new pocket new technique

Stayed working on the other half of my  heraldic pockets.  I'm also taking this chance to work on a new technique, tambour embroidery.  What I'm loving about it is that it's so much easier on my hands, having early onset arthritis has killed a lot of the time I would like to spend working on my projects.  But so far no flare up. I've looked into the historical background of this technique,  in  India and Mongolia there is a similar technique using a similar style hook.  The more I'm looking at some late period embroidery I have to wonder if this crossed into western Europe earlier then the  1700s, which is about the date this style of embroidery really came into fashion.