Stanwood Family Silk Embroidered Memorial,
Massachusetts or New York,
circa 1805

Sight size:
12" x 18"

Price: $9400

Enlarged and Printer Version

The death of George Washington in December of 1799 sparked a national vogue for public mourning that endured for decades. In keeping with this, young ladies attending schools, academies and seminaries worked stylish silk embroidered and watercolored pictures dedicated to departed family members. After they were framed with black and gold eglomise mats and fine gold leaf frames, they were hung in parlours as proof of the young ladies' education and the families' fashionably proper attitude.

This handsome example is dedicated to the memory of several members of the family of Captain Lemuel Stanwood of Gloucester, Massachusetts and New York, New York. Born in 1771, Capt. Stanwood distinguished himself when still a young man for his bravery on the seas as his ship, Brig Chatham, was accosted by French privateers. He was a member of the New York Marine Society and the Independent Royal Arch Lodge of Masons. The early deaths of Captain Stanwood, in 1801, and his wife Janet Lamb, in 1802, along with some of their children are recorded on this silk embroidery. A surviving daughter or perhaps a niece was the likely needleworker and the two children depicted are probably specific family members.

In 1899, family member Ethel Stanwood Bolton wrote A History of the Stanwood Family in America, which included much information about this branch of the family. Interestingly, the author went on in 1921 to write (with Eva Johnston Coe) the groundbreaking book, American Samplers, a comprehensive survey of American samplers organized by the Massachusetts Society of the Colonial Dames of America.

Worked in silk and watercolor on silk, the Stanwood family embroidery is in excellent condition with a later eglomise mat and gold leaf frame.

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