Needlework picture (Canvaswork picture)

Description

This is a canvaswork picture with crewel yarns on a linen canvas, worked in Boston, Massachusetts, between 1740 and 1780. A group of mid-18th-century Boston pastoral embroideries, known today as the "Fishing Lady" pictures, share similar motifs. The largest of these embroideries are the chimneypieces which include three separated groups of figures, including one group with the fishing lady, united by an abundant sprinkling of trees, flowers, animals, and buildings throughout the landscape. These extra motifs were inspired by a number of design sources, including a series of pastoral engravings by the French woman artist Claudine Bouzonnet Stella, her uncle Jacques Stella, hunting prints engraved by B. Baron, and paintings by John Wootton. Elements from each of these artist's designs can be seen repeated and combined in various ways in Boston embroideries, probably chosen by each embroiderer. The individuality of each arrangement is complimented by the skill of the needlewoman, making this group of embroideries quite appealing. This piece can in fact be compared to other Fishing Lady pictures in Winterthur's collection. The common motifs include the man in the foreground running with a pole, the brick house with a smoking chimney in the background, one of the birds in the trees, the strawberries dotting the landscape, the squirrel, and especially the pear tree.