Thomas Coat of Arms, circa 1786. By Mary Ann Thomas, born 1772, Boston, Mass.

 

American Schoolgirl Needlework

"When This You See, Remember Me"

NEW YORK CITY --Through February 18, The Metropolitan Museum of Art is presenting 50 outstanding samplers and needlework pictures from its collection.

"American Schoolgirl Needlework: When This You See, Remember Me" features works created between the 1740s and the 1850s by American girls who lived in locations ranging from Maine to Maryland. The exhibition explores the underlying messages behind the imagery and mottos stitched upon these highly evocative embroideries. Additionally, it examines the way these objects illustrate trends in female education and reveal the traditional role of women in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century American society.

The exhibition coincides with the opening of the Antonio Ratti Textile Center, a major study, storage, and conservation center for almost all of the 36,000 textiles in the Metropolitan Museum's collections.

The exhibition is organized in five sections: marking samplers, pictorial samplers, coats of arms, silk mourning pictures and family records, as well as needlework pictures.

The simplest type of embroideries, marking samplers, contain letters, numbers, and sometimes stylized motifs. They were made by young girls to practice both the alphabet and basic sewing techniques. A completed sampler of this type was referred back to when a young woman wanted to stitch identifying initials on her family's linens, or to embellish a household textile with a decorative motif.

Samplers intended for this purpose are represented by a number of pieces, including an unusual miniature made by Maria Lalor of New York City in 1793. It has stitched upon it both upper and lower case alphabets, numbers from one to ten, and a motto: "Virtue and Wisdom is Better than Beauty and Fortune."

The second section of the exhibition displays pictorial samplers, more complex works featuring both the traditional alphabet and basic stitchery, as well as charming scenes of nature, courting couples and idealized houses. This type of sampler was not as utilitarian as a marking sampler; often very decorative, it was meant for display. In 1830, Mary Ann Stauffer of East Hempfield Township, Lancaster County, Penn., sewed a large sampler as a gift for Henry and Veronica Musselman showing a large building with a steeple and a flock of resting sheep. She added a Bible verse in German and finished her masterpiece with a border of pink and green silk.

The third section of the show displays three rare embroidered coats of arms from New England, and the fourth section is comprised of silk mourning pictures and family records. This latter group includes two outstanding memorials made at the Folwell School of Philadelphia and a superbly crafted family record made by Hannah B. Loring (1800-1868) at Miss Perkin's Academy, Boston, in 1812.

The final section displays needlework pictures. Such works often featured images that were derived from popular engravings, such as Mary Wright's embroidered "Spring" (1754), which was undoubtedly inspired by a series of prints showing the four seasons.

The completion of a needlework picture was considered the crowning achievement of a girl's education. A beautifully finished needlework picture was the parents' proof that they had invested wisely in educating their daughter. In addition, these objects, which were meant to be framed and hung as decoration in the most important rooms of the house, were clear signals to potential suitors that the young ladies who had sewn them were accomplished, refined and ready for marriage.

The exhibition was organized by associate curator Amelia Peck.