewode or Linwood (as it is variously spelt in the old editions), author of the celebrated work called “Provinciale’ was Bishop of St. David’s in the early part of the 15th century. Miss Linwood herself was born in Birmingham in the year 1755. Of this place her maternal grandfather, John Turner, a friend and correspondent of the famous Jonas Hanway, was “Constable” in the time of the Rebellion and was a great benefactor to the town. His family is now extinct. On the paternal side her ancestors had resided since the beginning of the 17th century at Cogenhoe, in Northamptonshire, where many of the family lay interred in the chancel of the church. Miss Linwood was removed to Leicester, at the early age of six years, and here she continued until the period of her decease.

        She was seized in the course of last summer with a slight attack of paralysis on her return from her annual visit to Leicester Square whilst staying with her brother William Linwood, Esq. of Enfield. From this she recovered sufficiently to be removed in an invalid carriage to her own residence on the 27th of September following. She gradually declined and tranquilly breathed her last at the advanced age above mentioned. The exhibition of her work remains open for a limited period, until a suitable plan for their disposal shall be determined on by her executors.

Final Disposition of Miss Linwood’s Exhibition Items

        Though it was Miss Linwood’s desire that the items from her Exhibition remain together we are informed in an article which appeared in The Domestic Journal and Home Miscellany of Instruction and Amusement for December 1, 1849  (page 340)  that:

        “After forming, for forty seven years, one of the most attractive exhibitions of the metropolis, Miss Linwood’s collection was dispersed, in April 1846, by auction of Messrs. Christie and Manson, at the Gallery, in Leicester-square. There were fifty-eight pictures in needlework and three in oils, which were sold in as many lots. We have but space to enumerate a few of the prices: Jepthah's Rash Vow (Opie), 16 guineas; Shepherd Boy (Gainsborough) £17 6s. 6d.; and the Ass and Children (Gainsborough), £23 2s. The Farmer’s Stable, after Morland, brought £32l 11s.; and the Judgement upon Cain, which occupied ten years in working, £64 1s. A Woodman in a Storm by Gainsborough, brought £33 1s. 6d; and Cottage Children, from the same artist, 15 guineas.  . . .

        The purchasers were mostly dealers, of whom bought to the extent of £500.

Miss Linwood’s Exhibition Gallery

The Gentleman’s Magazine March 1809 at 251-252

Miss Linwood Re-Opens her Gallery

        March 14. This day Miss Linwood, under the patronage of Her Majesty and the Royal Family, again (after a lapse of six years) re-opened her Exhibition of Pictures in Needle-work, at Saville-house, Leicester-square, with an addition of several interesting pieces never before exhibited. The taste she has displayed, with the novelty of execution, added to the grandeur of effect, renders her Exhibition a most engaging place of public recreation. As there are many of our Readers who may not have the opportunity of gratifying themselves with this almost unparalleled Exhibition, we shall endeavour to lay before them, for the present, a brief description of the place; and hope some of our favoured Correspondents may hereafter take up the pen to give the pieces that justice we consider out of our power. On entering the Gallery, in extent above 90 feet, the eye has for a moment lost what is the object to be admired. At the extreme end, in a recess, is a superb Canopy and Chaise Lounge, with Furniture of blue and cream-coloured real French Lustring, fitted up, after the style of the noted Bed of Madame Recamier. Round the room at the top, is a continued Drapery, in scarlet broad cloth, of above 222 feet, of the Roman Banner displayed: ornamented at the bottom with a deep richly water-gilt metallic fringe, made from the pattern Miss Linwood brought herself from Paris, and of which she holds the copy-right. The walls and piers are likewise covered with scarlet broad cloth, in the Boudoir style, fringed as above, touching the plinth in a straight line. The windows are occupied with plain curtains, and seats having richly carved x fronts, finished in matt and burnished gold. The glasses, which are rather too small, are arranged after the French taste, with a peculiar degree of novelty, representing, as it were, holes in the wall. The inside of the Stable, viewed in the chimney-glass, has an uncommon effect. Opposite to the windows is the side of the Picture, covered with one entire piece of cloth, containing 2160 square feet, which adds great dignity to the appearance; though we suppose, ere long, it will be entirely covered with Pictures.

        After contemplating the superior powers of the Needle in this costly room, we retire to a Cloister on the left, in a place next to enchantment. Leaving the mouldering ruins on the right hand, we presently find ourselves in a Castle, looking at the melancholy situation of Lady Jane Grey, in her last prayer. A little farther, and the mind is diverted with the innocence of Children by the Cottage-fire. Out of the walls of the Castle we see the Woodman and his Dog taking shelter from the Storm; most exquisite! The scenery around it is beautiful! But beware! Two steps farther and we enter the Dens. The Tiger, the Lions, and Lioness, are too well known to require comment; but their situations here are almost inconceivable. We now return into a small room, elegantly appropriated for the purpose, and adjoining the Gallery, to see a chef d’oeuvre of her performance; the walls richly fluted in scarlet cloth, with a continuation of an entwined drapery round the top, all fringed with Miss Linwood’s fringe. In the centre is a moveable Canopy, with drapery; and at the back is fixed the sublime piece of our Savior at the last Supper; with the device of the Crown of Thorns, Reed and Spear; and immortal Glory upheld by Cherubim over His head. Here could we contemplate, not till worldly concerns called us aside, but almost until Immortality pronounced Eternity.

Description of a Visit to Miss Linwood’s Gallery

The Life and Letters of Mary Russel Mitford Told by Herself in Letters (Vol. 1) at 67-68 (1870). Ed. Rev. A.G.K. L’Estrange

To MRS. MITFORD, Bertram House.

Hans Place, May 20, 1809

        . . . .

We went yesterday to Miss Linwood’s and the panorama. I was much pleased with both but most with the latter, which is a most admirable representation of Grand Cairo, taken from drawings brought by Lord Valentia. The windings of the Nile and the perspective is so admirable that you may almost fancy yourself on the spot. Miss Linwood’s has been fitted up at a most immense expense–upwards of five thousand pounds. It is, indeed, very superb. The rooms are hung with scarlet cloth, trimmed with a deep and beautiful fringe of black and gold; and the seats have blue silk canopies, drawn back by gold doves. Some of the pictures are placed in narrow intricate passages, most beautifully contrived to represent ruins, which, from the light falling solely on the picture through painted glass is the most complete deception I ever saw. These pictures are indeed charming, especially “Children warming Themselves" and “Lady Jane Grey in Prison.” The saintlike meekness and resignation of Lady Jane, and the strong and bigoted expression of the bishop, are admirable.

The Picture of London for 1813  Being a Correct Guide. (1813) at 312-314

Pictures in NEEDLE-WORK, at the LINDWOOD Gallery, Leicester-Square; by Miss LINDWOOD, of Leicester.

        This new and beautiful style of picturesque needle-work is the exclusive invention of MISS LINWOOD. The exhibition consists of between sixty and seventy exquisite copies, in needle-work, of the finest pictures of the English and foreign schools, possessing all the correct drawing, just coloring, light and shade of the original pictures from whence they are taken, and to which in point of effect they are not inferior.

        On entering the door from Leicester-square, we enter the principal room, a fine gallery of excellent proportions hung with scarlet broad-cloth, gold bullion tassels, and Green borders. On one side of this room the pictures are hung, and have a guard in front to keep the company at the requisite distance, and for preserving them. In the pier and window are sofas and settees, to match the hanging of the room, for the accommodation of the visitors; and at the upper end a splendid seat and canopy of satin and silver.

        Turning to the left, through the door near the canopy, a long and obscure passage prepare the mind, and lead to the cell of a prison, on looking into which is seen the beautiful Lady Jane Gray, visited by the abbot and the keeper of the tower the night before her execution, (from Northcote’s celebrated picture). The scenic deception of the whole of this is most beautiful. A little further on is a cottage, the casement of which opens, and the hatch at the door is closed; and, on looking in at either, is seen a fine and exquisitely finished copy of

Gainsborough’s cottage children, standing by the fire, with chimney-piece and cottage furniture complete. Near to this is Gainsborough’s Woodman, exhibited in the same scenic manner; and a little farther is a den with lionesses; and, returning back into the gallery on the windows side, we enter a tasteful room, hung similarly with broad-cloth &c., to the gallery, which is properly devoted to a single picture, Christ blessing the sacramental Bread and Wine, by Carlo Dolci; and is, without a doubt, the most valuable copy of that fine original in existence, independently of its value being increasing by being the work of Miss Linwood.

        To single out the best from so much excellence would be to choose that whose original was the best. The most striking are, No. 2, Jepthah’s rash Vow, after Opie; No. 4, Madonna and Holy Family, after Raffaelle; No. 13, Sir Joshua Reynolds Laughing Girl; No. 20 and 21, dogs and pigs from Morland; No. 22, head of Carlo Dolci; No. 23, Nativity, after Corregio; and particularly 42, the Ass-and Children of Gainsborough, &c. &.

        This splendid and interesting exhibition is open from nine o’clock till dusk. The admission is only 2s. It is undoubtedly the most unique and most interesting exhibition in the metropolis, independently of the consideration that the whole is the work of one pair of hands, and that the mode and materials are altogether original.