Needlework picture (Canvaswork picture)

Description

This is a canvaswork picture worked with crewel yarns on a linen canvas. Dated sometime between 1670 and 1700, Dorothy Cotton's New England picture represents Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. None of the typical motifs associated with the biblical story are present, such as the tree and the serpent. The Adam and Eve figures are portrayed in colonial dress, suggesting that this picture could be related to a group of canvaswork pictures from Norwich, Connecticut. An inscription at the bottom, worked in pink threads reads: "& T"