Images(2)

Needlework Picture by Unknown Maker

Date1800-1820

OriginEurope

MediumSilk and chenille threads on a silk ground, wood, glass

DimensionsFramed OH: 10" x OW: 12"

Credit LineGift of Mr. & Mrs. James Dunn Borg.

Object number1988-286

DescriptionThis is framed needlework picture worked with silk threads and chenille on a silk ground. The scene shows two beggars, a seated man and woman, who sit in front of a landscape of cottages and trees. The woman wears a brown hat, pale yellow gown, and blue apron. She holds a pot in her lap. The man wears a baggy brown jacket and calf-length trousers. He wears a bag over his shoulder and holds a hat on his lap.

Stitches: couched, satinLabel TextThis needlework picture, which depicts two beggars, is different from contemporaneous American and British examples in its subject and stitching style. It serves as a representation of what was happening in the world of amateur needlework in continental Europe as girls in American academies made grand needlework pictures of classical and Biblical scenes.ProvenanceFamily provenance, gathered by Linda Baumgarten in May, 1988, states that the picture was brought to America in the 1850s by William Clos, who immigrated from Switzerland.