Connecticut Needlework: Women, Art, and Family, 1740-1840 [Paperback]

Susan P. Schoelwer (Author), Kate Steinway (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 31, 2010

Connecticut women have long been noted for their creation of colorful and distinctive needlework, including samplers and family registers, bed rugs and memorial pictures, crewel-embroidered bed hangings and garments, silk-embroidered pictures of classical or religious scenes, quilted petticoats and bedcovers, and whitework dresses and linens. This volume offers the first regional study, encompassing the full range of needle arts produced prior to 1840. Seventy entries showcase more than one hundred fascinating examples--many never before published--from the Connecticut Historical Society's extensive collection of this early American art form. Produced almost exclusively by women and girls, the needle arts provide an illuminating vantage point for exploring early American women's history and education, including family-based traditions predating the establishment of formal academies after the American Revolution. Extensive genealogical research reveals unseen family connections linking various types of needlework, similar to the multi-generational male workshops documented for other artisan trades, such as woodworking or metalsmithing. Photographs of stitches, reverse sides, sketches, design sources, and related works enhance our understanding and appreciation of this fragile art form and the talented women who created it. An exhibition of needlework in this book will be held at the Connecticut Historical Society in late fall, 2010. Funding for this project has been provided by the Coby Foundation, Ltd., and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The works are beautifully presented, each with its own large, full-color photo." --Maine Antique Digest

Review

"Connecticut Needlework is Susan Schoelwer's third remarkable book in scarcely a decade and a comprehensive catalog of inestimable value to collectors and curators. It is a seminal work of incredible depth that projects women's domestic art into the pantheon of invaluable cultural documents." (Sumpter Priddy, author of American Fancy: Exuberance in the Arts 1790-1840 )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Connecticut Historical Society (October 31, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1881264122
• ISBN-13: 978-1881264125
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 9.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #937,220 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Connecticut Needlework, April 18, 2011

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This review is from: Connecticut Needlework: Women, Art, and Family, 1740-1840 (Hardcover)

This is an extraordinarily handsome book, illustrated with dozens of full page, full color reproductions of specific embroidery examples drawn from the collection of the Connecticut Historical Society. Numerous examples of clothing, bedding, and samplers are included. (Fortunately the samplers, while often lovely, are not overly emphasized here. Although I'm always happy to see early American and European samplers, hundreds of more-or-less similar examples are very well represented in many other publications. Therefore, I was relieved to see that space was saved here for all the other examples of early needlework in Connecticut.) The book includes detailed captions accompanying each example, as well as a substantial introductory essay that outlines the history of needlework in Connecticut during the mid-18th and early-19th centuries. Throughout, the writing is informed, clear, and lively. I find myself returning to this book almost daily, and am continually impressed and refreshed by its blend of scholarship and beauty.