Object Details
- Description
- After a young lady learned to embroider a sampler, she might attend a female academy to make a silk embroidered picture. This was a more challenging technique that became popular in the early 1800s. Subjects included classical, biblical, and historical scenes, as well as mourning pictures.
- This rectangular embroidered picture portrays a young man and woman and a dog in a pastoral scene with a floral wreath border around all the edges. The man and woman are in Regency style clothing. The faces, dark curly hair, arms, and hands are painted, as is the sky background. The floral border is elaborate, with much detail. The glass mat, which has been removed, has a reverse one-inch band painted black with a 1/4" gold band around the edges. In the lower band is the name SOPHIA HARSEN. The ground is ivory sheer cotton fabric, sewn to a silk satin after it was embroidered. The thread is silk floss and chenille and the stitches are laid, straight, and satin
- There is a Sophia Harsen born July 10, 1815, in New York City, New York. Further research is needed to find other silk embroidered pictures of this style worked with a provenance of New York City to substantiate this attribution.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Gift of Elizabeth G. Cooke estate
- ID Number
- 1989.0343.01
- catalog number
- 1989.0343.01
- accession number
- 1989.0343
- Object Name
- embroidered picture
- Physical Description
- silk (overall material)
- chenille (overall material)
- cotton (overall material)
- silk (thread material)
- glass (mat material)
- Measurements
- average spatial: 70.739 cm x 50.165 cm; 27 7/8 in x 19 3/4 in
- See more items in
- Home and Community Life: Textiles
- Embroidered Pictures
- Textiles
- National Museum of American History
- Record ID
- nmah_1066739
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a9-33eb-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
