1962.0588 Needlework Picture and 1962.0589 Frame
  • 1962.0588 Needlework Picture and 1962.0589 Frame
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Needlework picture (Canvaswork picture)

  • Title:

    Fishing Lady

  • Category:

    Textiles (Needlework)

  • Creator (Role):

    Priscilla A. Allen (Maker)

  • Place of Origin:

    Maine, New England, United States, North America

  • Secondary Place of Origin:

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

  • Materials:

    Silk; Wool; Canvas; Linen; Metallic thread

  • Techniques:

    Embroidered, Woven (plain), Canvaswork

  • Museum Object Number:

    1962.0588


  • Complete Details



Object Number

1962.0588

Object Name

Needlework picture (Canvaswork picture)

Title

Fishing Lady

Category

Textiles (Needlework)

Credit Line/Donor

Bequest of Henry Francis du Pont

Creator (Role)

Priscilla A. Allen (Maker)
1717-1785
Priscilla Allen (1728-1785) was the daughter of the Reverend Benjamin Allen (1689-1754) and Elizabeth Crocker (1688-1762). Reverend Allen was born in Tisbury, Martha's Vineyard, graduated from Yale in 1708 and settled in South Bridgewater, Massachusetts that same year. On November 10, 1734, he was installed in the second parish of Falmouth, Maine, now Cape Elizabeth. The Reverend died on May 6, 1754. Priscilla was probably born in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Priscilla married Caleb Upham, who graduated from Harvard in 1744. He ws the Congregationalist minister in Truro, Massachusetts, for thirty years. They had one son and adopted their niece Achsah Jordan (c. 1745-1801). (Ring, Betty. Girlhood Embroidery, Vol I, page 46, fig. 43)(See object file for genealogical information.)

Place of Origin

Maine, New England, United States, North America

Secondary Place of Origin

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

Secondary Origin Notes

Probable school.

Mark or Signature or Inscription or Label

1. Inscription; on the sampler; "PRISCILLA A. ALLEN DAUGHTER TO MR BENJAMIN ALLEN AND MRS / ELIZABETH ALLEN BOSTON JULY THE 20 1746" (embroidered yarn)
2. Label; on side edge of frame; "62.589" (red paint)
3. Label; tied to frame hook; "62.588 / MARLBORO RM / (5)" [over] "Frame/ 62.589" (graphite)

Materials

Silk; Wool; Canvas; Linen; Metallic thread

Techniques

Embroidered, Woven (plain), Canvaswork

Construction Description

Hand-embroidered

Dimensions (inches)

20.5 (L) , 14.875 (W)

Dimensions (centimeters)

52.07 (L) , 37.783 (W)

Measurement Notes

Dimensions refer to area of needlework visible within frame. The canvas has 21 warps per inch and 22 wefts per inch.

Object Description

Web - 01/20/2016

Priscilla Allen worked this wool on linen canvaswork picture in 1746. The available biographical information about Priscilla indicates her family lived in Falmouth, Maine near Cape Elizabeth. The explanation for "Boston" occurring in the inscription is that Priscilla probably completed the picture while attending boarding school in Boston, a probability that conforms to other known histories of needlework pictures of the period. The figures were derived from "LeSoir," an engraving by Claudine Bouzonnet (C. Stella) after Jacques Stella. This is the only known "Fishing Lady" picture to name Boston. The inscription on Priscilla's picture reads: "PRISCILLA A. ALLEN DAUGHTER TO MR BENJAMIN ALLEN AND MRS / ELIZABETH ALLEN BOSTON JULY THE 20 1746"

Bibliography and Bibliographic Notes

[Article] Eaton, Linda. 09//2005 Needles & Haystacks: Pastoral Imagery in American Needlework. Winterthur Magazine. (Fall 2005)
Published: p. 13
[Book] Swan, Susan Burrows. 1995 Plain and Fancy: American Women and their Needlework, 1650-1850.
Published: p. 62, fig. 27
[Book] Ring, Betty. 1993 Girlhood Embroidery: American Samplers & Pictorial Needlework 1650-1850. I.
Published: p. 46, fig. 43; discussion of fishing lady pictures, pp. 44-53
[Book] Parmal, Pamela A. 2012 Women's Work: Embroidery in Colonial Boston.
Published: p. 85, fig. 53; design source, p. 84, fig. 52
[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.
Published: p. 367, fig. 2; Discussion of related needlework designs and design sources
[Book] Ring, Betty. 1993 Girlhood Embroidery: American Samplers & Pictorial Needlework 1650-1850. I.
Discussion of fishing lady pictures, pp. 44-53