Hi all. I’m trying to make a replica dress from the famouse Anne Boleyn portrait, but wondered if anyone could help me figure out what the red/black decoration is aaround the neckline of her dress?

If you mean the NPG portrait, her shift is indeed trimmed with blackwork and has a black picot edge. The neckline of her kirtle, which appears to the dark or even black like her gown (they will be 2 seperate garments), is what is decorated with goldsmith’s work comprising twin pearls, alternating with a twisted metal gold bead in almost a basketwork design – I suspect they were fashioned from gold wire. You can see that they are almost spherical. I have made a copy of it for a reproduction costume for an event at Blickling Hall this w/e.