Almira Earle
Memorial Embroidered Picture

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Memorial Embroidered Picture
Datec. 1815–1820
Made inMilton, Massachusetts, United States
MediumSilk taffeta, silk and silk chenille threads, and watercolor
Dimensions26 × 26 in. (66 × 66 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.70.52
Current Location
The Caroline Wiess Law Building
200 Brown Gallery
Exposé

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

The Winthrop Earle family of Milton, Massachusetts, was struck twice by death in the fall of 1807 (see Inscribed). It is natural to assume that the four remaining Earle family members, seen in this picture flanking a tomb, were recorded shortly after the deaths in 1807. However, logic, fashions, and childhood development suggest another scenario. The surviving Earle daughter, Almira, was only seven years old when the double deaths occurred and probably did not yet possess needlework skills sufficient to accomplish this sophisticated picture. Second, both Almira and two of her younger brothers, Theodore (1801–1821/22) and Otis (1805–1830), are depicted here as young adults, not children. Finally, the style of apparel worn by both sexes dates to around 1815 or shortly thereafter, suggesting the picture was also completed at this time. Almira may have executed this work at a New England girls' school. It follows a compositional formula also seen in many related examples: the mourners are placed in a familiar, if somewhat artificial, landscape with a weeping willow tree, and scattered about are a church, several public buildings, and waterways.

Technical notes: Silk taffeta ground; silk and silk chenille embroidery threads; watercolor. The embroidery is worked in split, stem, satin, back, and French knot stitches.

Book excerpt: David B. Warren, Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff. American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998.


Provenance[Elizabeth R. Daniel, Gooseneck Antiques, Chapel Hill, North Carolina], as of 1966; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, September 1, 1966; given to MFAH, 1970.
Exhibition History

Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Inscribed on tombstone: Sacred / to the / memory / of / Mr. Winthrop Earle, / who died October 18th, 1807, aged 33 years. / A husband kind and good, a parent dear, / To all obliging, and to all sincere, / True to his God, the orphan's friend and guide / He liv'd beloved and lamented died. / Horace, who died May 2nd, 1800, aged 22 / months, and Eliza who died November 3d, / 1807, aged 4 years; children of Mr. / Winthrop and Mrs. Persis Earle. / To these, so mourn'd in death, so lov'd in life, / The lonesome parent, and the widow'd wife, / With tears inscribe this monu-mental stone, / That holds their ashes and expects her own
[no marks]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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