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1938.604.1, Memorial Picture
Needlework Memorial, Liberty Crowning Washington, by Catherine Warner
1938.604.1, Memorial Picture

Needlework Memorial, Liberty Crowning Washington, by Catherine Warner

Dateca. 1809
Artist/Maker Catherine Townsend Warner (1785-1828)
OriginAmerica, Rhode Island, Warwick
MediumSilk and metallic embroidery threads and metallic cord with watercolor, gouache, and ink on a silk ground (fiber identification by eye)
DimensionsActual: OH 16 3/8" x OW 13 3/16" Framed: OH 22 1/4" x OW 19 1/4".
Credit LineGift of Florence R. Kenyon
Object number1938.604.1
DescriptionThis is a rectangular embroidery executed in shades of blue, green, cream, brown, black, and pink silk embroidery threads and paint on a silk ground. The memorial picture depicts a young woman (Liberty) standing before a bust of George Washington on a marble plinth. She holds a laurel wreath over the head of the bust with her (anatomical) right hand. In her other hand she holds a liberty cap on a pole and a trumpet. She stands on the British flag, which lies on the ground. At right a tree stands on a rise of ground and, in the distance, several ships are seen on a body of water. A blue and cream canopy with a bow at top is situated over the head of the bust. Behind the canopy is a brown neoclassical structure. The following inscription is painted onto the replacement glass mat: “THE GENIUS OF AMERICA TRAMPLING ON THE BRIISH COLOURS-/-AND PLACING THE LAUREL WREATH ON THE HEAD OF WASHINGTON.*./-CATHERINE, T, WARNER.”

The memorial is in a gilded wooden frame with a replaced reverse-painted glass mat.

Stitches: couched and satin
Label TextCatherine Townsend Warner's embroidery is one of several recorded to date that form a recognizable subgroup within the larger body of embroidery that originated in the Rhode Island schools. The figure crowning Washington's bust is related to a personification of Liberty appearing in a 1796 engraving of Edward Savage's, but the trumpet she holds is usually associated with Fame. Catherine may have had both concepts in mind when she worked her intricate tribute to the country's first president.
InscribedWording on the replacement glass mat reads "THE GENIUS OF AMERICA TRAMPLING ON THE BRITISH COLOURS-/-AND PLACING THE LAUREL WREATH ON THE HEAD OF WASHINGTON.*./-CATHERINE. T. WARNER."
MarkingsThe original printed framer's label reads "PETER GRINNELL AND SON, /Main-street, Providence, opposite the Providence Bank, / OFFER FOR SALE. / A COMPLETE assortment of PAINTS, OIL, WINDOW GLASS, / VARNISHES, and/ SHIP-CHANDLERY/ ALSO, / Looking=Glasses, / framed in the newest and most elegant style, and are warranted to bear the strict. / est examination. With every other article usually called for in a Ship-Chand-/lery or Paint Store, as cheap as at any store in the State./ They execute all kinds of/ HOUSE, SHIP, SIGN and ORNAMENTAL PAINTING,/ polishing, and re-silvering old Looking-Glasses, Oil and Burnish-Gilding, in all/ their various branches. Embroidery, Looking-Glasses and Pictures of every/ description, framed with enamelled glasses, as usual./ All orders from the country punctually attended to, with a liberal allowance/made to those who purchase quantities./ PRINTED AT THE PHENIX OFFICE."
ProvenanceCatharine Townsend Warner's embroidery was presented as a gift to Mrs. Rockefeller and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center in 1938 by the maker's granddaughter, Florence R. Kenyon of Providence, Rhode Island.

History of Maker:
Catharine Townsend Warner was born in Warwick, Rhode Island, December 14, 1785, the second of seven children of Thomas Warner (1757-1815) and Mary Hill Warner (1762-1847). She married William Harrison on January 1, 1816, and she died September 10, 1828.