Description:
A family register done in needlework of the Loomis family of Westfield, Massachusetts. The needle work is done in polychrome silk embroidery floss onto a loose weave, unbleached, plain weave linen ground, executed primarily in cross stitch, with some filling stitch. This register is a superb example of the kind of needlework being made by school girls in the Westfield area between about 1788 and c.1800; Polly Loomis, the maker, attended Westfield Academy herself for a term in 1801, but this may have been done under the tutelage of an instructor outside of the Academy, before it opened in 1800. POssible teachers include Miss Lucy Moseley or one of her sisters .Characteristics of work produced in that area include an all-over, cross stitched embroidered ground, as well as the use of darker silk threads to color in areas of the background (in this case the three-sided border). No teacher or school has been definitely linked to the instruction of these embroideries as of yet. The information on the register is: "Enoch Loomis born Aug/ 12 1750. Esther Lovering/ born January 26 1767. Married/ Mar 21 1775. Esther/ Loomis born [No.b-November?] 10, 1778/ Isabel Loomis born May/ 10 1781. Hannah Loomis bo/ rn Mar 21, 1784. Polly/ Loomis born July 17 1786/ Enoch Loomis jr born M/arch 2, 1789. Warham Lo/ omis born Feb 13 1794." Ring suggests this register was worked by the Loomis' youngest daughter, Polly, who would have been about 8-9 years old when it was likely executed after the borth of Warham Loomis, the last name listed. The all-over embroidery would have added significantly to the cost of this needlework, as a substantially larger amount of embroidery floss was needed to cover the ground, as opposed to more traditional Connecticut Valley samplers with much of the ground left unembroidered. The green dye of the vine meandering through the dark border has been largely obliterated, possibly the result of a fugitive dye(s), or perhaps the darker border color migrated over the green. Embroidered areas of the piece measure 15 5/8" x 10 1/4"
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2013.1 |
