Description:
Unfinished printed and/or hand painted linen table mat in the "Grape Arbor" design with a central quadrant design of grapes and grape leaves surrounding a center geometric diamond design, and the initials "EM" for Ellen Miller (1854-1929) and the Roman numeral "VII." The piece is selvage width, with unhemmed top and bottom. This example is similar to another printed table mat in Historic Deerfield's collection that was printed in a different colorway - HD 94.023.21. Both printed table mats reproduce (or were the inspiration for) an embroidered table mat featuring the same design, in the collection of the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association. After studying art at the National Academy of Design and the Art Students League with Margaret Whiting (1860-1946) in the 1880s, Miller and Whiting moved to Deerfield with their families by 1895. In 1896, Miller and Whiting co-founded the Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework. In addition to her embroidery work with the Society, Ellen Miller also experimented with resist-dyed printed, stenciled, and painted designs. Using natural dyes, she produced smaller domestic textiles such as table mats, decorative and functional accessories placed on flat furniture surfaces. Unlike needlework produced by the Society, Miller’s printed and painted designs took inspiration less from the past and more from contemporary art movements, including Art Nouveau.
Subjects:
Textile fabrics; Linen Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+94.023.16 |
