Object Number 1957.0610 A

Object Name

Needlework picture (Silkwork picture)

Category

Textiles (Needlework)

Credit Line/Donor

Bequest of Henry Francis du Pont

Place of Origin

Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, New England, United States, North America

Secondary Place of Origin

Dorchester, Massachusetts, United States, North America

Secondary Origin Notes

Possible.

Date

1800-1805

Mark or Signature or Inscription or Label

1. Label; Tied on tag; "57.610 a-c / WINTERTHUR / B / RM / (E)" (graphite)

Materials

Silk

Techniques

Embroidered, Woven (satin)

Construction Description

Hand-embroidered

Dimensions (inches)

16.5 (L) , 13.5 (W)

Dimensions (centimeters)

41.91 (L) , 34.29 (W)

Measurement Notes

The dimensions refer to the visible area inside the frame.

Object Description

Web - 01/20/2016

This is a needlework picture with silk threads on a silk ground. It was worked between 1800 and 1805 by an unknown embroiderer from Salem, Massachusetts, who may have been attending Mrs. Saunders' and Miss Beach's Academy in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Mrs. Saunders and Miss Beach patronized a local framer, John Doggett, of Roxbury. His apprentice, Stillman Lothrop, made the frame and glass mat for this picture.

Bibliography and Bibliographic Notes

[Book] Swan, Susan Burrows. 1977 Plain & Fancy: American Women and Their Needlework, 1700-1850.
• Published: p. 189, pl. 39
[Catalogue] Richter, Paula Bradstreet. 2000 Painted with Thread: The Art of American Embroidery.
• Similar piece: pp. 62-63
[Article] Ring, Betty. 08//1976 Mrs. Saunders' and Miss Beach's Academy, Dorchester. Antiques. 302-312.
• Information on the academy.
[Book] Ring, Betty. 1993 Girlhood Embroidery: American Samplers & Pictorial Needlework 1650-1850. I.
• Information on the academy, pp. 94-99