Did Blackwork Embroidery Exist in Egypt during the Renaissance?

Below is an up-close picture of part of the Egyptian sampler dated from circa 14^th-16^th century that is displayed in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. To view the whole sampler, please visit http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O69669/sampler-unknown/

The first wife of Henry VIII of England, Catherine of Aragon, helped to make blackwork embroidery popular in England. Prior to her marriage, she was born and raised in Spain. Until the late 15^th century, Spain had been under Moorish rule when Catherine’s parents, Ferdinand and Isabella, evicted the Moors. However, the Moors had left behind their geometrical designs, which included the embroidery that later became known as blackwork.

Knowing of the influence that the Moors had left on Spain, I went in search of other countries that they may have influenced during this time period. This is how I came across this sampler.

Today I decided to recreate my interpretation of what looks like a cat wearing a crown on this sampler. Some of the threads are visibly missing. However, thanks to how blackwork works, we can essentially connect the dots to recreate the original pattern. After recreating the original pattern, I decided that I wanted to change it a bit to give it more of a cat-like body. This is for my own personal preference. Please feel free to follow the original pattern if you would prefer to be more historically accurate in your embroidery.