Beadwork Picture by Mary Frances Gerdes

Dateca. 1884

Maker Mary Frances Gerdes (1870-1938)

MediumGlass beads and cotton thread on a cotton velvet ground, in a gilt wood frame with glass and metal hangers (fiber identification by textile lab)

DimensionsFramed: 34 1/8" × 27 7/8" Overall: 28 1/8" × 22 7/8" (71.4 × 58.1cm)

Credit LineGift of Linda Taylor in memory of Alma Catlin

Object number2019.603.1

DescriptionThis is a large beadwork picture stitched with red, pink, yellow, green, blue, beige, and white beads on a black velvet ground. The ground fabric consists of four pieces that are irregularly pieced. The composition consists of an open-work basket with two handles which contains a bouquet of flowers. Among the flowers are roses, tiger lilies, angel's trumpets, pansies, and calla lilies. In some areas, the beads are stitched onto paper that is cut to the shape of the pattern.
Label TextMary Frances Gerdes was born on May 18, 1870 to Henry Gerdes (1830-1899) and Mary Frances Rumpf (1838-1920), both of whom were born in Germany. The death of Mary's brother, Leo Ferdinand Gerdes, on February 24, 1884 places the family in Hallettsville, Texas the same year that Mary purportedly worked her beadwork picture. Leo is buried in the Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery, which was associated with a church of the same name. Sacred Heart was established in 1882 and in the same year they opened a boarding school for girls and a day school for boys and girls. Mary likely worked her beadwork picture while attending Sacred Heart. Mary married William Muenter (1862-1939) and had several children before she died on March 20, 1938. She is buried in the Hillside Cemetery in Cuero, Texas.

Although Catholic schools have existed in North America since the colonial period, these institutions did not become widespread until the mid-nineteenth century. Parochial schools became even more common during the 1880s as a wave of immigration created increased demand for church-sponsored education.
MarkingsA printed label written by the donor and attached to the back of the frame reads: "This piece of 'school girl art' was done by Mary Frances Gerdes (1871-1938) at a Catholic school in Hallettsville, Texas. Mary was 14 when she completed the project. She later married William Muenter, and the couple resided in Cuero, Texas. Mary's granddaughter, Alma Engwer Catlin (1915-2017), eventually acquired the needlework and displayed it in her Houston home for more than fifty years."
ProvenanceThis beadwork picture passed from the maker, Mary Frances Gerdes, to her granddaughter, Alma Catlin. Catlin owned the piece for approximately fifty years and upon her death the piece passed to her daughter, Linda Houle. Houle gave the piece to Linda Taylor who then donated it to CWF.