Dense floral Jacobean embroidery worn by Edward Sackville, 4th Earl of Dorset
Dense floral Jacobean embroidery worn by Edward Sackville, 4th Earl of Dorset
Credit: William Larkin

Jacobean embroidery refers to embroidery styles that flourished beginning in the reign of King James I of England in first quarter of the seventeenth century. The term is usually used today to describe a form of crewel embroidery used for furnishing characterized by fanciful plant and animal shapes worked in a variety of stitches with two-ply wool yarn on linen.