Stumpwork embroidery of a goose

1825-1860

Maker

Probably Eliza Naudain Corbit (1810-1844)

Measurements

Frame: 9-1/2 in x 10-1/4 in x 3/4 in (sight, 6 in x 6-7/8 in)

Materials

Silk, linen

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation, gift of Barbara Nowland Allison

Accession Number

2016.69

Condition Notes

The needlework has minor staining and discoloration of the linen.

Provenance

The panel descended in the Daniel Corbit family with another panel (accession no. 2016.70) from Eliza Naudain Corbit (1810-1844) to Louisa Anderson Corbit Corbit (1838-1901) to Eliza Naudain Corbit Lea (1861-1945) to Louise Corbit Lea Nowland (1898-1989) to the donor.

Comments

The stumpwork embroidery shows a goose (perhaps a Canada goose) amid three green- and yellow marsh grasses or similar foliage.  It stands on a yellow-orange ground, perhaps intended to represent water or marshy soil.  A crab appears in the foreground, immediately in front of brick-like stitching rendered in a sand color.  The image is within a necklace-like circle of colorful beads, itself within a complex C scroll edge.  The goose and beads are stuffed to raise them from the surface of the linen canvas.  The embroidery displays a wide range of complex knots and stitches.  The canvas has been cut to conform to the scrolled edge.  The entire composition is stitched onto a 20th century pale greenish-blue background cloth.

This unusual and expertly worked embroidery has little precedent in America making accurate identification problematic, including its time of execution.

This panel is paired with a similar embroidery, the other showing a peacock.  It is accession no. 2016.70.