Description: Rectangular table or dresser scarf made by a member of the Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework (DSBWN). Linen embroidery floss dyed with various vegetable dyes in shades of blue and white, decorate each narrow end. Founded by Margaret Whiting (1860-1946) and Ellen Miller (1854-1929) in 1896, and disbanded in 1926, the Society was established to help bring awareness to 18th-century needlework (including embroidery and quilts) that were suffering the effects of time. Originally items produced by the Society were only worked in blue and white embroidery, reflecting some of the 18th-century crewel (two-ply wool) embroideries Whiting and Miller studied. Later examples used different colors, and Whiting herself even experimented with block printing. Items such as this table scarf were small and affordable items sold by the Society and exhibited at exhibitions of Arts and Crafts needlework in the early 20th century. This example contains a "D" set within a flax wheel at one end, a sign that its anonymous creater's work was approved by Whiting and Miller.
Subjects: Textile fabrics; Embroidery; Linen Link to share this object record: https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+F.188 |