Lot Essay
This needlework picture descended in the Child family of Boston and is one of a group categorized as "Fishing-Lady" scenes. Coined in the 1920s, the term refers to the flirtatious gathering of couples set in an abundant landscape attending to various activities. Needleworks of this type are associated with a school in Boston in the mid-18th century, and were wrought by girls whose homes were as far away as Maine, but who, through ties to family or friends, traveled to the city to attend finishing school. The various fishing-lady subjects were selected not haphazardly, but with a particular association in mind. To provide opportunities for young couples to mingle, parents would plan picnics and fishing expeditions into the countryside. It is not surprising then that these images would be represented in needleworks that were meant to assist in the process of and suggest courtship.
Learning rudimentary plain sewing was important to every young girl regardless of her social position. The skilled command of a needle was attained only by the proper training, available to privileged young ladies from prosperous New England families. Fancy canvas works or tapestry works, to which they were also referred, were wrought as final accomplishments upon completion of a girls' training. Serving as an entre into adulthood, these respected testaments to a woman's abilities served as temptations to eligible suitors in the ritual of courtship. An industrious female, attentive to her needle and thread, was an attractive subject, admired by gentleman and captured on canvas by Gilbert Stuart in his painting of Miss Vick and Her Cousin, Miss Foster of 1787-1792, now in a private collection. The intent of a finely wrought needlework to lure prospective husbands was evident, and is brought forth in this verse from 1784, "And Man acknowledges, in all his pride, Needles attract, when our fair fingers guide." It is worth noting that the woman who wrought this piece not only displayed her talent at needlework, but chose to depict a young lady fulfilling her womanly duties as she spun wool (see Susan Burrows Swan, Plain and Fancy, (New York, 1977).
The two figures rendered in this scene are found on other panels either alone as illustrated here, or as a tripartitite grouping for longer chimney pieces. Although not fishing, the group certainly intimates the same type of wishful encounter. Motifs used on this example are evident on other needleworks produced from the same school, and were likely borrowed from English print sources. There are at least two related examples with shared images at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Winterthur Museum, both of which are chimney pieces. A more closely related single panel canvas work, also at Winterthur, by family tradition, was passed down in the Whipple family of Salem and is illustrated in A Winterthur Guide to American Needlework, (New York, 1976), p. 38. The young ladies who made the latter needlework and the example offered here, undoubtedly attended school together as their selection and placement of motifs is nearly identical in every way. Each illustrates the central figures flanked by overhanging trees laden with similary perched birds. In both, the man carries a staff and bundle with a dog at his feet, and the woman sits upon a mound with a drop spindle and a basket, tent, and sheep off to her side. A path leads behind them up to a wooden gate with a red house situated beyond.
The colors selected for this canvas work include various hues of green, red, blue, violet, brown and black. With time, the purple attire of the man has turned to blue and the yellow has left the green of the landscape to appear more bluish in color. Worked in a tent stitch, ideal for tight designs, the front appears orderly, while the back is characteristically messy, with threads pulled between color patches and knots left bunched in place. This manner of execution was typical of needleworks produced in the 18th century, and it was not until the Victorian era that the backs of finished pieces were neatly trimmed.
See Helen Bowen, "The Fishing Lady and Boston Common," Antiques, (August, 1923), pp. 70-73; Nancy Graves Cabot, "The Fishing Lady and Boston Common," Antiques, (July, 1941), pp. 28-31; Cabot, "Engravings and Embroideries," Antiques, (December, 1941), pp. 367-369; Cabot, "Engravings as Pattern Sources," Antiques, (December, 1950), pp. 476-481; Swan, Plain and Fancy.
Learning rudimentary plain sewing was important to every young girl regardless of her social position. The skilled command of a needle was attained only by the proper training, available to privileged young ladies from prosperous New England families. Fancy canvas works or tapestry works, to which they were also referred, were wrought as final accomplishments upon completion of a girls' training. Serving as an entre into adulthood, these respected testaments to a woman's abilities served as temptations to eligible suitors in the ritual of courtship. An industrious female, attentive to her needle and thread, was an attractive subject, admired by gentleman and captured on canvas by Gilbert Stuart in his painting of Miss Vick and Her Cousin, Miss Foster of 1787-1792, now in a private collection. The intent of a finely wrought needlework to lure prospective husbands was evident, and is brought forth in this verse from 1784, "And Man acknowledges, in all his pride, Needles attract, when our fair fingers guide." It is worth noting that the woman who wrought this piece not only displayed her talent at needlework, but chose to depict a young lady fulfilling her womanly duties as she spun wool (see Susan Burrows Swan, Plain and Fancy, (New York, 1977).
The two figures rendered in this scene are found on other panels either alone as illustrated here, or as a tripartitite grouping for longer chimney pieces. Although not fishing, the group certainly intimates the same type of wishful encounter. Motifs used on this example are evident on other needleworks produced from the same school, and were likely borrowed from English print sources. There are at least two related examples with shared images at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Winterthur Museum, both of which are chimney pieces. A more closely related single panel canvas work, also at Winterthur, by family tradition, was passed down in the Whipple family of Salem and is illustrated in A Winterthur Guide to American Needlework, (New York, 1976), p. 38. The young ladies who made the latter needlework and the example offered here, undoubtedly attended school together as their selection and placement of motifs is nearly identical in every way. Each illustrates the central figures flanked by overhanging trees laden with similary perched birds. In both, the man carries a staff and bundle with a dog at his feet, and the woman sits upon a mound with a drop spindle and a basket, tent, and sheep off to her side. A path leads behind them up to a wooden gate with a red house situated beyond.
The colors selected for this canvas work include various hues of green, red, blue, violet, brown and black. With time, the purple attire of the man has turned to blue and the yellow has left the green of the landscape to appear more bluish in color. Worked in a tent stitch, ideal for tight designs, the front appears orderly, while the back is characteristically messy, with threads pulled between color patches and knots left bunched in place. This manner of execution was typical of needleworks produced in the 18th century, and it was not until the Victorian era that the backs of finished pieces were neatly trimmed.
See Helen Bowen, "The Fishing Lady and Boston Common," Antiques, (August, 1923), pp. 70-73; Nancy Graves Cabot, "The Fishing Lady and Boston Common," Antiques, (July, 1941), pp. 28-31; Cabot, "Engravings and Embroideries," Antiques, (December, 1941), pp. 367-369; Cabot, "Engravings as Pattern Sources," Antiques, (December, 1950), pp. 476-481; Swan, Plain and Fancy.