NARRATOR: This small gallery includes a wide range of examples of British embroidery. This is Cayce Zavaglia, a contemporary artist who works primarily in embroidery:

CAYCE ZAVAGLIA: Despite advances in technology it pretty much comes down to a needle and thread going through a fabric. This medium has as much potential in the hand of the maker as paint does in the hand of a painter, or stone has in the hands of a sculptor, or a camera and film has in the hand of a photographer.

NARRATOR: From coifs of lace to costume pieces made of gold and silver thread, the hand-sewn items displayed here are among the most valuable—and delicate—handiwork produced at the time.

CAYCE ZAVAGLIA: I love this high and low aspect that it has. So at the same that it's used by royalty to show this wealthy status, it's also used by commoner people to maybe embroider a handkerchief for someone. They're taking this medium and they're having to describe many different things. They're using thread, but it has to convey fruit, and flowers, and flesh, and trees and clothing, all within the same work. They're using this medium of embroidery to evoke those things.

When someone sees that, they're actually doubting the reality that a human person made this.

NARRATOR: Needlework was generally viewed as a women's craft, despite the fact that some of the most expensive textiles, like tapestries, were often produced by teams of men.

CAYCE ZAVAGLIA: It's classified as woman's work; mills that were dealing with tapestries and embroideries were all run by men.

NARRATOR: Women makers were given a much smaller place in history. But the needlework that has survived tells an important story:

CAYCE ZAVAGLIA: we get this visual documentation of their lives, the lives that were overlooked by the history books.

NARRATOR: Zavaglia finds that evidence of the artist can sometimes reveal itself in surprising ways.

CAYCE ZAVAGLIA: When I'm embroidering, the process of sewing is going to pick up stuff in my studio. It could pick up dust or hairs, or I'll prick myself and then there'll be a little bit of blood on the embroidery that I have to hide, so these are like the human aspect of the work that is hidden that I find the most interesting.