Pierre-Auguste Renoir's famous THE READING c.1890 impressionist painting as a tramme needlepoint kit. "The Reading" is similar to Renoir's "Two Girls Reading." Canvas size 20 1/2" high x 23" wide. Work size 16" x 18".
WE HAVE TWO VERSIONS OF "THE READING" TRAMME: In THIS version, the entire area is tramme and includes background yarn, however the girls' faces and hands are only tramme and not finished stitched. But in the other version (another eBay listing) the girls' faces and arms are completed in continental half-cross stitch (not petit point), and the background yarn is not included therefore you must choose and supply your own background. Please make sure you choose the correct version that you want.
The canvas is 100% cotton and includes 100% wool needlepoint yarn. There is no petit point on this item.
A tramme needlepoint is a pre-stitched design on double-mesh or Penelope canvas instead of a painted design. The pre-stitching is typically horizontal lines. The customer uses matching color yarn included in the kit to stitch over the pre-stitching. Sometimes fine details such as faces, skin, and flowers are pre-finished in petit point or gros stitch. Kits generally only include sufficient yarn to stitch over the pre-stitch, usually using the half-cross stitch technique to save yarn. Some trammes have the entire design area pre-stitched, and others only have the main features pre-stitched and the customer provides their own yarn (and colors of choice) to stitch the background and unstitched areas.