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Needlework Pitcture 2003-153
Needlework Picture, Justice, by Unknown Maker
Needlework Pitcture 2003-153

Needlework Picture, Justice, by Unknown Maker

DateCa. 1810
OriginAmerica, Virginia, Petersburg (possibly)
MediumSilk, gouache and watercolor on silk (fiber identification by lab)
DimensionsFramed: OH: 16 1/2" x OW: 13 1/2"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number2003-153,A&B
DescriptionThis is a framed needlework picture of silk threads, gouache, and watercolor on silk, consisting of an oval pictorial reserve bordered by a series of S-scrolls and set within a rectangular field. The oval contains a figure of "Justice" carrying scales and a sword, republican symbols for equality under the law. She is seated in a pastoral landscape beneath a tree, and the picture is completed by a whimsical owl, representing wisdom, who surveys the scene perched atop a tree stump. The silk is complemented by watercolor and gouache highlights. Her face, neck, and arms are painted instead of stitched.

Stitches: satin
Label TextCompositions for American needlework often took inspiration from allegorical figures, classical heroes, and Biblical stories. This silk embroidered and painted picture on silk was worked by a daughter of the Munford family of Petersburg, Virginia. The subject, the allegorical figure of justice, is carrying scales and a sword, republican symbols for equality under the law and power. The picture is completed by a whimsical owl representing wisdom that surveys the scene from a perch atop a tree stump. The direct design source for this picture has not been identified, although numerous illustrations of the figure of justice were published in the first decades of the new Republic.
ProvenanceThis embroidery was made by an unidentified daughter of the Munford family of Petersburg, Virginia, and descended to the current owners along with a sterling cruet frame, made in London by Samuel Wood in 1752/53 and bearing the Munford family arms.

Members of the Petersburg branch of the Munford family are buried in St. Paul's Church in Petersburg. James Munford and Elizabeth Bolling are the patriarch and matriarch of this group, who then moved to other parts of Virginia and Georgia in following generations. It has thus far not proven possible to identify which individual in this branch of the Munford family made this needlework picture.