Picture, Needlework

Object Name:

Picture, Needlework

Object ID:

1946.003

Creator:

Gerrish, Lydia (1793-1868)

Place of Origin:

Portsmouth, NH

Date:

1816

Description:

Mourning picture dedicated to Timothy Gerrish (1756-1815). Made by Lydia Gerrish (1793-1868), Portsmouth, NH, c. 1816. Silk-on-silk embroidery, with watercolor. Picture depicts a young woman in a white neoclassical dress, with a shawl draped over one arm. She points to Heaven, and stands at a tomb faced with a silk ribbon that is printed, "TO THE / MEMORY / OF / Timothy Gerrish. / OBT. DEC. 30, 1815, AET 60." A weeping willow tree is embroidered on the right side; a low tree or bush appears on the left side of the tomb, and more trees are in the background. The sky and the face, hair, and arms of the female figure are painted, and the rest of the picture is embroidered with silk floss in shades of cream, brown, and green, with long-and-short, satin, outline, and chain stitches. The leaves of the trees and bushes on the left side of the picture are embroidered with hundreds of tiny French knots. The picture retains its original reverse-painted glass cover and gilded frame. The glass is painted with a black and gold "mat," with the artist's name at the lower center in script letters: "By Lydia Gerrish." Old printed label on back of frame reads: "FROM / MRS. GORDON WOODBURY / BOX 148 / MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE."

Material:

Textile
Silk

Dimensions:

H-17.4 W-20.4 inches

Provenance:

Needlework mourning piece wrought by Lydia Gerrish (1793-1868) in memory of her father, Timothy Gerrish (1756-1815) of Portsmouth, NH.

Credit Line:

Gift of Charlotte E. Woodbury

People:

Gerrish, Lydia (1793-1868), Gerrish, Timothy (1756-1815), Woodbury, Charlotte E. (1873-1966)

Subjects:

Mourning, Mourning works, Tombs & sepulchral monuments, Willows