Description:
“Ornamental accomplishments” such as needlework and drawing played a role in a young woman’s intellectual and moral education in the early 19th century. Chloe McCray’s artwork, done during the War of 1812, employs some of the same symbolic elements found on maps. A seated female figure representing America holds the constitution while leaning against a marker displaying the names of Revolutionary War heroes. Opposite her, Liberty supports a pole and Phrygian cap beside a figure - perhaps Clio, the muse of History - holding an open book. Behind them a classical temple representing the new federal government is ornamented with the eagle seal of the United States, and small figures of Liberty, Justice, and Peace. Picture in silk embroidery and paint in the original frame, representing the United States, the new nation, by Chloe McCray (1797-1848) of Ellington, Conn., There is a black border with a painted gilt line around the picture edge and the gilt inscription "Chloe McCray of Ellington, 1814" in the lower right corner. The daughter of Calvin and Betsy McCray, Chloe married Abram Allen in 1822; the picture descended through the male line of William Henry Allen, a branch of the Allen family of Deerfield, to the donor. The scene depicts the seated figure of America. resting against a memorial to the heroes of the American Revolution. She receives Clio, the muse of history, introduced by the standing figure of Liberty in the shadow of the Charter Oak and a neoclassical pavillion that symbolizes the Constitution. This needlework may have coincided with the Hartford Convention, which defeated New England's succession from the union during the War of 1812. E.H. Williams 1838 inventory lists: "3 Framed Paintings .... 1.00". This needlework picture bears a slight resemblence to a c. 1815 print by Benjamin Tanner (1775-1848), "America Guided by Wisdom," after a drawing by John Barralet (c. 1747-1815).
Label Text:
“Ornamental accomplishments” such as needlework and drawing played a role in a young woman’s intellectual and moral education in the early 19th century. Chloe McCray’s artwork, done during the War of 1812, employs some of the same symbolic elements found on maps. A seated female figure representing America holds the constitution while leaning against a marker displaying the names of Revolutionary War heroes. Opposite her, Liberty supports a pole and Phrygian cap beside a figure - perhaps Clio, the muse of History - holding an open book. Behind them a classical temple representing the new federal government is ornamented with the eagle seal of the United States, and small figures of Liberty, Justice, and Peace.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+75.128 |
