Lot Essay
This canvaswork picture belongs to 18th century Boston's most important group of colonial "Fishing Lady" pictures. Although lacking the central flirtatious couple from which the group derives its name, other motifs such as the horseman, stags and hounds are found in works associated with this school.
The "Fishing Lady" needleworks were stitched by daughters of prosperous New Englanders who were sent to Boston for schooling. Learning the basic elements of sewing was important to every young girl regardless of her social position. The skilled work represented here was only available to those who could afford the proper training. Fancy canvasworks were thought of as a final accomplishment, or the culmination of a girl's education. These were a means of attracting an eligible suitor. The subjects of the needleworks were chosen with specific intent as parents would plan picnics and fishing expeditions to the countryside for young couples to mingle.
In both subject matter and style, these pictures show a strong English influence and a desire for the colonial families to associate their taste with England. The hunt scene depicted in this needlework is an adaptation based upon The Chase (1726) and an English engraving by B. Baron after a series of prints by John Wooton (1678-1765), a popular English painter of hunting and racing themes.
These same horsemen are found in another "Fishing Lady" by Mary Avery, dated 1748, and a chimney piece attributed to "Miss Derby" The Magazine Antiques (August 1923) p. 73, fig. 7 & 8, and the house with picket fence in the Lowell chimney piece in the same issue, p. 72, fig. 5. The horsemen also appear in another chimney piece by Sarah Warren (1730-1797) of Barnstable, Massachusetts illustrated in The Magazine Antiques, (July 1941) p. 28, fig. 1, and in an example illustrated in The Magazine Antiques, (December 1941) p. 367, fig. 1 which is anonymous but also dated 1748 now in the collection of the Winterthur Museum. It is the chimney pieces that combine all of the associated motifs in one large grouping; the smaller needleworks deal with a single subject thus providing a connection between the small pieces and the larger group of "Fishing Lady" scenes.
For further information regarding the "Fishing Lady" group see Helen Bowen, "The Fishing Lay and the Boston Common," The Magazine Antiques (August 1923) pp. 70-73; Nancy Graves Cabot, "The Fishing Lady Embroideries," The Magazine Antiques (December 1941) pp. 367-369; Cabot, "Engravings as Pattern Sources," The Magazine Antiques (December 1950) pp. 476-481; Betty Ring, "Girlhood Embroidery: American Samplers and Pictorial Needlework," 1650-1850 (Boston, 1993), pp. 45-53.
The "Fishing Lady" needleworks were stitched by daughters of prosperous New Englanders who were sent to Boston for schooling. Learning the basic elements of sewing was important to every young girl regardless of her social position. The skilled work represented here was only available to those who could afford the proper training. Fancy canvasworks were thought of as a final accomplishment, or the culmination of a girl's education. These were a means of attracting an eligible suitor. The subjects of the needleworks were chosen with specific intent as parents would plan picnics and fishing expeditions to the countryside for young couples to mingle.
In both subject matter and style, these pictures show a strong English influence and a desire for the colonial families to associate their taste with England. The hunt scene depicted in this needlework is an adaptation based upon The Chase (1726) and an English engraving by B. Baron after a series of prints by John Wooton (1678-1765), a popular English painter of hunting and racing themes.
These same horsemen are found in another "Fishing Lady" by Mary Avery, dated 1748, and a chimney piece attributed to "Miss Derby" The Magazine Antiques (August 1923) p. 73, fig. 7 & 8, and the house with picket fence in the Lowell chimney piece in the same issue, p. 72, fig. 5. The horsemen also appear in another chimney piece by Sarah Warren (1730-1797) of Barnstable, Massachusetts illustrated in The Magazine Antiques, (July 1941) p. 28, fig. 1, and in an example illustrated in The Magazine Antiques, (December 1941) p. 367, fig. 1 which is anonymous but also dated 1748 now in the collection of the Winterthur Museum. It is the chimney pieces that combine all of the associated motifs in one large grouping; the smaller needleworks deal with a single subject thus providing a connection between the small pieces and the larger group of "Fishing Lady" scenes.
For further information regarding the "Fishing Lady" group see Helen Bowen, "The Fishing Lay and the Boston Common," The Magazine Antiques (August 1923) pp. 70-73; Nancy Graves Cabot, "The Fishing Lady Embroideries," The Magazine Antiques (December 1941) pp. 367-369; Cabot, "Engravings as Pattern Sources," The Magazine Antiques (December 1950) pp. 476-481; Betty Ring, "Girlhood Embroidery: American Samplers and Pictorial Needlework," 1650-1850 (Boston, 1993), pp. 45-53.