Charleston Loan Exhibition

49 In antebellum America, the majority of pictorial-embroidery projects undertaken by young, unmarried women depict biblical scenes, mythological or classical subjects or figures from contemporary literature. A remarkable exception is the painted and silk-embroidered portrait of a young woman seated at a table upon which rest a globe and open map of South Carolina. Despite its diminutive scale, the map accurately records in watercolor the state’s districts as they existed together in 1791. The girl points to Charleston’s location on the map using one of the legs of a cartographer’s divider. The original linen strips used to mount the embroidery onto a frame for working are still attached to the delicate silk fabric. Along the top strip, the surname “Gildersleeve” has been cross-stitched. The survival of this element is important because it has allowed textile historians to attribute the em- broidery—if not the drawing and painted details—to Emma Louisa Lanneau (1804–1859), daughter of Hannah Vineyard (1768–1847) and Bazile Lanneau (or Lanoue, 1746–1833). Bazile Lanneau was deported along with his mother and brother from Canada during the Acadian expulsion of 1755. Finding himself an orphan soon after arriving in Charleston, Lanneau was befriended by the prominent Henry Laurens, who arranged his apprenticeship. Successful in his business, real estate ventures and as a state legislator, Lanneau was certainly wealthy enough to afford to hire the services of an unknown artist—who, judging from the fineness of the drawing of the map, also may have been a miniaturist—to create a watercolor sketch for his daughter, Emma Louisa, to embroider. The style of gown and possible pelisse and multiple ruffs at the neck of the sitter suggest a date of about 1820 to 1825. In late 1825/early 1826, clergyman Benjamin Gildersleeve arrived in Charleston from Georgia and in August of 1828, Gildersleeve and Emma Louisa Lanneau were married. Emma Louisa never completed her embroidery, and the face of the sitter, who may have been Emma Louisa herself, was redrawn and overpainted. KS Attributed to Emma Louisa Lanneau Gildersleeve (American, 1804–1859) Embroidery Charleston, SC, ca. 1820/1825 Silk with linen mounts H. 22 x W. 24 inches Stitched top middle: Gildersleeve (in cross-stitch); signed back top right: T (in ink) Lent by The Rivers Collection, Charleston, SC