Needlework Picture by Unknown Maker

Date1790-1820

MediumSilk and silk chenille embroidery threads on a cotton ground, linen (fiber identification by eye)

DimensionsOW: 22 1/2" x OH: 22"

Credit LineGift of Mary B. Digges.

Object number1999-9

DescriptionThis is a nearly-square needlework picture worked in shades of gold, yellow, brown, blue, green, black, grey, ivory, purple, red, and pink silk and silk chenille threads on a cotton ground. The embroidery is worked through cotton and a back layer of linen. The picture consists of a centered bird perched on a limb. In the left and right bottom corners are birds perched on limbs facing inward towards a centered basket of flowers. The rest of the picture consists of randomly placed motifs, as if the picture was a sampler of embroidery designs. The motifs include butterflies and bugs, baskets, vases and sprigs of flowers, birds, a beehive, a cluster of grapes, a cottage scene, and bow & arrows. A border of what was originally ten rows of chenille threads is stitched on all four sides.

Stitches: bullion, couched, French knots, outline, satin, stem
Label TextThis needlework picture of mysterious origins may have been made in France between 1790 and 1820. It presents a variety of delicately stitched birds, flowers, fruit, buildings, and baskets as individual motifs, resulting in a needlework picture that combines an 18th-century embroidery style with a 17th-century spot sampler format.
ProvenanceUnknown, gift of Mary B. Digges