The Diligent Needle The Diligent Needle
  • Home
    • Acknowledgements
  • Diligence
    • Specimens of Needlework
    • Sewing exercises
    • Darning sampler
    • Linen shirt
    • Handkerchief
    • Sampler
      • Portrait of Mary Elizabeth Hiester
    • Canvaswork picture
    • Whitework sampler
  • Profit
    • Quilted petticoat
    • Advertisements
    • Rebozo
    • Bedcover medallion
    • The Ascension of Christ
    • Mantle
    • Catalogue of Art Needlework of Quality
  • Pleasure
    • Bedcover center
    • Embroidered waistcoat
    • Embroidered bedcover
    • Hearth rug
    • Needlework picture
  • Ornament
    • Work bag
    • Petticoat border
    • Embroidered pockets
    • Canvaswork fire screen
    • Plush stitch cushion cover
    • Embroidered chair cover
    • Table cover
    • Crewelwork picture
      • Crewelwork placemats
  • Home
    • Acknowledgements
  • Diligence
    • Specimens of Needlework
    • Sewing exercises
    • Darning sampler
    • Linen shirt
    • Handkerchief
    • Sampler
      • Portrait of Mary Elizabeth Hiester
    • Canvaswork picture
    • Whitework sampler
  • Profit
    • Quilted petticoat
    • Advertisements
    • Rebozo
    • Bedcover medallion
    • The Ascension of Christ
    • Mantle
    • Catalogue of Art Needlework of Quality
  • Pleasure
    • Bedcover center
    • Embroidered waistcoat
    • Embroidered bedcover
    • Hearth rug
    • Needlework picture
  • Ornament
    • Work bag
    • Petticoat border
    • Embroidered pockets
    • Canvaswork fire screen
    • Plush stitch cushion cover
    • Embroidered chair cover
    • Table cover
    • Crewelwork picture
      • Crewelwork placemats

Bedcover center

Made by Sarah Furman Warner Williams

Full view of the decorative center of a bedcover.
Detail of the top of the bedcover.
Detail of the nativity scene.
Buildings with animals in the foreground.

This appliqué picture was once the center of a decorative bedcover. Its maker, Sarah Furman Warner Williams (1764‒?), is known to have made at least four others. One of the four commemorates the marriage of Sarah’s younger cousin, Phebe Berrian Warner, in 1803. A second was created for her niece Susannah Nexsen Warner, in honor of her marriage in about 1816. Sadly, no information survives that documents for whom this particular example was made. Sarah had many younger cousins, nieces, and nephews but no children of her own.

 

Decorative center from a bedcover
Made by Sarah Furman Warner Williams
New York City; 1800‒1810
Cotton
1959.1496 Bequest of Henry Francis du Pont

Needlework has historically been central to a young woman’s education. The Diligent Needle: Instrument of Profit, Pleasure, and Ornament features the plain and fancy sewing of skilled women.

This exhibition was curated by Linda Eaton and was on view in the Winterthur Galleries from August 2014 to July 2015.

 

 

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