Needlework picture (Silkwork picture)

Description

This is a silk needlework picture on a silk ground. Hair and paint were also used. It was embroidered in 1807 by Mary Bowen of Elizabethtown, New Jersey, possibly while attending Mrs. Lockwood's Boarding School. The picture is in its original frame with a reproduction glass mat. The eglomisé black border has an inscription in gilt lettering across the bottom that reads: "A View Of New York Done By Mary Bowen. In the 10th Year Of Her Age 1807". The design features a scene of New York looking across the water from Long Island. The scene may have been copied from an engraving by William Rollinson after John Wood's "New York from Long Island" published in New York on February 1, 1801. The ships and buildings in the distance are worked with tiny black seed and whip stitches in imitation of stipple engraving. Such work was called print work, which was usually worked entirely in black stitches. This picture is unusual because the satin-stitched foreground is embroidered in shaded colors.