Needlework Picture

Date1780-1800

Attributed to Catharine Bicker Gibson (1760-1836)

Attributed to Mary Gibson Young (1785 - 1825)

OriginAmerica, New Jersey or New York or Pennsylvania

MediumSilk and chenille embroidery threads on a silk ground with ink embellishments (fiber identification by eye) Wooden frame and glass

DimensionsFramed: OD 16 3/4" Actual (by sight): OD 14 3/8"

Credit LineGift of Beatrix T. Rumford

Object number2020-74

DescriptionThis is a framed, round needlework picture worked in shades of gold, green, blue, brown, and white embroidery threads on a silk ground with inked embellishments. The composition consists on a young woman who leans against an open gate and stoops down to feed one of five sheep that stand next to her. The entire scene is worked in silk and chenille threads on a silk ground except for the sheep, a portion of the background, and the woman's hands, chest, and face, which are rendered in ink. A stitched border encircles the entire piece.
Stitches: couched, satin

The piece is framed in a black, circular, wood frame. The frame was added by the National Gallery in London when they exhibited the piece.
Label TextAccording to family tradition, this needlework picture was worked by Catharine Bicker (1760-1836) of Ballston Spa, New York. It is possible, however, that Catharine's daughter, Mary (1785-1825), worked the picture while attending a school for female education.
ProvenanceFamily tradition states that this needlework picture passed from Catharine Bicker Gibson (1760-1836), to her daughter, Mary Gibson Young (1785-1825), to her daughter, Charlotte Young Griswold(1825-1884), to her daughter, Mary Griswold Johnstone (1852-1935), to her daughter, Julia Waters Littleton (1874-1961). Julia then gave the picture to her friend, Elsie B. Clymer (1882-1970), who later gave it to her daughter, Emily Ellsworth Clymer (1914-2005). Emily gave the piece to her niece, Beatrix T. Rumford (b. 1939), who donated it to Colonial Williamsburg in 2020.

History of Maker:
This piece is attributed to Catharine Bicker Gibson (1760-1836), who was born to Henry Bicker and Sophia Heyer on July 22, 1760. Catharine Bicker married John Gibson (1757-1818) on April 5, 1782 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She died on May 24, 1836 and is buried in Ballston Spa, New York. However, it is possible that Catharine's daughter, Mary Gibson Young (1785-1825), may have worked the picture. Mary Gibson was baptized in the Dutch Reformed Church in Sussex County, New Jersey in 1786. She married Samuel Young and together they had at least three children. She died in Ballston Spa, New York, in 1825 and is buried at Briggs Cemetery.