Description:
Unfinished pictorial needlework in what appears to be its original strainer. The piece, which may have a connection to the Trumbull family of Connecticut, was made by a schoolgirl in the early 19th century while attending a New England academy. The needlework is an important illustration of the process of embroidery at this time; the strainer would have pulled the silk-and-linen piece taught so that the student could embroider it. Most pictorial needlework (finished and unfinished) survives today framed, done either at the time of completion or later by subsequent descedants or owners. Pictorial needlework was often done by female students who had first accomplished more basic marking samplers. After choosing the subject and theme of her pictorial needlework, the student's teacher or a fellow, older student (or an sometimes outside professional) would have drawn out the design onto the silk, and probably painted in the figures and their faces/clothing. The student would then embroider the scene using a variety of different stitches that reflected or absorbed light, and made the piece textural. Either the school or a framer would apply a watercolor to the sky before framing.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+64.071 |
