Skip to main content
Advanced Search
1989-304,A, Needlework Picture
Needlework Picture, "Palemon and Lavinia" by Mary "Polly" Abney
1989-304,A, Needlework Picture

Needlework Picture, "Palemon and Lavinia" by Mary "Polly" Abney

Dateca. 1800
Maker Mary "Polly" Abney Kenney
OriginAmerica, Virginia, Augusta County or Rockbridge County
MediumSilk and chenille on a silk ground of 62 x 62 threads per inch with silk ribbon, mica, metal spangles, paint, and padding (fiber identification by eye)
DimensionsOH 17 1/4" x OW16 1/4"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1989-304,A
DescriptionThis needlework picture is worked in red, yellow, blue, green, natural, brown, black, and ivory silk and chenille embroidery threads. There are two different ground fabrics: an off-white silk satin ground for the scene and an open-weave natural colored silk gauze fabric for the verse.

The scene centers on two figures, a man and a woman, who stand next to a copse of trees in a partially harvested wheat field. The woman wears a gown of ivory silk with a yellow shawl, ivory shoes and a yellow hat. A bundle of wheat rests in her gathered apron. The man holds the woman's (anatomical) left hand in his. He wears a yellow waistcoat and breeches with an ivory belt, an ivory collar, a blue and ivory striped cape, ivory stockings, black boots, and a black hat with ivory feathers. To the left of the figures, in the far distance, is a rolling hill stitched in ivory and gold threads. A path climbs the hill, leading to a small house with mica windows and a red roof. Two trees grow next to the house, one of which shelters three figures, a man, woman, and child, who sit surrounded by six sheep. The man plays a horn, the woman reads a book, and the child plays with one of the sheep. To the left of the two central figures is a four-bay house with two red chimneys. Like the smaller house, this structure has mica windows. A Chippendale-style fence guards the front of the house. All of the figures are embroidered except for their face and arms; these areas show the bare ground fabric. In the case of the two central figures, the painted areas are also padded. The sky is painted blue and in areas escapes the rectangular confines of the ground fabric and spills onto the ribbon that borders the picture.

The lower region of the needlework picture contains a title, two verses, and the maker's name. The silk gauze fabric is worked with natural-colored thread. The area is divided by three embroidered lines: two horizontal and one vertical. The title of the work, "PAMELON AND LAVINIA" is embroidered above the top line. Within the embroidered lines are the verse. The verse on the left reads: "Then throw that shameful pittance from thy hand,/ But ill applied to such a rugged task,/ The fields, the master, all, my fair, are thine,/ Here ceas'd the youth; yet still his speaking eye/ Express'd the sacred triumph of his soul," The verse continues on the right and reads: "With conscious virtue, gratitude, and love,/ Above the vulgar joy divinely rais'd./ Nor waited he reply won by the charm/ Of goodness irresistible, and all/ In sweet disorder lost-she blush'd consent."
Below the bottom embroidered line is the name "MARY ABNEY".

An off-white satin ribbon border is worked on all four edges of the picture. The ribbon is decorated with embroidered leaves, each of which are connected to the next by a four-petaled, ivory flower. In the center of each flower is a dark blue sequin.

The picture is partially stitched to a paper support, which is visible beneath the open-weave, silk gauze fabric that contains the title, verse, and signature. Two darker pieces of paper sit beneath the title and signature, setting these areas off from the rest of the picture.

Stitches: bullion knot, cross, French knot, outline, satin, split
Label TextThe story of Palemon and Lavinia was a popular subject for needlework pictures during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. A romanticized version of the Biblical tale of Ruth and Boaz, the story of Palemon and Lavinia was originally published in 1730 as part of the "Autumn" passage of James Thomson's poem, The Seasons. In 1783, David Mountfort published an embellished version of the story entitled Palemon and Lavinia: A Legendary Tale, in Two Parts.

Left impoverished after her father's death, Lavinia takes up work as a gleaner in the fields of the wealthy young landowner Palemon. Fallen from fortune, Lavinia exemplifies the eighteenth-century ideal of rustic virtue. This picture shows the moment when Palemon recognizes Lavinia as the daughter of his former patron and friend, Acasto. Having discovered Lavinia's identity, Palemon pledges his love for her.

Many artists produced paintings and prints depicting the meeting of Palemon and Lavinia. This needlework picture likely took inspiration from a print created by John Raphael Smith in 1780 after a painting by William Lawrenson. The needleworker, Mary Abney, expanded Smith's composition to include a small house on a hill, presumably the cottage where Lavinia lived with her mother. Abney also changed the appearance of the house depicted in Smith's print, eliminating the grand but antiquated country house and replacing it with one that more closely resembled the houses that populated the Virginia landscape during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The verse that Smith chose to accompany his print also appears below Abney's picture, although she has expanded it to include additional lines from Thomson's poem.

Mary Abney was the daughter of John Abney (1745-1788) and Isabella Van Lear (born ca. 1751). Mary was most likely born in Augusta County. In 1824, she married Robert Kenney, the son of Robert Kenney (1743-1806) and Phoeba/Phoebe Houston (1748-1804).
Inscribed"PALEMON AND LAVINIA"

"Then throw that shameful pittance from thy hand,/ But ill applied to such a rugged task,/ The fields, the master, all, my fair, are thine,/ Here ceas'd the youth; yet still his speaking eye/ Express'd the sacred triumph of his soul,"

"With conscious virtue, gratitude, and love,/ Above the vulgar joy divinely rais'd./ Nor waited he reply won by the charm/ Of goodness irresistible, and all/ In sweet disorder lost-she blush'd consent."
ProvenanceThis needlework picture was sold at Sotheby's as part of "Fine American Furniture, Folk Art, Folk Paintings, and Silver" on June 21, 1989. According to the sale catalog, it was a “treasured and cherished family heirloom” that once hung in Stuart Manor, a house constructed by Colonel John Stuart in 1789. Mary Abney’s needlework picture likely entered Stuart Manor when Samuel Lewis Price (1850-1930), the great-grandson of Colonel John Stuart, married Mary Abney McCue (1856-1942). Samuel Lewis Price was the son of Jane Stuart (1810-1873) and Samuel Price (1805-1884). Jane Stuart (1810-1873) was the daughter of Lewis Stuart (1784-1837) and the granddaughter of Colonel John Stuart. Mary Abney McCue was the daughter of Thomas William McCue and Elizabeth Wilson (1824-1908). Elizabeth Wilson was the daughter of James Wilson (1788-1834) and Elizabeth Kenney (1788-1828). Elizabeth Kenney’s brother, Robert, married Mary Abney (born ca. 1785) in 1824. In short, Mary Abney McCue was the great niece of Mary Abney via the latter’s marriage to the former’s great uncle, Robert Kenney.

History of Maker:

Mary Abney was the daughter of John Abney (1745-1788) and Isabella Van Lear (born ca. 1751). Mary was most likely born in Augusta County. In 1824, she married Robert Kenney, the son of Robert Kenney (1743-1806) and Phoeba/Phoebe Houston (1748-1804).