Needlework Picture, The Courtship by Unknown Maker

Dateca. 1810

MediumSilk embroidery thread, chenille thread, and paint on silk ground in a gilded wood frame with eglomise glass

DimensionsOverall (Unframed H x W): 20 1/2 x 24 1/2in. (52.1 x 62.2cm) Overall (Framed H x W): 30 x 34in. (76.2 x 86.4cm)

Credit LineGift of the John D. Rockefeller, 3rd, Fund, Inc., through the generosity and interest of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, 3rd, and members of the family

Object number1979.601.1

DescriptionThis embroidered and painted scene shows two figures engaged in conversation near a house with valley scenery and a castle on a hill painted into the background. The left half of the embroidery is stitched with silk embroidery floss while the right half is stitched primarily with chenille thread.

On the left side of the scene, worked in silk thread using satin stitches is a two-story plus attic house with a shed-roofed addition in the rear. The house has a single chimney and a dormer window in the rear. The right, second-story window is open showing that it is a sash window. The muntins in the three front window and the two similar windows on the side are vertical and horizontal and made by floating thread across the painted window opening. The fifth window, on the rear addition, has diagonal muntins, and the paint is applied over the threads. The roof of the rear of the house extends past the house, which would allow for a porch except that the ground beneath the house seems to drop off even with the rear wall. It stands on a carefully-rendered stone foundation. The ground beneath the house appears to have been built up to create a flat foundation, despite the foreground hill continuing to slope downward. There is no door on what appears to be the front of the house.

In front of the building stand two straight trees with no lower limbs. The trunks are stitched diagonally to give them a rounded, dimensional appearance, and shading further enhances the trunk of the right tree. The leafs of both trees are colored in large sections of several shades of yellow, green, and brown rather than individual leaves or shaded in a gradient like the silk-stitched grass. The grass on the left side of the scene is stitched vertically and the lengths of the stitches are varied to allow for shading, similar in appearance to the brocading technique point rentre.

From the right edge of the house on, the embroidery abruptly changes to chenille. The ground is stitched horizontally with the colors in bands. Gold sprigs of grass are placed throughout and stitched in silk thread. The clothing of the two figures is also stitched in silk. The woman is dressed in a cream-colored gown with a high waistline and loose, elbow-length sleeves. She is wearing a straw hat and holding a white reticule, which too is stitched in silk. Her bust, arm, and hat are all painted rather than stitched. The man beside her is wearing a wide-brimmed, black top hat, a blue coat, cream breeches, and black boots. His hat, head, and hands are all painted. He is talking to the woman, gesturing with his left hand while touching her elbow with his right.

Behind them is a large tree with a chenille trunk, worked in a few shades of brown that are placed in patches. The leafs are stitched in silk and are worked as individual leafs. They are shaded in a fairly clear gradient with the leafs to the right being the darkest green. An additional branch is added in paint at the center top of the piece.

Behind the immediate hill is a painted valley scene. Five cows graze on the close side of a large lake, on which two people sit in a boat. On the far side of the lake is a gothic-style church near two smaller structures. Finally, and most prominently, the valley is bordered by a large hill with a castle at its crest. The castle is placed directly in the center of the frame. The very bottom of the picture is painted a dark color to mask the fact that the embroidered section did not meet the edge of the eglomise mat.

The needlework picture is in a gilded wooden frame with an eglomise mat.

STITCHES: satin
Label TextWhile this needlework picture may depict an American scene in the stitched foreground, the painted background, with its castle on a hill, is undoubtedly European. The embroidered foreground of this piece is unusual since the left side is worked entirely in silk embroidery thread and the right side is worked almost entirely in chenille embroidery thread, with an abrupt change along the edge of the building.
ProvenanceFound in Philadelphia, PA by Arthur J. Sussel;
Sold to Abby Aldrich Rockefeller for use in Bassett Hall, 1935;
Given to CWF, 1979.