Object Number 1957.0783 A

Object Name

Needlework picture (Mourning picture)

Category

Textiles (Needlework)

Credit Line/Donor

Bequest of Henry Francis du Pont

Creator (Role)

E. S. Sefford (Maker)
The identity of Miss E.S. Sefford is unknown. The print "Pater Patriae" that her needlework mourning picture is based on dates from 1800. So, her picture can not be any earlier. Two similar mourning pictures, which are currently in private collections, are both from Boston, and it is possible that this picture is of Boston origin as well.

Place of Origin

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

Origin Notes

Possible.

Date

1800-1810

Mark or Signature or Inscription or Label

1. Inscription; Reverse painted glass mat; "E.S. SEFFORD"
2. Label; Backboard; "Call Winterthur Registrar / if there are any / problems with this / object - 302 888 4780" (handwritten ink)
3. Label; Backboard; "57.783 a-c / Mourning - Washington / Embroidery / B9" (handwritten ink)
4. Label; Backboard; "GLASS - tape / for travel - / use tape provided-" (handwritten ink)
5. Label; Backboard; "THIS IS AN HISTORIC FRAME / HANG WITH EXISITING HANGERS / DO NOT MOVE HANGER / DO NOT ADD MORE PINS / DO NOT MAKE ADDITIONAL HOLES" (typed ink)

Subjects

George Washington

Materials

Silk; Watercolor; Metal; Ink; Paper

Techniques

Embroidered, Painted, Woven (plain)

Construction Description

Hand-embroidered

Dimensions (inches)

17 (L) , 18.25 (W)

Dimensions (centimeters)

43.18 (L) , 46.355 (W)

Measurement Notes

The dimensions refer to the visible area inside the frame.

Object Description

Web - 01/20/2016

This is a needlework mourning picture with silk, paper, ink, paint, and metallic threads on a silk ground. It was worked by E.S. Sefford, possibly from Boston, Massachusetts. Engraved prints were widely distributed and were often the design source for silkwork pictures. In this instance, a print by Enoch Gridley, after a painting by John Coles Jr., was copied onto satin and embroidered by Miss Sefford. Gridley was a portrait and general engraver working in New York City and Philadelphia. Coles, who advertised as a portrait, miniature, and heraldry painter, lived and worked in Boston and Worcester, Massachusetts, and Providence, Rhode Island. Sadly we have not yet discovered the identity of Miss E.S. Sefford.

Bibliography and Bibliographic Notes

[Book] Swan, Susan Burrows. 1977 Plain & Fancy: American Women and Their Needlework, 1700-1850.
• Published: p.186, fig. 104
[Book] Swan, Susan Burrows. 1995 Plain and Fancy: American Women and their Needlework, 1650-1850.
• Published: p. 200, fig. 116
[Book] Ring, Betty. 1987 American Needlework Treasures, Samplers and Silk Embroideries from the Collection of Betty Ring.
• Similar: p. 62, fig. 100