This style of embroidery (also called Art Embroidery, Silk Art Embroidery, Needlepainting, and Silk Work) started in England at the end of the 19th century, and the Royal Society was one British company who sold pre-stamped kits and silk floss. (Some believe this is the origin of the term "Society" silk.)

However, it was taken up with huge enthusiasm in America, and soon became an uniquely American phenomenon. From 1898 to 1915, many U.S. companies, among them Corticelli (Florence Publishing Company, Florence, Mass.), the New London Wash Silk Company, the Brainerd and Armstrong Company at New London, CT, the Richardson Silk Company, Chicago, and Belding, all offered floss, kits, and instructions for creating and caring for these delicate works of art.  The silk thread was available in hundreds of colors to allow subtle shading on petals and leaves, and in different thicknesses, including Filo Silk, Persian, Caspian, and Roman Floss, Etching Silk, and Rope Silk, for special effects.

Some believe "Society" refers to the idea that only society i.e. upper-class women had the leisure to do this kind of painstaking work. This theory has been debunked, though, as it seems to have been enormously popular among all classes. (It does seem to have been done overwhemingly by women, however, and mostly anonymously.)  A happy exception: a sample graced the cover of the catalog for the 2001 Painted With Thread, The Art Of American Embroidery exhibit at the Peabody Essex Museum, and a set of doilies (1899-1905) displaying grapes, poppies, and roses, executed by Mable Clare Hillyer Pollock, is displayed on page 120.

The style is characterized by highly detailed, finely shaded, botanically correct florals with foliage, sometimes fruits, even occasionally vegetables, and less commonly, abstract geometric forms. Since it spanned the Arts & Crafts and Art Nouveau movements, elements of both those styles are often seen in the patterns.  Echoes of the Asian realistic floral embroidery designs that were so popular during the late Victorian period are also found.  It was executed in silk thread on fine linen, less often with silk upon silk or silk upon cotton.  Although many stitches were used, the most characteristic was the Kensington or long-and-short stitch, which allowed gradual color shading for extraordinarily realistic effects.

Doilies are most commonly found, but just about any linens could be embroidered in the style, i.e. household linens such as laundry bags, cravat and nightdress holders, as well as table linens such as tablecloths, napkins, and runners.   Many can be found today, a hundred years later, having never been used, only painstakingly completed and carefully stored.

The wash silk thread used to embroider these linens was marketed as colorfast, but great care should be taken in washing these delicate linens.