Esther before Ahasuerus

This detailed textile depicts the biblical story of brave Queen Esther seen kneeling at center right accompanied by two attendants. King Ahasuerus of Persia, Esther’s husband, gestures toward her with his scepter and grants her permission to speak. The king’s chief minister has plotted to kill all the Jews in the kingdom, and Esther is a Jew herself. Although the king issued a ruling that no one could approach him without being summoned, Esther has risked her life by entering the king’s presence uninvited in order to protect her people from death. She succeeds as the king agrees to Esther’s request and reverses his minister’s order.

In this scene, the central characters are dressed in court attire of 17th-century England. At this time a distinctive style of figurative embroidery emerged in England for creating small pictures and domestic objects, such as mirror covers, book covers, and small storage boxes. This example features a unique form of three-dimensional embroidery called stumpwork. The images featured were often based on illustrated texts and engravings and were embroidered by girls and women, as well as professional male and female embroiderers. Needlework was a popular vehicle for portraying traits associated with the ideal woman, who was brave, pious, and obedient. The biblical Queen Esther was seen as embodying these virtues as defined by 17th-century political and religious beliefs.