Needlework picture (Canvaswork picture)

Museum Object Number 1956.0062

Object Name

Needlework picture (Canvaswork picture)

Title

Fishing Lady

Category

Textiles (Needlework)

Credit Line/Donor

Museum purchase

Creator (Role)

L. I. (Maker)

Place of Origin

Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, New England, United States, North America

Date

1740-1760

Mark or Signature or Inscription or Label

1. Inscription; on the picture, left hand margin; "L. I." (embroidered thread)

Materials

Silk; Wool; Canvas; Linen; Metallic thread

Techniques

Embroidered, Woven (plain), Canvaswork

Construction Description

Hand-embroidered

Dimensions (inches)

24 (L) , 21 (W)

Dimensions (centimeters)

60.96 (L) , 53.34 (W)

Measurement Notes

The dimensions refer to the visible area inside the frame. Linen count: approx. 24 holes per inch

Object Description

Web - 09/04/2014

This canvaswork picture was worked between 1740 and 1760, probably in Boston, Massachusetts using crewel yarns on a linen canvas. The anonymous young girl, whose initials "L.I." are worked into the left margin, probably attended a boarding school in Boston. A group of mid-18th-century Boston pastoral embroideries, known today as the "Fishing Lady" pictures, share similar motifs, and in many cases have a figure of a lady sitting by a pond, fishing or a lady spinning. In "Fishing Lady" embroideries other motifs surrounding her were inspired by a number of design sources, including a series of pastoral engravings by the French woman artist Claudine Bouzonnet Stella, her uncle Jacques Stella, hunting prints engraved by B. Baron, and paintings by John Wootton. Elements from each of these artist's designs can be seen repeated and combined in various ways in Boston embroideries, probably chosen by each embroiderer. The individuality of each arrangement is complimented by the skill of the needlewoman, making this group of embroideries quite appealing.

Bibliography and Bibliographic Notes

[Book] Swan, Susan Burrows. 1977 Plain & Fancy: American Women and Their Needlework, 1700-1850.
• Published: p. 22, fig. 4
[Book] Swan, Susan Burrows. 1976 A Winterthur Guide to American Needlework.
• Published: p. 38, fig. 23
[Book] Ring, Betty. 1993 Girlhood Embroidery: American Samplers & Pictorial Needlework 1650-1850. I.
• Discussion of fishing lady pictures, pp. 44-53
[Book] Parmal, Pamela A. 2012 Women's Work: Embroidery in Colonial Boston.
• Similar: p. 86, fig. 54
[Article] Cabot, Nancy Graves. 07//1941 The Fishing Lady and Boston Common. Antiques. 40 (1): 28-31.
• Discussion Fishing Lady pictures
[Article] Cabot, Nancy Graves. Engravings and Embroideries, The Source of Some Designs in the Fishing Lady Picture. Antiques. 40 (6): 367-369.
• Discussion of related needlework designs and design sources