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Maker(s):Grant, Ann
Culture:American (1748-1838)
Title:needlework coat of arms: Grant
Date Made:1769
Type:Needlework
Materials:textile: polychrome silk embroidery, metallic thread; black satin weave silk ground
Place Made:United States; Massachusetts; Boston
Measurements:frame: 21 in x 21 in x 1 1/4 in; 53.3 cm x 53.3 cm x 3.2 cm
Accession Number:  HD 1391
Museum Collection:  Historic Deerfield
1391t.jpg

Description:
Embroidered coat of arms in silk with gold and silver threads and metallic raised work in the original frame, worked by Ann Grant (1748-1838), the daughter of Ann Ellsworth (1712-1783) and Ebenezer Grant (1706-1797), one of the leading citizens of East Windsor, Connecticut. In 1760, Ann Grant attended a boarding school run by Mrs. Mary Longwell where she received instruction in waxwork. In 1767, Ann was sent to Boston to study where she was "placed in a family" and studied embroidery with Jannette Day. Day's Sept. 28, 1767 bill for three months of schooling totalled 41 pounds, including over 31 pounds in embroidery supplies such as 100 skeins silk, 61 yards of 'silver gold", and 19 yards "Gold Flatt." In 1769, Ann continued with the Misses Ann and Elizabeth Cumming who took over Day's school when she left for England in 1768. During Ann's 17 weeks with the Cumings, she evidently worked on this coat of arms since the Cumings' Sept 28, 1769 bill included "Black satin for Cot of Arms" and "Black satin for a Skreen." In 1775, Ann married Reverend John Marsh (1742-1821) of Wethersfield, Connecticut; HD has the secretary (HD 0282.1) and two side chairs (HD 57.235 and HD 57.235A) given as wedding presents by her father, and photographs of Ann and John Marsh portraits (HD 0282.2-.5). Although few American families were conferred arms by the English College of Heralds, the aristocratic connotation was no less meaningful to established families in New England; they did not hesitate to select arms of people with common surnames. By 1730, Boston heraldic painters had access to a number of publications that illustrated coats of arms from which to copy or combine elements. Heraldic embroidery provided the perfect forum for displaying needlework, education, leisure, status, and family allegiance. Nearly all the Boston coats of arms appear to be in basically the same form, but the earlier ones seem to be more lavishly embroidered in metallic material such as this example. This lozenge-shaped needlework picture has the coat of arms of the Grant family on a black silk background with a rampant lion crest, a helmet surmounting a shield with three rampant lions, many flourishes surrounding the coat of arms, and highlights in gold and silver threads. These have been mistaken for hatchments, the coats of arms of the deceased which were often painted on black backgrounds and carried in funeral procession, hung in churches, and placed on the exterior of the deceased's house. However there is no evidence that these embroidered coats of arms were associated with funeral rituals although their shape and black backgrounds were probably inspired by funeral hatchments. A 2010 article by Angela Duckwall calls attention to the fact that these kinds of embroidered coats of arms from Boston were marked on the fabric before being embroidered with color instructions. Evidence survives on this example to confirm this; the design was drawn out using a white kind of marker, paint or ink, most visible on the proper left embroidery motif end. A spot of the marking medium was mistakenly dripped onto the lower proper left side, by frame margin.

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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+1391

Research on objects in the collections, including provenance, is ongoing and may be incomplete. If you have additional information or would like to learn more about a particular object, please email fc-museums-web@fivecolleges.edu.

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