Description:
Theorem painting on velvet of a single-handled woven basket full of red, yellow, blue, and green flowers, which is stamped in ink below the basket "Emily A. Cooley" and in its original frame of gold-colored single arch molding and original glass. The daughter of Eli Cooley (1764-1843) of South Deerfield and Chloe (Allen) Cooley (1769-1845), Emily Allen Cooley (1793-1870) became the second wife of Zebediah Graves (1787-1876) in 1835. They did not have children so the theorem was apparently transferred to the family of Emily's first cousin, Josiah Allen (1814-1895), and then to his son, Edward Eliel Allen (1855-1939) who moved to Olean, NY, where HD was purchased it at auction from the estate of his three unmarried daughters. The theorem also appears in two of the Allen sisters photographs, "People in Costume." This theorem painting is an excellent example of "school-girl art" in the early 19th century, which Emily may have done at a school in the Deerfield/ Greenfield area (although it is possible that she went to boarding school), or as a young woman in her 20s. Practitioners developed theorem paintings (sometimes refered to as “Poonah,” “Velvet,” or “Chinese” paintings) by cutting multiple stencils and sequentially layering them, dabbing watercolor paint with a brush or perhaps a rag through each layer to develop the design, separate colors and prevent wet areas from bleeding. Theorem painting’s appeal lay in the minimal effort required to produce an image of maximum color saturation and visual impact. Stencils could be reused to create multiple examples of the same image. Students and adult hobbyists alike developed their own designs and copied designs from prints, choosing floral arrangements and still-lifes as the most popular subjects. The genre was not without its critics. In 1840, female academy teacher and textbook author, Mrs. Almira Lincoln Phelps, advised young women in her book, "The Fireside Friend, or Female Student: Being Advice to Young Ladies:" "Velvet, Chinese Painting, & c., are methods, by which handsome pictures are made; but they are almost wholly mechanical operations, and neither afford evidence of genius. Nor have they a tendency to refine and elevate the taste, like most other departments of the art." For Phelps, theorem painting smacked of debased factory work, and was one step removed from the industrial process using stencils to decorate furniture and other household goods. A nearly identical theorem is in the collection of the American Museum in Bath.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+82.029 |
