Paintings featuring aristocratic men and women following the pursuits of humble country folk were part of the fashionable “cult of the pastoral” of the late 18th century. The Lady as Shepherdess is based upon such a painting by English artist William Hamilton (1751–1801). As usual with such needleworks, the face and hands of the lady are painted, in this case possibly by London miniaturist John Harris the Elder (died 1834). The embroiderer expertly manipulated color, fiber, and stitch to render figure and landscape in thread, reproducing the smooth silk and draped folds of the lady’s gown, the texture of the grass, and the wooly sheep. A second embroidery based on a painting depicts the tragic figure of “Maria,” a character from Laurence Sterne’s novels Tristram Shandy (1759) and A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy (1768). Driven mad by the betrayal of her lover, her father’s death, and the loss of her pet goat, Maria sits alone with her little dog Silvio - her only comfort. The sophisticated needlework and draftsmanship of this version contrasts with a naive American depiction of this same subject, also in the Museum’s collection.