Pair of English needleworks done en grisaille -- that is, worked with black silk thread on a cream silk ground. The pieces look to me to be late 18thc (look at the costumes of the pair of men talking to the left in the piece with the country house), but might stretch to the earliest days of Victoria's reign -- say 1830s. The pieces depict the joys of rural pursuits. One depicts two men fishing at the foot of a waterfall and the other shows a cozy country house with another fisherman (fishing is big with these!) and two men discussing life. They are housed in absolutely wonderful frames that are original to the pieces; in fact, the needleworks have never been out of the frames. As can be seen, they are highly decorated, wonderfully patinated, and have only a few dings as one would expect over nearly 200 years.  There seems to be some water staining at the top of each piece, but their position makes them look like clouds and are not distracting. Frame dimensions are 9.125" x 10.875" and the sight ovals are about 5.25" x 7.125".