Needlework Memorial for the Dana Family by Sarah and Isabella Dana

Dateca. 1805

Artist/Maker Sarah Dana (1791-1867)

Artist/Maker Isabella Caldwell Dana (1789-1805)

OriginAmerica, Massachusetts, Dorchester

MediumSilk embroidery thread, paint, and pencil on silk in a gilt and plaster frame with an eglomise glass mat

DimensionsOverall (Unframed H x W): 20 1/2 x 13 1/4in. (52.1 x 33.7cm) Overall (Framed H x W): 27 1/4 x 19 1/2in. (69.2 x 49.5cm)

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 number1979.604.1

DescriptionThis painted and embroidered mourning scene shows two female figures at a columnar monument in front of a lake and trees. It is worked primarily in satin stitches, with the addition of some back stitches and outline/stem stitches. The ten thread colors (cream, two shades of gold, three shades of brown, and four shades of green) are supplemented by paint in the scenery, part of the monument, and the skin and hair of the figures.

The central obelisk consists of a circular column base, out of which rises an obelisk placed slightly off-center. Dimension is added to the monument both through the use of color shading and stitch direction. The large base contains the inscription, “In Memory/of/the Revd Josiah Dana obt Octr 1st 1801/AE 59 yrs/of Mrs Sarah Dana who died Novr 11th/1805 AE 51 yrs and of/Miss I. C. Dana who died Sepr 21st/1805 AE 16 yrs.” A scroll is attached onto the upper obelisk bearing the inscription, “Virtue a/lone has ma/jesty in/Death, and/greater still,/the more the/tyrant Frow/ns,” a quote from NIGHT THOUGHTS by Edward Young. The closing quotation marks are the full size of the letters in the inscription, but there are no stitches over the pencil marks. Further, the penciled guidelines are visible in both inscriptions. The lowercase “a”s in the scroll and the monument differ in form, which may indicate that the separate areas were worked by different people (the scroll by Isabella and the monument by Sarah). The monument is encircled in a vine with loosely worked leaves, with negative space between the stitches, a characteristic which does not appear anywhere else in the work.

A female figure stands beside the monument, reading the lower inscription with her right hand over her heart. She wears a cream dress and a brown shawl. The folds and contours in the dresses of both figures are delineated in brown. It is supplemented by dark brown shading at the back of the lower figure’s skirt. The line style is similar to that in 1979.601.2, also stitched by Sarah Dana—only the colors differ. The outline of the left hand, held straight against the figure’s side, is shaded to reshape it and make it appear thinner despite the reserve within the stitches being larger. This could be an alteration or improvement done by Sarah, possibly indicating that Isabella stitched the surrounding area. While the clothes are embroidered, the arms and bust are painted. The original outline of the lower figure’s head, with taller and more rounded hair, can be seen through the blue paint immediately above the figure.

Another female figure stands on the monument, leaning her right elbow on top of the obelisk, and gesturing to the scroll with her left hand. Like the lower figure, she wears a cream dress with the folds and contours lined in dark brown. A brown, twelve-pointed star is at her breast. What appear to be remnants of glue may indicate that some bauble was attached—especially since one of the points is painted over by the skin color. Like the lower figure, the shoes are stitched in the same color as the dress instead of painted like the arms and bust.

Two trees entwine each other to the left of the monument. Their trunks gain dimension with the use of slightly varied shades of golden brown, and knots in the trunk are indicated by changes in the direction of the stitches. The form, stitch technique, and color choices of the leaves are the same as those in 1979.601.2. However, the leaves on the bottom branch visibly differ from those on the rest of the tree: they are outlined in dark brown, and instead of the stitches all pointing in the same direction (toward the end of the leaf), they circle to follow the outline and natural veining of the leaf.

Two additional trees are stitched into the background of the picture, rather than painted. Two very small weeping willows, a common addition to mourning pictures, droop down on the far side of the lake.

The rest of the background, consisting of a lake, green rolling hills, and a view of a valley from above are painted, as is the sky. The coloring of the sky fades to pink to suggest either a sunset or a sunrise. The paint of the background scenery noticeably overlaps the stitches on the lower figure, the grass, and the vine encircling the lower part of the monument.

Beneath the picture is a third inscription, the thread of which has deteriorated, showing the pencil markings underneath. The inscription reads, “This device was begun by Isabella Caldwell Dana who died ere it was finished/“Early bright transient, chaste, as morning dew,/She sparkled, was exhal’d, and went to Heav’n.”’ Penciled, but unstitched, quotation marks begin the inscription, likely indicating a mistake in placement. The second and third lines of the inscription are another quote from Edward Young’s NIGHT THOUGHTS, referring to the death of Narcissa, largely believed to be representative of the author’s daughter.

The needlework picture is in a gilt and plaster frame with a black eglomise mat that is Inscribed in gold: "FINISHED BY SARAH S. DANA."

STITCHES: satin
Label TextMourning pictures were a common way for schoolgirls to memorialize family members who had passed away. It was less common for the mourning picture to also be a memorial for the person who started it. Isabella and Sarah Dana both likely attended Mrs. Saunders and Miss Beach’s Academy in Dorchester, Massachusetts, where Isabella began this memorial for her father. However, she died before she could finish it, and Sarah completed the picture, adding the names of her mother and her sister to the memorial. She named both her daughters after Isabella.
InscribedThe large base contains the inscription, “In Memory/of/the Revd Josiah Dana obt Octr 1st 1801/AE 59 yrs/of Mrs Sarah Dana who died Novr 11th/1805 AE 51 yrs and of/Miss I. C. Dana who died Sepr 21st/1805 AE 16 yrs.”
“This device was begun by Isabella Caldwell Dana who died ere it was finished/“Early bright transient, chaste, as morning dew,/She sparkled, was exhal’d, and went to Heav’n.”’
MarkingsInscribed in gold on black eglomise mat -- "FINISHED BY SARAH S. DANA"
ProvenanceMade by Isabella Dana and Sarah Dana, ca. 1805.
Obtained by Katrina Kipper, Accord, MA;
Purchased by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, Accord, MA, for use in Bassett Hall, February 1935;
Given to CWF, 1979.

MAKER HISTORY:
Sarah Sumner Dana was the second daughter and youngest child of Reverend Josiah Dana (1742-1801) and his second wife Mrs. Sarah Sumner Caldwell Dana (1754-1805). A Congregational minister, Reverend Dana held degrees from Harvard, Yale, Brown, and Dartmouth and lived in Barre, Massachusetts from 1767 until his death in 1801. His first wife, Mercy Bridgham, died in 1787 at the birth of their twelfth child. Reverend Dana married in 1788 Mrs. Sarah Sumner Caldwell, and they had two daughters: Isabella Caldwell Dana and Sarah Sumner Dana (May 13, 1791-March 1, 1867).

Sarah and Isabella likely attended Mrs. Saunders and Miss Beach’s Academy in Dorchester, Massachusetts, which is where they undoubtedly embroidered this picture.Isabella started the mourning picture, though she sadly died before she could complete it.

Sarah went on to marry Major Thomas Bellows (1779-1825) of Walpole, New Hampshire in September, 1812. They had two daughters, Isabella Caldwell Bellows (1813-1819) and Sarah Isabella Bellows (1820-1866). Sarah moved in with her daughter of the same name after her daughter’s marriage to George W. Grant. She lived with them in Walpole, New Hampshire until her death on March 1, 1867.

Sarah Isabella Dana and George W. Grant had three children, Louisa (who died as a child), Helen, and Herbert.