Shadow-Box, Waxwork and Shellwork
Dateca. 1740
Artist/Maker
Rebecca Evans
MediumShells, wax, silk, paper, glass, mirror, feathers, white coral, faux red coral, other textile, wire, seeds(?), paint, dried plants material, metallic threads, paperboard, ribbon, sand, red maple, sweetgum, Atlantic white cedar (wood analysis by US Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, 1969)
DimensionsOH: 24 1/2" x OW: 21 1/2" x OD: 9 5/8"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1969-62
DescriptionThis is a rectangular glass-fronted wooden case containing a three-dimensional shellwork scene. The scene consists of a large, Georgian house on a floating island with stairs leading down two levels to a scene below. At the bottom of the case is another Georgian house by a stream. There is a woman by the upper house, a woman on the lower stair’s platform, a woman on a bridge, and a vicar in the lower house. The sides and top are covered in various types of shells. The upper house is a three-story, five bay house. Bricks are simulated by the application of small red shells. The interior is backed in mirrored glass. The door is open to show a black-and-white diamond-patterned floor. There is a tree laying inside the house with a mylar support. The front yard of the house is covered in green velvet with cone-shaped and pyramidal trees covered in green fibers. The trees have shell bases. The yard is bordered with a fence made of paper and shells.
There is a female figure in the yard wearing a woven silver gown with wide side hoops. The silver appears to be ribbon rather than a larger fabric. Her hair is missing, and her silver thread cap is hanging behind her head. Her gown has gold thread trim and she has a gold thread collar-style necklace.
On the right of the case, stairs made of paper lead down to an empty shell level with a hole leading to another curved paper staircase at the rear of the scene. At the bottom of the stairs is a female figure in a pink gown with silver stripes. There is a seam in the center of each silver stripe indicating that this gown was also constructed from ribbon rather than larger fabric. The figure has short, brown curled-silk hair and a silver thread necklace.
She is standing to the right of a river or stream made of mirror glass. Portions of the mirror have been removed so that fish are visible underneath the glass. There are also two fish above the water: one on the bottom and one on the back of the case. There is a wax frog on the left bank of the river. The banks are bordered with green silk thread, both two-ply and untwisted.
The third female figure stands on a bridge over the river. She is wearing a cream brocaded gown that appears to be Spitalfields silk circa 1740-1750. She has a silver hip belt and cap with short brown curly hair.
At the bottom left of the case is a 2-story, 3-bay house with a tiered front garden. A vicar stands in the doorway. He is entirely wax. Behind him inside the house is an altar covered in brocaded silk. The floor of the house is black-and-white diamond patterned. The garden has a formal layout with conical trees and silk flowers.
There are shell roses scattered throughout the case. The bright-red coral appears to be imitation.
Label TextRebecca Evans, a Philadelphia Quaker woman, created a country house scene out of shells, wax, silk, paper, glass, mirror, and reeds. Creating wax and shellwork shadow-boxes was a popular pastime for teenaged girls and women, especially in and around Philadelphia. The creation of shadow-boxes was surely influenced by the popularity of shell grottos and waxwork figures in Britain and the fascination with natural history and gardens.
InscribedInscription on back of the case reads, "This case supposed made by Rebecca Evans/one of the ancestors of (........). Style of dress worn in 1745."
MarkingsNone
ProvenanceThe Gardiners acted for the owner when the museum accessioned the object in 1969. The owner provided very little history about the object.
HISTORY OF MAKER:
Rebecca Evans was born Rebecca Clark(e) in about 1705 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of William Clark(e), a Quaker. She married Edward Evans on March 5th, 1737, in the Friends Meeting House on Arch Street. Edward Evans was a cordwainer who owned a small property on the north side of Race Street. He was a prosperous and well-known local businessman and community leader. The couple had as many as six children, but only one, Nathaniel, lived to adulthood.
Edward became a leader of Methodism in America after his many brushes with different Christian movements. (He was a Quaker, but then followed religious leader George Whitefield and then Zinzendorf, who led the Moravians.) Rebecca's and Edward's son, Nathaniel, was sent to establish an Anglican church in Gloucester County, New Jersey. He was an early student at the University of Pennsylvania and was a promising poet. He began his ministry in New Jersey in February 1766, and fell ill in the fall of 1767. He died on October 29th at just 25 years old.
Edward died in late 1771. Rebecca died on January 1st, 1785.
1660-1680
1650-1675
1805-1820 (ca 1812?)
1650-1675