Print Work Mourning Embroidery Dedicated to Henry Hicks
1801
Physical Qualities
Silk ground, silk embroidery threads, watercolor and ink, cotton backing with linen edging, 17 1/8 x 21 3/4 in. (43.5 X 55.3 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Harold G. Duckworth
Object Number
1973.27
A needlework 'print work' mourning picture featuring a scene depicting a veiled woman mourner standing beside an urn-topped monument which bears the inked and embroidered inscription, 'SACRED to the Memory of Mr HENRY HICKS who died on his passage from Guadaloupe to Baltimore Dec. 8. 1802 in the 25th year of his age' followed by a poem (See Inscriptions). A weeping willow tree is situated to the left and back of the monument; a second tree of different type fills the right side. In the distance are hills and valleys reaching to the sea with an impressive church building standing on a hilly crest. A ship is seen in the distance. The picture is painted by brush in grey/black watercolor and worked entirely in black silk on a creamy white silk ground. The mourner's veil is worked in long floats and satin stitch. Other areas are studded with seed stitch.
The embroidery is mounted with a plain black eglomisé mat which may or may not be original. It is framed in a wide silver-gilt frame which is of a later period than the mourning picture itself. (see Curatorial remarks).
The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 1973; Mrs. Harold G. Duckworth.
William Voss Elder III, BMA, "American Folk Art From the Museum and Local Collections", April 4-June 18, 1978, cat. 121, p. 18.
Susan Cumins, The Baltimore Museum of Art, 'Period Needlework in America 1739-1865,' 1978, cat. 13, illustrated.; traveling exhibition circulated to Annapolis, Elkton, Salisbury, Columbia, Leonardtown, Stevenson, and Chestertown, Maryland.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, 'American Folk Art on Paper,' May 22 - July 22, 1984, no catalogue.
Anita Jones, BMA, 'The Accomplished Stitch: American Samplers and Silk Embroideries from the Collection,' 5/11-7/20/1997, no. 20 on printed checklist.
Anita Jones, Baltimore, The Baltimore Museum of Art, Jean and Allan Berman Textile Gallery, "Mournful Maidens: Love and Loss in American Embroidery," (September 9, 2009-February 21, 2010), no catalog.
Susan Cumins, The Baltimore Museum of Art, 'Period Needlework in America 1739-1865,' 1978, cat. 13, illustrated.; traveling exhibition circulated to Annapolis, Elkton, Salisbury, Columbia, Leonardtown, Stevenson, and Chestertown, Maryland.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, 'American Folk Art on Paper,' May 22 - July 22, 1984, no catalogue.
Anita Jones, BMA, 'The Accomplished Stitch: American Samplers and Silk Embroideries from the Collection,' 5/11-7/20/1997, no. 20 on printed checklist.
Anita Jones, Baltimore, The Baltimore Museum of Art, Jean and Allan Berman Textile Gallery, "Mournful Maidens: Love and Loss in American Embroidery," (September 9, 2009-February 21, 2010), no catalog.
William Voss Elder III, BMA, "American Folk Art From the Museum and Local Collections", April 4-June 18, 1978, cat. 121, p. 18.
Susan Cumins, The Baltimore Museum of Art, 'Period Needlework in America 1739-1865,' 1978, cat. 13, illustrated.; traveling exhibition circulated to Annapolis, Elkton, Salisbury, Columbia, Leonardtown, Stevenson, and Chestertown, Maryland.
Inscribed: Inscribed in pen and ink and embroidered on plinth of monument: 'SACRED/ to the Memory of/ Mr HENRY HICKS/ who died on his passage from Guadaloupe/ to Baltimore Dec, 8. 1802 in the/ 25th year of his age./ Ah luckless youth no tomb is placed for thee/ That can to strangers eyes thy worth impart./ Thou hast no grave but in the stormy Sea./ And no memorial but this broken heart.' [Note: there is a comma after Dec and a period after 8 as show above. "Guadeloupe" is misspelled as above.]
