Luxury fabrics of the eighteenth century were often creatively reused by resourceful women skilled in the arts of needlework. Household items of great beauty, such as this unique wall hanging, were constructed with fabrics that remained in a workbasket from previous projects, or from discarded garments and worn furnishings. Here, a cream-colored silk faille ground offsets the whimsical appliqué spot motifs, each composed of precious remnants of silk and couched with twisted metallic-wrapped threads. Brimming cornucopia, flowering urns, fruited baskets and trees, floral sprigs, and insects represent the more commonplace motifs found in embroideries of this period; the "Oriental" figures and blackamoors, flanking the pastoral scene at top, demonstrate the taste for chinoiserie which was so fashionable in the 18th century. Winged chimera, parrots, a fanciful sailing ship, and outsize roosters—with cloth-of-silver and gold brocade plumage—enhance the fantastical elements of the embroiderer's composition. An appliqué of this type is truly a compendium of the exquisite materials available to wealthy consumers of the time.