Painting on velvet (Theorem)
Museum Object Number1957.0886 A |
Object Name
Painting on velvet (Theorem)
Title
(Hamilton family coat-of-arms)
Category
Textiles
Credit Line/Donor
Bequest of Henry Francis du Pont
Place of Origin
Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mid-Atlantic, United States, North America
Date
1800-1815
Subjects
Armorial device
Materials
Watercolor; Velvet
Techniques
Theorem, Stenciled, Painted, Woven (velvet)
Construction Description
Hand-painted
Dimensions (inches)
15 (L) , 13 (W)
Dimensions (centimeters)
38.1 (L) , 33.02 (W)
Measurement Notes
Measurements of visible area within frame.
Object Description
Web - 12/17/2014Theorem painting, the application of paint to velvet, satin, silk, muslin, paper, or wood with a stencil, was popular in the early 1800's. It started in England about 1800, and then spread to the United States, where it was popular for about thirty years. Although theorem painting disseminated to the South and West in the 1820's and 1830's, the bulk of the output was in New England. The art form was taught in female seminaries in addition to needlework, and traveling art teachers also taught the method and created and sold stencils. Faithful copying of an example was considered better than originality in execution. Common subjects are fruits, flowers, or shells, with some animals, mourning pictures, landscapes, and figure studies. The stencil was a type of horn paper, drawing paper which had been coated in linseed oil, dried, and then coated with turpentine. The usual ground was a white cotton velvet or velveteen stitched or otherwise attached to a board. Common sizes were 12" x 18" and 24" x 30". Scrubs, small stiff brushes, were used to apply the paint through the holes in the stencil. Early theorem paintings may have been executed with "spirit colors", but the most common medium was watercolors mixed with gum arabic.
Bibliography and Bibliographic Notes
[Book] Swan, Susan Burrows. 1977 Plain & Fancy: American Women and Their Needlework, 1700-1850.
• Published: p. 154, fig. 79
[Book] Swan, Susan Burrows. 1995 Plain and Fancy: American Women and their Needlework, 1650-1850.
• Published: p. 162, fig. 87