Charity

Artist Miriam Buttrick 1796

Date1812

Terms

Samplers
Glass
Gilt
Silk Fiber
Pine
Paint
Boston

Dimensions50.5 × 45 cm (19 7/8 × 17 11/16 in.)

MarkingsGilt inscription "Wrought by Meriam [sic] Buttrick Concord 1812/ CHARITY."

Credit LineAnonymous Gift; Gift of Neil and Anna Rasmussen; Gift of George and Lisa Foote; Gift of the Cummings Davis Society; Anonymous Gift; Gift of Barbara Elliott; Gift of Seymour A. DiMare and Paula Hatfield DiMare; Gift of Randy and Sue Rettberg (2004)

Object number1998.22

DescriptionNeedlework and watercolor on silk ground; gilt frame with gilt and black painted glass mat. Needlework picture worked in silk threads in a variety of stitches, including French knot and satin stitches, on a silk ground, the subject an allegorical representation of Charity as a female figure holding a baby and offering bread to a boy, another child sheltered in her robe. A tree on the left overhangs the scene, and in the background are buildings and a row of trees. The sky is painted on the silk ground, as are the hands and faces of the figures. The glass mat is painted in black with a gilt inner border, gilt leaf ornaments in the spandrels. The original gilt frame has rope molding in a channel.

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