The Full Basket

Dateca. 1825

MediumPaint on cotton velvet

DimensionsUnframed: 15 15/16 x 18 1/2in. (40.5 x 47cm) and Framed: 17 1/2 x 20 1/2in.

Credit LineGift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller

Object number1932.403.3

DescriptionA still life of fruits in a basket,centered on a fringed table mat.
Label TextAlthough these stencils are not the ones used in the creation of The Full Basket (seen to the right), they were utilized in painting theorems of the same subject. The three stencils are not from a single set, but are individual pieces from different sets that vary slightly in composition. Period instruction manuals outlined the process for making stencils, and by 1835, ready-made stencils could be purchased from art instructors. Multiple sheets of prepared paper were used in theorem painting. The first piece was placed on top of a selected image, so that the design could be traced and the parts of the composition could be individually marked. Subsequent pieces were layered overtop of the tracing, one at a time, until all parts of the design were cut out. Great care was given to the creation of these patterns, which according to one author, if done correctly, would “last equal to 25–30 sketches.”

The paints used in creating theorems could likewise be made by hand or purchased. They include common pigments like Prussian blue, chrome greens and yellows, carmine (or red), as well as gum Arabic, a binder used in watercolor painting. Colonial Williamsburg’s stencils contain traces of several of these popular pigments.
For more information on how theorem stencils were used, please view the video on the wall to the left.

ProvenanceFound in Boston by Edith Gregor Halpert, Downtown Gallery, New York, NY, and purchased from Halpert by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller

Exhibition(s)