Needlework picture (Canvaswork picture)

Description

This canvaswork chimneypiece was worked between 1740 and 1760 in Boston, Massachusetts using crewel yarns with metallic thread accents on a linen canvas. This picture belongs to a group of mid-18th-century Boston pastoral embroideries, known today as the "Fishing Lady" pictures, which share similar motifs, and in many cases have a figure of a lady fishing by a pond or a seated lady spinning. In "Fishing Lady" embroideries, the imagery was inspired by a number of design sources, including a series of pastoral engravings by the French woman artist Claudine Bouzonnet Stella and her uncle Jacques Stella, hunting prints engraved by B. Baron, and paintings by John Wootton. These design elements can be seen repeated and combined in various ways in other Boston embroideries,and were likely chosen by the embroiderer or instructor. The individuality of each arrangement is complimented by the skill of the needlewoman, making the "Fishing Lady" group quite appealing. This particular chimneypiece is one of the most artistically drawn and executed Fishing Lady pictures known. Unfortunately, it is unsigned.