Description:
Needlework sampler done in silk embroidery in cross stitch on unbleached, plain weave linen ground with “Jerusha Montague made / by her in the 9th year of her age” and the alphabet, numbers, and motifs including baskets of fruit or flowers, birds and dogs. This sampler by Jerusha Montague (1797-1835) of Ashfield, Massachusetts, is one of several objects in the museum's collection that relates to the Amsden/Montague families. See also HD 2006.34.2 and .3 for framed hollow-cut silhouettes of Jerusha, her husband Justus Smith (1790-1846) and one of Jerusha's brothers, Ebenezer (1799-1878) or Horace (1810-1834) Montague. The orientation of the linen ground is slightly unusual; in this example, the warp threads when it was woven are oriented horizontally in the composition. The formation of numbers, letters and pictorial motifs would have provided the repetition needed to master a basic embroidery stitch (cross stitch), while introducing her to design and composition with the placement of the motifs and text within a saw-toothed border. Several characteristics seen in the needlework, such the basket of fruit or flowers, stylized birds and domesticated animals, suggest a school or teacher in the Franklin County area.
Subjects:
Textile fabrics; Linen; polychrome; Silk Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2011.27 |
