20th Century An Edwardian Trapunto to a China Station English Sailor

[Dirk]

These silk “trapuntos” were popular with sailors and Marines of all navies operating along the China coast at the dawn of the 20th century. I believe the term trapunto comes from a Portuguese term for a quilted style of embroidery.  The general design of the majority of these were likely inspired by English sailor-made “wooly art, but now they were crafted by artisans in both Japan and China. Sewn upon a silk background they usually had flags and national symbols associated with the sailors home country (i.e. lions, eagles etc). Many times they had a pocket that allowed the sailor to add his picture. This example, most likely dating from the end of the Victoria’s reign, or the beginning of the Edwardian era was sold as a pair, and this rating added his photo to one, and his wife’s photo to an identical copy…a lastly tribute to his Asiatic cruise. I believe his rate is leading stoker and the medal he wears is his long service award.

[father time]

Interesting item. Proof positive to the folks back home you are seeing the world.  I do like they included a photo which helped ensure the survival of this I’m sure.  They still have their antecedents with silk tour jackets which were and are custom embroidered.  I remember a very small shop in Songtan City, South Korea that did such work.  They could reproduce any embroidered work you chose, and were so fast, you could order and pick it up the same day if you went early !  I have included a couple of examples below.  Thank you for showing this.

[stratasfan]

That's some beautiful stitch work! Is the flower garland along the bottom solid embroidery? Love the Hong Kong photographer info on the bottom of the cabinet card! Very fun! Too bad the sailor didn't write his name on it, too! 

 

Thanks for sharing, as this is one amazing piece of artistry!

 

Trapunto is a form of quilting, typically (as I know it), it is quilting on one solid piece where you use thread to sew outlines of the design, creating a puffed inside area that make the design sort of stand out. I believe it is more Italian in origin. 

[Dirk]

Thanks Elizabeth! It’s embroidery but beyond that I don’t know. I will be showing it to a professional cloth restorer to learn the correct terminology for the type of stitches that are used…once I learn I will pass that info along via a thread here or on the US site.

[GCCE1854]

@Dirk A very nice piece. Thanks for sharing. Have you been able to deduce anything about the sailor in the photo? If not, I may be able to send the picture to a friend who may be able to help.

[Dirk]

The biggest mystery right now is it Victorian or Edwardian…..I think he is a leading stoker or a chief stoker  

[Jack the Collector]

3 minutes ago, Dirk said:

The biggest mystery right now is it Victorian or Edwardian

The answer may be in the crown.The British change the crown style with each new monarch.

[Dirk]

Jack I think your right on the crown….I just have not figured the Victorian crown from later ones 

[numbersix]

I believe King's Crown has sloped shoulders; Queen's Crown has 'bumped' shoulders. It does look like a Victorian Crown.

[warguy]

Hard to say, the Kings crown of King George in the WWII period is definitely different than this one, far more angular with straight lines. However the Victoria crown I have seen is also much more dramatically heart shaped than this one. I would seek out an example of the Edwardian for comparison. Interesting to note though that the crown on the hat in the photo sure looks like the one on the trapunto. 

[numbersix]

I do not think it is King's Crown, the sides of the King's Crown do not bulge out, they slope directly from apex to base; it is based on the Tudor Crown. The Queen's Crown 'bumps' out in contrast, with the shoulders far more puffed out; it is based on the Coronation Crown. However, there is a 'flat top' version of the Victorian Crown, where the top is flattened but the sides still 'bump' out. This appears to be that type of Queen's Crown and is Victorian.

 

As far as I know the Crown on British cap badges changes depending on if the Monarch is King or Queen. Thus the Crown on badges changed from Queen's Crown to King's Crown after Queen Victoria died in 1902 and remained the same King's Crown until 1952 when Queen Elizabeth was crowned.

Below are: 1.King's Crown, 2.Queen's Crown 3.Flat-top Queens Crown (I think this is the one in the O/P image).

[warguy]

I think you are definitely correct with the Tudor crown used for Kings and it is certainly the one WWII collectors are most familiar with.  However here is at least one example of a badge or commemoration piece used for King Edwards coronation where the crown looks suspiciously like the one in this trumpunto. That is interesting about the Queens flat top version though. The Victorian crown I am most familiar with is so pronounced and I didn’t know there was a second design. Again, in the end, I suspect you are probably right and the crown in the focus of this post is likely a Queens crown, and perhaps military insignia was more regulated where the Tudor crown was always used for the Kings reign after 1902, but I also like to never say never. Dirk, in order to nail it down, I think I would peruse as many early Edwardian cap pieces and buttons as I could to make certain a crown similar to the one on this coronation piece wasn’t used for a brief time. 

[numbersix]

I believe that's the Imperial State Crown, used by both Queen Victoria and King Edward VII for their coronations as it was lighter than the St Edward's crown. After Edward VII the St Edward's Crown has been used for all Coronations since 1911.  However, the Queen's Crown is also the St Edward's Crown I think, as in the Queen is crowned with the St Edward's Crown and uses that whereas a King is crowned with the St Edward's crown yet uses the Tudor Crown thereafter. 

 

I felt far more certain about it all until I looked up the Imperial State Crown I have to say! I think the rule of thumb would be that, excluding Crowns worn in Coronations, Queens Crowns since 1837 have had 'bumped' shoulders and King's Crowns (Tudor Crown) has 'sloped' shoulders.

 

 

[warguy]

Thanks, I have learned a lot from you from this thread. Was there any kind of transition period before the Tudor crown was used on insignia for Edwards reign do you think? I would imagine the makers of this seen silk sham would have had a lot of artistic license but the crown does seen to match the hat piece in the photo which is significant I think as the military regulations are likely tighter. 

[numbersix]

The Tudor Crown was used from 1902 to 1952, having been standardised by Edward VII, to represent the Crown. I don't know how the changeover between Crowns is handled as there has only been one changeover since 1902, but it may be that a chap who joined during Victoria's reign kept his badges and buttons. I have seen post-war RAF jackets dated after 1952 where the owner has kept their King's Crown buttons from the War.

 

I think it can be said with some certainty that the fellow in the photograph joined and became Leading Stoker whilst Victoria reigned (his lapel Trade badges do not look new nor his cap) and that the embroidery reflects the Victorian style of Crown or Queen's Crown. My experience of Hong Kong tailors is that they are good at the details, and the flags all seem fairly spot on so while the embroidered Crown is not an exact representation it looks more Queen's Crown than King's.

 

I must confess that I'm pretty much outside my comfort zone on Crowns now, I have relied on Wikipedia for this last post as there's a lot more to Crowns than I had thought; especially prior to 1902. Standardising the Tudor Crown in 1902 and it's continuous use until 1952 along with our (Great Britain's) current Queen's long reign has made things a lot simpler for dating. Anything older than Victorian Crown and I would not know where to start.

 

[Dirk]

Six and Kevin thank you both very much for weighing in on this…..I think at the end of the day  I am going to guess the scroll was probably made early into the new century after the queen’s death, but the embroiders who executed (probably Japanese) it, used the earlier crown for a example….as these were “massed produced” based upon existing templates the embroidery company had in stock. 

[GCCE1854]

@Dirk I sent this to a friend, and he very kindly sent back loads of info after contacting a friend of his own.

 

So, thanks to Frogsmile for this info (yes, I'm working at getting him to join up over here):

What a superb photo and silk.  The man shown is a Chief Stoker (the Stoker equivalent of a Chief Petty Officer in other roles), and wearing the appropriate collar insignia of star above propeller decreed between 1890 and 1914, when it changed to crown above and star beneath (it changed twice more before 1953).  The star element of badges was introduced just before the end of Queen Victoria’s reign and was intended to represent the star that one sees in the centre of a traditional compass card derived from Roman times.

 

 

Your Chief Stoker is wearing his “First Class” (best) uniform (fine “cloth”) with its gilt buttons and gold bullion wire collar badges that together demonstrate his status as a chief petty officer equivalent.  

 

By the beginning of WW1 a crown appeared above and the star was moved beneath (illustrated in this coloured chart in blue and red for badges as at 1916). 

 

Also, note this written explanation regarding how badges were worn at that time.

 

A significant aspect is that a ships complement was divided into two categories, Military (aka Executive) and Civil.  The Military were those who “fought the ship”, e.g. gunners, range takers, torpedo men, signallers, etc.  The civilian were those providing support, e.g. artificers, stokers, carpenters, medical staff, pay staff, education staff.

 

His trade group was known at that time as “Mechanicians” or “Engineer Branch” and effectively comprised the men who ran the engine room.  At action stations their position was in the bowels of the ship.  The mechanicians of that period were divided into two, those who worked on the engine parts (“artificers branch”) and those who operated the furnaces (“stokers branch”).  Your man had to work his way up from an ordinary stoker over time.  Advancement was not guaranteed so he would have had to work hard.  The stokers role was probably at that time the most physically demanding job in the ship (you would not want to arm wrestle them!).  The physical effort when on shift (‘watch’) was immense and the teams of stokers were divided into two, the “trimmers” who moved the coal from the back of the bunkers, to the front (Stoke Hold) that was then fed into the furnaces by the other group, the “firemen”.  Together the trimmers and firemen were always called the “black gang” because of the black coal dust that was caked all over them.

 

 

 

The type of silk embroidery that you’ve shown was a big attraction for the China Fleet as a popular souvenir to be taken home to wives and mothers, with a great many produced by female Chinese embroiderers operating out of Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Mandalay.

WW1 left Britain deeply in debt to a number of countries, including the US (who it suited to weaken its rival for influence) and from 1918 onward it’s power was slowly but steadily in decline, and equally slowly but steadily the Royal Navy began to be eclipsed by the US Navy.  When WW2 began Britain had still not finished paying off its debts and the borrowing had to start all over again.  By the end of WW2 the US Navy was the preeminent sea power with an almost bankrupt (heavily indebted) Britain second, but fast fading.

Of course all this lay ahead at the time of your photo and ports all over the world still marvelled at the power of the British Royal Navy.  I’d date the photo to somewhere between 1890 and 1902, as evidenced by the man’s small topped cap with Victorian crown and style of black tie.  

 

If you'd like to learn a bit more about your gent's role, here are some links that may be helpful:

1. https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/85172-why-be-a-stoker-in-the-royal-navy-1900-1910/page/2/

2. https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/121686-stokers-duties/

 

You might also find this thesis on Royal Navy stokers (who were poorly treated) of interest:

https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/bitstream/handle/10871/13844/ChamberlainT.pdf?sequence=1

[Dirk]

That is simply fantastic information!!!!! You must thank frogsmile as well as yourself for bringing us all together….can’t thank you both enough!!! 

[GCCE1854]

2 minutes ago, Dirk said:

That is simply fantastic information!!!!! You must thank frogsmile as well as yourself for bringing us all together….can’t thank you both enough!!! 

 

I will do that! He's an amazing gent who has a lot of knowledge -- and is willing to share. Hoping to get him to join up over here soon.

[Jack the Collector]

This has turned into a fabulous thread!

[GCCE1854]

I got another bit of interesting stuff from Frogsmile about Naval uniforms . . . thoughts while working through the gent in this photo and which seemed fascinating to me. Here it is:

Researching this has been fascinating because the Royal Navy is so old (much older than the British Army) and it’s insignia has evolved in a much more nuanced and haphazard, almost afterthought way, driven entirely by advances in technology, with changes taking place subsequently to catch up with reality.  The RN was never into dress and fripperies like the Army was, and so it wasn’t until the Crimean War that an official, standard uniform was laid down (regulated) for ratings (i.e. below Officer).  Before that men below the quarterdeck simply wore their old civilian clothes known as Slops.