Images(9)

Crewelwork Panel

Dateca. 1765

OriginAmerica, New England

MediumCrewel wool embroidery threads on a linen ground (fiber identification by eye)

DimensionsOH: 56" x OH: 8"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Friends of Colonial Williamsburg Collections Fund

Object number2022-78

DescriptionThis is a crewelwork, rectangular panel worked in pink, yellow, beige, and green crewel wool embroidery threads on a plain-weave linen ground. The pattern consists of fruits, flowers, and leaves on a scrolling vine. The crewel embroidered panel may have been intended for a petticoat border.
Stitches: bullion knots, chain, flat stitch (New England laid), satin, and stem
Label TextThis crewelwork panel showcases the imaginative embroidered compositions created by New England needlewomen in their homes during the mid-eighteenth century. The panel features individual motifs typically associated with the crewelwork tradition of New England--stylized, fanning carnations; pairs of symmetrical, serrated leaves; grape clusters; and large, solid-colored buds running along an attenuated, curling vine. The panel may have been intended for a petticoat border. Underpetticoats were sometimes personalized with embroidery or quilting patterns.
ProvenanceEx. collection Audrey and Tom Monahan; acquired by the Monahans through Grace Stammers. See: THE AUDREY AND TOM MONAHAN COLLECTION: PILGRIM-CENTURY AMERICAN FURNITURE AND RELATED DECORATIVE ARTS, FEATURING NEW ENGLAND EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY NEEDLEWORK. sale catalog, Northeast Auctions, 2001.