Needlework Picture of Dairy Maid by Unknown Maker
Dateca. 1835
MediumWool and silk embroidery threads and watercolor on silk (fiber identification by eye)
Dimensions12" x 10" (30.5 cm. x 25.4 cm.) unframed. 17" x 15" framed
Credit LineGift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller
Object number1936.601.1
DescriptionThis is a rectangular landscape genre scene worked in shades of blue, green, white, brown, and pink. A young girl walks through a pastoral landscape carrying a white basket with her left hand and a pitcher in her right. She is wearing a dress with a reddish pink skirt covered by a white apron or overskirt. A brown bodice covers a white shift, leaving the sleeves exposed. Behind her to her left is a white cottage with a thatched roof and casement windows (diamond shaped panes are delineated by gold threads). Trees of varying shades of brown, green, and blue-green lie behind and to the right of the cottage. In the distance are abstracted forms possibly representing a castle. The sky is painted in blue with wisps of white clouds. The ground is done in blue-green threads with patches of brown wool and gold silk thread. The ground is dotted with fallen logs and shrubs. The frame and glass mat with reverse painting are not original. This piece was reframed by the Old Print Shop at an unspecified date.
Stitches: chain, French knots, lazy daisy, plain and padded satin with random long and short shading, tied cross stitch
Label TextThe rural ideal portrayed in this needlework picture reflects Enlightenment discourses that connected rural simplicity and female virtue. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, European and American authors frequently evoked the virtues of those who live in a state of nature as a counterpoint to the artificial manners of those who lived in an urban environment. One example of this trope can be found in Jaques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre’s novel Paul et Virginie, which was also a popular inspiration for needlework pictures.
ProvenanceFrom the collection of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.; purchased from Katrina Kipper, Accord, Massachusetts in 1936.
Early 18th century
