Images(9)

Crewelwork Panel

Dateca. 1765

OriginAmerica, New England

MediumCrewel wool embroidery threads on a linen ground (fiber identification by eye)

DimensionsOH: 56" x OH: 8"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Friends of Colonial Williamsburg Collections Fund

Object number2022-78

DescriptionThis is a crewelwork, rectangular panel worked in pink, yellow, beige, and green crewel wool embroidery threads on a plain-weave linen ground. The pattern consists of fruits, flowers, and leaves on a scrolling vine. The crewel embroidered panel may have been intended for a petticoat border.
Stitches: bullion knots, chain, flat stitch (New England laid), satin, and stemLabel TextThis crewelwork panel showcases the imaginative embroidered compositions created by New England needlewomen in their homes during the mid-eighteenth century. The panel features individual motifs typically associated with the crewelwork tradition of New England--stylized, fanning carnations; pairs of symmetrical, serrated leaves; grape clusters; and large, solid-colored buds running along an attenuated, curling vine. The panel may have been intended for a petticoat border. Underpetticoats were sometimes personalized with embroidery or quilting patterns.ProvenanceEx. collection Audrey and Tom Monahan; acquired by the Monahans through Grace Stammers. See: THE AUDREY AND TOM MONAHAN COLLECTION: PILGRIM-CENTURY AMERICAN FURNITURE AND RELATED DECORATIVE ARTS, FEATURING NEW ENGLAND EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY NEEDLEWORK. sale catalog, Northeast Auctions, 2001.