Images(12)

Valance, Wool Embroidery

Dateca. 1770

OriginAmerica, Massachusetts

MediumCrewel embroidery threads on a linen ground

DimensionsOH 12 1/4" x OW 78"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1973-236,2

DescriptionThis is a bed valance, one of three that were originally used to cover the top of a tall-post bedstead. The dark tan plain-woven linen ground is embroidered with crewel worsted embroidery threads in shades of red, yellow, blue-green, yellow-green, brown, tan (which may have been purple), off-white, and black. The embroidery threads are worked in flat, or New England laid stitches, with thin stems worked in outline stitch, and form nine isolated large and small sprigs of multi-colored flowers. The valance has a straight top and shaped contour edges bound with green twill-woven worsted tape. One end of the valance has a rounded ear (the foot of the bed) and the opposite end is straight (the head of the bed). New linen lining.

Stitches: Flat (New England laid), outline
Label TextThis brilliantly embroidered valance is one of three that survives from a set of crewel-embroidered bed hangings that enclosed the sides of a tall post bedstead. The scattered floral sprigs create a sense of lively movement across the open linen ground. The needleworker used a flat stitch known today as Roumanian or New England laid.
The valance has a history of ownership in the Gore family of Massachusetts where it was probably worked at home by a female member of the family. Unlike curtains and bed coverings, bed valances survive in far greater quantities because they were usually more decorative and did not have enough useful yardage to warrant cutting up for other purposes. The valance would have been used at the top of the bedstead to cover the bed hardware.
ProvenanceFamily tradition states that this valance was originally owned, and probably made by, a member of the Gore family of Massachusetts.