Needlework Memorial for the Tingley Family by Sylvia Peirce

Dateca. 1809

Artist/Maker Sylvia Peirce (1792-1882)

MediumSilk and chenille embroidery threads, watercolor, satin-woven silk

DimensionsOverall (Unframed H x W): 23 1/4 x 31 1/8in. (59.1 x 79.1cm) Overall (Framed H x W): 25 3/4 x 33 3/4in. (65.5 x 85.7cm)

Credit LineGift of the John D. Rockefeller, 3rd, Fund, Inc., through the generosity and interest of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, 3rd, and members of the family

Object number1979.604.2

DescriptionThe rectangular needlework mourning picture shows two figures mourning at a large, urn-topped monument. Another tomb sits behind them. The scene is in front of two weeping willows with other, generic trees to the left and right.

The central monument consists of an urn above a tri-part base. The lid of the urn alternates between dark and light cream stripes, and its finial is in the shape of a flame or palm leaf. The base has a central, rectangular protruding section with the inscription “Sacred to the memory/of/Mr. THOMAS TINGLEY/who died Jan. 9th, 1809. in the/77th year of his age. /And/Mrs. MARTHA TINGLEY, /his wife. /who died Nov. 22d, 1805. in the 74th year of her age.” over a white ground. The flanking portions are shaded in various shades of brown, with the left side darker than the right. The base of the center portion bears the inscription, “The wise, the first, the copious, and the brave, /Live in their deaths, and flourish from the grave, /Grain hid in earth, repays the peasant’s care, /And ev’ning suns but set to rise more fair.” The letters of every inscription are stitched, and the guidelines are still visible in places. The outlines of all portions of the monument are stitched with chenille for dimension. All portions of the monument are satin stitched.

The tomb to the left is a rectangular, table-top monument with an inscription on top. The inscription reads: “Inscribed to the remains of/Miss RUTH TINGLEY, daughter/of Mr. Thomas Tingley, who died Nov. 30th, /1803, in the 39th year of her age.” The top sits on wide moldings above a tall base, itself on a large base of moldings. The front of the tomb is flanked with reeded pilasters. Like the other monument, the words are stitched, and all the outlining is worked in chenille.

Between the monuments stand two figures. The rear figure is a woman leaning her left elbow in the center monument and leaning her head on her left hand. She is wearing a black gown with a high waistline; the details of the gown are shown with cream-colored thread to contrast the black. She is wearing a net shawl over her head. The netting is portrayed with widely-separated threads stretched across the entire section in the direction of the shawl’s drape. Her blond hair is stitched while her face and hand are painted. The other figure is wearing a cream gown and is draped with a large, black shawl that reaches the ground on both ends and encircles her head. The shawl is outlined in cream thread. She is shown standing but bowed forward, and her left hand is on her head. Her hand, face, and brown hair are painted. A small amount of background embroidery that does not match the rest of the scene is placed between the rear figure and the central monument: pale yellow and blue-green sections alternate in a wavy pattern.

Behind each monument is a weeping willow trees. The trunks are portrayed by filling the shape with the main color in satin stitches (cream on the left tree and brown on the right tree) and working over them in a loosely-spaced cross-hatch pattern of black stitches that stretch across the entire trunk. The leafs utilize the same color layering technique: pointed ovals of the main color (brown on the left tree and cream on the right tree) are worked in satin stitches and overlaid with leaf-shaped stitched (fly stitch) in a slightly different shade. While most of the leafs are stitched, the foliage is filled in with painted leafs. The generic trees on either side of the scene use the same technique for the trunks, but the leafs are portrayed through French knots. The foliage of these trees is also extended with painted leafs.

The monuments and trees sit on grassy hills that are worked primarily in silk embroidery thread in a satin stitch. The dark green section beneath the figures is stitched with chenille. Sprigs of grass are worked around the bases of the two monuments. A large, three-leafed plant is shown at the base of the central monument, and two addition large-leafed plants are shown at the bottom right of the scene and to the left of the rear monument. The bases of the trees are hidden behind bushes worked in French knots. The sky is painted, as is the nondescript greenery at the horizon.

The piece is matted beneath eglomise glass, with a thin band of gilding around the rectangular opening. “Sylvia Peirce.” is written at the center bottom, flanked by small, abstract floral curls. The frame is painted black with gilding roping along the center.

STITCHES: fly, French knot, satin

Label TextThe death of George Washington was seen as a national tragedy, spurring the entire nation into mourning. The plethora of Washington memorial pictures were often copied into embroidered mourning pictures with inscriptions honoring a relative of the embroiderer. In this case, Sylvia Peirce derived her scene from an 1800 Akin and Harrison Washington memorial print while at Mary Balch’s school in Providence, Rhode Island.
Inscribed“Sacred to the memory/of/Mr. THOMAS TINGLEY/who died Jan. 9th, 1809. in the/77th year of his age. /And/Mrs. MARTHA TINGLEY, /his wife. /who died Nov. 22d, 1805. in the 74th year of her age.” And “The wise, the first, the copious, and the brave, /Live in their deaths, and flourish from the grave, /Grain hid in earth, repays the peasant’s care, /And ev’ning suns but set to rise more fair.” And “Inscribed to the remains of/Miss RUTH TINGLEY, daughter/of Mr. Thomas Tingley, who died Nov. 30th, /1803, in the 39th year of her age.”
Markings"SYLVIA PEIRCE". Inscribed in black on gold above the name -- "SACRED WILL I KEEP THY DEAR REMAINS."
ProvenanceMade by Sylvia Peirce, 1809.
Found in Connecticut;
Obtained by the American Folk Art Gallery, NY;
Purchased by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller for use in Bassett Hall, 1938;
Given to CWF, 1979.

MAKER HISTORY: Sylvia Peirce was about eighteen and a student at Mary Balch’s school in Providence, Rhode Island, when she worked her memorial to members of the Tingley family. She was the daughter of Jeremiah (d. 1858) and Martha (“Patty”) Tingley Peirce (also spelled “Pierce”; 1767-1849), both of Attleboro, Massachusetts. She married Augustus Saunders of Providence on January 27, 1814.
Augustus Saunders owned a grocery store in Providence, 1811.