Needlework picture (Silkwork picture)

Description

Displayed in the home of its maker, embroidery highlighted a woman's education and accomplishments. Sarah Derby worked this overmantel picture between 1763 and 1766 using silk threads on black silk satin. While this chimneypiece has always been known to have been embroidered by Sarah Derby at Janette Day’s school in Boston, for many years the painted elements were attributed to the Boston artist John Singleton Copley. Part of the artistic training for both young men and women was learning to copy important works of the past. The design for this silkwork picture is derived from an engraving by Jean Le Pautre entitled 'Women Dancing in an Arcadian Landscape'. Today scholars are working to distinguish patterns that were drawn and painted by professional artists, by teachers, or by students who were often taught drawing and painting in addition to embroidery. Whether this piece was drawn and painted by Sarah or by a professional artist, it was an expensive work of art that was framed in her hometown of Salem and proudly displayed in her family home.