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Ruth Culver Coleman

Valance, late 1700s - early 1800s

Description

Maker

  • Unknown
  • Ruth Culver Coleman, American

Culture

American

Title

Valance

Year

late 1700s - early 1800s

Medium

Wool and linen

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • wool,
  • linen

Dimensions

256.5 cm (101 inches) (length)

Place

Probably; Deerfield; Massachusetts

Type

  • Textiles

Credit

Museum Works of Art Fund

Object Number

44.684.2

Projects & Publications

Publications

Poetry to the earth

the arts & crafts movement in Deerfield

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Works in Process

July 31, 2021 - January 23, 2022

These drawings were likely made by Margaret Whiting or Ellen Miller, founders of the Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework in Massachusetts. The society’s mission was to revive the craft of needlework and create an industry to boost the local economy. Beginning in the 1890s, Whiting and Miller documented historical embroideries across the Northeast, making hundreds of sketches to preserve each textile and its methods of construction. Drawings were labeled with the embroiderer’s name and type of object. Some contained detailed notes about color, shading, and technique, as seen here.

These drawings were made from an embroidery by Ruth Culver Coleman, who also used similar motifs in embroidering this valance, which would have hung at the top of a four-poster bed. More than a century after Coleman’s death, her designs—as captured by Whiting and Miller—may have served as inspiration for the Deerfield Society needleworkers. [see also 45.006.7, 45.006.12, 45.006.13].

These Golden Arts

June 18 - August 14, 1993

Needlework

February 19 - April 25, 1982

Threads of Memory

March 29 - April 18, 1982

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Valance with the accession number of 44.684.2. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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