Object Number 1990.0073

Object Name

Needlework picture (Mourning picture)

Category

Textiles (Needlework)

Credit Line/Donor

Museum purchase with funds provided by the Special Fund for Collection Objects

Creator (Role)

Ingeber R. Vandever (Maker)
1818
This pictorial sampler was worked in 1829 by Ingeber Vandever under the tuition of schoolmistress Catharine A. Washington of Wilmington, Delaware. Ingeber was born in 1818 and was 12 years old when she made the sampler. Her parents were Peter Vandever and Ellen Lomax. Ingeber married Louis Askew and died in Cincinnati. Catherine A. Wasington (c.1791-after 1870) was the daughter of John Washington (d. 1833) and Mary Elizabeth. She was born in Philadelphia but from 1805 until 1818 her father kept the Cross Keys Tavern on the Kennett Road (now the mortheast corner of Delaware Avenue and Adams Street, Wilmington). By 1850 Catherine was living in the household of her brother, John Henry Washington, as Wilmington basket maker. Ingeber's father succeeded John Washington as keeper of the Cross Keys Tavern and also served as sheriff of New Castle County. Girlhood Embroidery by Betty Ring, caption to Fig. 541

Catharine A. Washington (School mistress)
c. 1791-after 1870
This pictorial sampler was worked in 1829 by Ingeber Vandever under the tuition of schoolmistress Catharine A. Washington of Wilmington, Delaware. Ingeber was born in 1818 and was 12 years old when she made the sampler. Her parents were Peter Vandever and Ellen Lomax. Ingeber married Louis Askew and died in Cincinnati. Catherine A. Wasington (c.1791-after 1870) was the daughter of John Washington (d. 1833) and Mary Elizabeth. She was born in Philadelphia but from 1805 until 1818 her father kept the Cross Keys Tavern on the Kennett Road (now the mortheast corner of Delaware Avenue and Adams Street, Wilmington). By 1850 Catherine was living in the household of her brother, John Henry Washington, as Wilmington basket maker. Ingeber's father succeeded John Washington as keeper of the Cross Keys Tavern and also served as sheriff of New Castle County. Girlhood Embroidery by Betty Ring, caption to Fig. 541

Place of Origin

Wilmington, New Castle, Delaware, Mid-Atlantic, United States, North America

Mark or Signature or Inscription or Label

1. Inscription; on sampler; "Tuition by / CA Washington / Ingeber R Vandever / work in the 12th year / of her age 1829" (embroidered thread)

Materials

Linen; Velvet; Silk; Paint; Muslin

Techniques

Embroidered, Woven (plain), Painted, Stenciled

Construction Description

Hand-embroidered, hand-painted

Dimensions (inches)

18.5 (L) , 18 (W)

Dimensions (centimeters)

46.99 (L) , 45.72 (W)

Measurement Notes

Measurements of the area visible within the frame. Linen count: 25 threads per inch.

Object Description

Web - 08/13/2014

This is a mourning picture with silk, linen, and chenille threads, and appliqued painted velvet on linen. It was worked in 1829 by Ingeber Vandever under the tuition of schoolmistress Catharine A. Washington of Wilmington, Delaware. Another sampler with almost the identical composition - a stenciled velvet image of a man and a woman, colors, dates, and stitching style - is known. It is not attributed, but does say "Wilmington, Del." on the right side. The Vandever family was respectable and wealthy. Their ancestors adopted the Lutheran religion and fled from the Netherlands to the wilderness of Delaware in the 16th century, settling in a place called "Vandevere's Island." Their house was built before Old Swedes Church in Wilmington. The inscription on Ingeber's sampler reads: "Tuition by / CA Washington / Ingeber R Vandever / work in the 12th year / of her age 1829"

Bibliography and Bibliographic Notes

[Book] Swan, Susan Burrows. 1995 Plain and Fancy: American Women and their Needlework, 1650-1850.
• Published: p. 192,193, 194, 195 fig. 110, fig. 111
[Book] Ring, Betty. 1993 Girlhood Embroidery: American Samplers & Pictorial Needlework 1650-1850. II.
• Published: p. 486, fig. 541