Object Number 2011.0026.006

Object Name

Table mat

Category

Textiles (Needlework)

Credit Line/Donor

Gift of Judith Coolidge Carpenter Herdeg in memory of Ethel Warren Coolidge and Louise Coolidge Carpenter

Creator (Role)

Deerfield Society (Embroiderer)

Place of Origin

Deerfield, Franklin, Massachusetts, Connecticut River Valley, United States, North America

Date

1896-1926

Materials

Linen

Techniques

Embroidered

Construction Description

Hand-embroidered

Dimensions (inches)

Dimensions (centimeters)

Object Description

Web - 01/22/2016

The Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework was founded by Margaret Whiting and Ellen Miller with the intention of reviving the traditional needlework of the area. In operation between 1898 and 1926, the Society was an important part of the arts and crafts movement. The Society copied designs from surviving examples of eighteenth-century crewel work, translating them into different and more modern forms using linen instead of worsted embroidery threads to avoid future moth damage. Their work is marked with the identifying motif of the wheel of a spinning wheel enclosing the letter D. Influenced by the work of the Society, many women were inspired to create their own blue and white embroidery, including Ethel Warren Coolidge and Louise Coolidge Carpenter, the donor's grandmother and mother. Of particular interest is a skein of blue thread with a paper label that reads "Mrs. G.W. Solley/ Dyer/ The Dyke Mill/ Montague, Mass." Mrs. Solley and her husband, Rev. G.W. Solley, were part of the Montague Arts and Crafts Society, another group high-minded people intent on reviving craft traditions. While the Deerfield Society dyed linen yarn for their own use, Mrs. Solley dyed and sold yarn to others.