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Stephen & Carol Huber:  Dealers in antique needlework samplers, silk embroidery, cross stitch, tapestries.


My Jewels huber embroidery

CORNELIA, MOTHER OF THE GRACCHI
"THESE ARE MY JEWELS"
Boston, Massachusetts area circa 1810

Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi, was a popular subject for young New England ladies to embroider. The embroidery depicts a second-century BC Roman matron, Cornelia, a widowed mother of three children, that had a reputation for goodness and wisdom. A rich woman is showing Cornelia her box of jewels and then asked to see hers. Cornelia pointed to her children and said "These are my jewels". Her young boys grew up to be exemplary statesmen, responsible for many social reforms that benefitted the common man of that era.. Several embroidered pictures of this subject from different schools were based on an engraving entitled Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi by Francesco Bartolozzi (1729-1815), published in London in 1788. Bartolozzi's engraving was from a 1785 painting by Angelica Kauffman (1741-1807)

This intriguing unfinished piece offers a rare opportunity to see the mounting and stitching techniques used in creating silk embroideries. The image was drawn on the silk, which was attached to a piece of canvas, hemmed, with buttonholes created on all sides, the canvas with silk attached was then laced to the frame. After all that, this young schoolgirl could begin her silk embroidered picture. No wonder it's not finished.

Silk, watercolor, graphite, and original pin on silk; 20 ¾” x 23 ½” framed.

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STEPHEN & CAROL HUBER
(860) 388-6809

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