Images(2)

Pocket, Crewelwork

Dateca. 1760

OriginAmerica, New England (embroidery) and Asia, India, Coromandel (trim); worn in America, New England

MediumCrewel wool embroidery on a linen ground; linen lining and backing; painted-and-dyed cotton trim (linen identified by microscope)

DimensionsOH: 15" x OW: 12 3/4"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, Asplundh Textile Endowment

Object number2022-12

DescriptionThis is a rectangular woman’s pocket tapering slightly to top with a eight-inch vertical slit opening. It consists of crewel worsted yarns embroidered on white linen in a design of gold scrolling vines and flowers in hues of pink, red, blue, green, brown, and black. The pocket and its slit are edged in an Indian painted-and-dyed cotton with tiny florals. The pocket is lined and backed with natural plain-woven linen.
It is missing its waist ties and is in its original condition without later alterations.
Stitches: chain, French knots, long-and-short, spiral stem, and stem
Label TextIn the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, women’s gowns did not have integral, sewn-in pockets. Instead, to carry their necessities women carried small items in separate, commodious bags tied around their waists beneath the skirts.

Pockets were an intimate costume accessory that were often decorated with quilting, piecing, or embroidery. This pocket is embroidered with wool threads known as “crewels,” loosely twisted two-ply worsted wool. The design of gold scrolling vines and flowers in hues of pink, red, blue, green, brown, and black is typical of crewel embroidery produced in New England in the third quarter of the eighteenth century. This pocket, however, is a combination of domestic work and the exotic import; it is finished along the edges and pocket slit with an Indian painted-and-dyed chintz.
ProvenanceEx-collection: Lillian B. Cogan, Farmington, CT