53rd Annual Delaware Show

1 The resemblance to seventeenth-century needlework, coupled with the similarities to significantly later works, as discussed in this article, make it particularly challenging to date this piece. A wide date range of 1690–1740 is appropriate until further research can be done on needlework in the early colonial period. 2 The piece descended in the family Harry M. Wilson of Cumberland County, New Jersey; Wilson’s great-grandfather was William Carlisle, who, according to a death record, was originally from Delaware. Although no definitive link has been established between William Carlisle and the Carlisles of Sussex County, Delaware, there are instances of both families using the surname Pemberton as a first name for their sons, suggesting a common ancestry. See the 1850Maurice River, New Jersey, census record for William Carlisle, and Esther Littleford Woodworth-Barnes, “Captain Thomas Pemberton (ca. 1655–ca 1717) of Maryland and Delaware,” National Genealogical Society Quarterly: 265–269. Photocopied record, Family History Folders, “Pemberton,” Delaware Historical Society Research Library. For additional documentation of these findings and for further genealogical research, see Emelie Gevalt, “From England to Philadelphia: Distinguishing Influences from Origins in a Silkwork Picture,” Winterthur registrar files, 2016. 3 I am indebted to Gloria Seaman Allen, Cynthia Steinhoff, and Amy Finkel for these suggestions, in email correspondence with the author, April, 2016. 4 Linda Eaton, in conversation with the author, March 2016. 5 Linda Eaton, “Needlework and their Frames: Multimedia Objects. Winterthur Primer,” Antiques & Fine Art magazine (14th Anniversary, vol. XIII, no. 1): 268–270. 6 Further research is needed to determine whether these types of mounts are indicative of a specifically Philadelphia origin or simply of a Mid-Atlantic one. 7 Betty Ring, Girlhood Embroidery: American Samplers & Pictorial Needlework 1650–1850 (New York: Knopf, 1993): 354. 8 See Ring, 355, for the Ann Marsh sconce; see Winterthur object number 1966.1391A for another example of this subject. 9 Amanda Isaac, “Ann Flower’s Sketchbook: Drawing, Needlework, and Women’s Artistry in Colonial Philadelphia,” Winterthur Portfolio 41 (Summer/Autumn 2007): 152. 10 Ring, 332. Fig. 4. Needlework picture, detail, Sarah Wistar, 1752. Philadelphia. Museum purchase (1964.0120.002 A). Courtesy Winterthur Museum. — 104 —