Needlework Memorial by Unknown Maker

Date1804

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (probably)

MediumSilk and chenille embroidery threads and watercolor on satin-weave silk (fiber identification by eye)

DimensionsODIAM: 27 7/8"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1956.604.2

DescriptionThis is a circular needlework picture worked in shades of red, gold, green, blue, beige, brown, black, and white silk and silk chenille embroidery threads and watercolor on a silk ground. To the righthand side of the composition are two women who stand in front of a tomb. The women are wearing short-sleeved, empire-waisted gowns; the gown worn by the woman standing to the left is worked in gold threads while the one worn by the woman standing to the right is worked in gold and blue threads. The woman on the left also wears a flowing, gold shawl. Their long, curly hair is tied back with ribbons and adorned with flowers. Their faces, hair, and arms are painted onto the ground fabric. The woman on the right holds a cornucopia of flowers and fruits and a floral stem in her (anatomical) left hand and a single flower in her (anatomical) right hand. The woman on the left holds a garland of flowers in both hands, which extend as if she is about to lay the garland upon the tomb. The tomb consists of a rectangular block with a large urn on top. On the base of the tomb is a blue, painted oval surrounded by a garland of leaves; within this oval are the words, "REST/in/PEACE/KM/1804". In the center background of the composition is a three-story building (Mount Vernon) flanked by two colonnades. The building has a brown chenille roof and is framed by chenille trees and a row of cypresses or pines. On the lefthand side of the composition is a small temple with four columns. Four steps lead to the temple's interior, the floor of which is adorned with chenille tiles. A young woman stands inside the temple; she holds a pole and liberty cap in her (anatomical) right hand and gestures towards the tomb with her (anatomical) left hand. Her long, curly hair is tied back with a gold ribbon. She wears a gold underdress which is covered by a gold overdress with red colorations and green, embroidered trim; she also wears a gold, flowing shawl over her shoulders. Her face, arms, and brown hair are painted onto the ground fabric. Slightly to the left of the center of the foreground is a young girl who sits on the ground holding a woolly, chenille sheep in her arms. She wears a gold dress and a blue hair ribbon. In the foreground, on either side of the girl, are two baskets filled with flowers and roses. The entire scene is framed by two weeping willows that grow behind the tomb and the temple. The sky is painted in shades of blue; birds fly overhead in the distance.
This piece was reframed at the Old Print Shop.

Stitches: chain, couched, French knots, outline, satin
Label TextAlthough the maker of this needlework picture has not yet been identified, it is possible that she worked in collaboration with Samuel Folwell. Folwell was an artist who patterned and finished needlework pictures produced by students who attended the embroidery school run by his wife, Elizabeth, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The overall painting style as well as the figure of the woman holding a garland of flowers is typical of pieces produced by Folwell. A Pennsylvania provenance is further indicated by the view of Mount Vernon in the background, an element which is found on several related pieces, and the heavy use of chenille thread.
Inscribed"REST/in/PEACE/KM/1804"
ProvenancePurchased in October 1956 at Park-Bernet Galleries, Inc. from the estate of John Kenneth Danby in Wilmington, Delaware