Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: The Museum Year 2012

The Acquisitions

David and Roberta Logie Department of Textile and Fashion Arts: July 2011–June 2012


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Embroidered Picture

early 19th century
Nancey Wyett Whitney
Framed: 20 x 22 in. (50.8 x 55.9 cm) Unframed: 14 1/2 x 16 in. (36.8 x 40.6 cm)
Silk plain weave embroidered with silk in couching, knot, satin and split stitches, hand painted with gouache

Classification: Textiles

Culture: American, Wrentham, Massachusetts

Accession number: 2011.2230

Description: Embroidered silk picture of young couple in the country; woman sitting in a tree wearing a gold dress in the center. To her left there is a dog. To her right a boy is sitting with a basket in his lap and also presenting the woman with a basket. In the background there are rolling hills, houses, a sky at dusk and trees with detailed leaves. Frame and strainer appear to be original. Frame has three sections: outer border is gold-colored and molded. Middle border is black and has the words "WROUGHT BY NANCEY W. WHITNEY AT WRENTHAM ACADEMY" in gold lettering. Inner border is thin and gold. Handwritten label on back: "Nancy Wyatt (?) Whitney was the sister of my (Margaret T. Whittemore Lee) great grandmother (Julia Ann Whitney) who married Benjamin Allen Tillinghast in 1821-Aunt Nancy had the old house in East Greenwich"

Provenance/Ownership History: June 30, 2011, by inheritance from Margaret Cross to Jane Cross; 2011, gift of Jane Cross to the MFA (Accession date: December 30, 2011)

Gift of Jane Cross in memory of Margaret Cross