Formal Flowers

Dateca. 1820

MediumPaint on velvet

DimensionsPrimary Support: 19 3/4 x 20 3/16in. (50.2 x 51.3cm); Unframed, i.e., solid tertiary support): 20 1/4 x 20 1/2in. (51.4 x 52.1cm); and Framed: 22 1/4 x 21 7/16 x 15/16in.

Credit LineGift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller

Object number1932.403.6

DescriptionA blue and brownish-red fluted urn holds a bouquet of roses, chrysanthemums, a tulip, and other blooms and foliage atop a dark base or slab. Artist unidentified.
The 1 1/2-inch gilded cyma recta frame is a period replacement.

Label TextThe number of surviving examples indicates that this was a popular stenciled design, but few of them are signed, making association with a particular school or region difficult. The best known version is ascribed to Lydia Hosmer of Concord, Massachusetts, and some of the others have been found or seen in Massachusetts, suggesting a common origin there. Interestingly, all of the others recorded to date include at least one bird in the composition; one of them includes three!
ProvenanceIsabel Carleton Wilde, Cambridge, Mass.; John Becker, New York, NY; Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, by whom given to CWF.