Object Number 1957.0886 A

Object Name

Painting on velvet (Theorem)

Title

(Hamilton family coat-of-arms)

Category

Textiles

Credit Line/Donor

Bequest of Henry Francis du Pont

Place of Origin

Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mid-Atlantic, United States, North America

Date

1800-1815

Subjects

Armorial device

Materials

Watercolor; Velvet

Techniques

Theorem, Stenciled, Painted, Woven (velvet)

Construction Description

Hand-painted

Dimensions (inches)

15 (L) , 13 (W)

Dimensions (centimeters)

38.1 (L) , 33.02 (W)

Measurement Notes

Measurements of visible area within frame.

Object Description

Web - 12/17/2014

Theorem painting, the application of paint to velvet, satin, silk, muslin, paper, or wood with a stencil, was popular in the early 1800's. It started in England about 1800, and then spread to the United States, where it was popular for about thirty years. Although theorem painting disseminated to the South and West in the 1820's and 1830's, the bulk of the output was in New England. The art form was taught in female seminaries in addition to needlework, and traveling art teachers also taught the method and created and sold stencils. Faithful copying of an example was considered better than originality in execution. Common subjects are fruits, flowers, or shells, with some animals, mourning pictures, landscapes, and figure studies. The stencil was a type of horn paper, drawing paper which had been coated in linseed oil, dried, and then coated with turpentine. The usual ground was a white cotton velvet or velveteen stitched or otherwise attached to a board. Common sizes were 12" x 18" and 24" x 30". Scrubs, small stiff brushes, were used to apply the paint through the holes in the stencil. Early theorem paintings may have been executed with "spirit colors", but the most common medium was watercolors mixed with gum arabic.

Bibliography and Bibliographic Notes

[Book] Swan, Susan Burrows. 1977 Plain & Fancy: American Women and Their Needlework, 1700-1850.
• Published: p. 154, fig. 79
[Book] Swan, Susan Burrows. 1995 Plain and Fancy: American Women and their Needlework, 1650-1850.
• Published: p. 162, fig. 87