Whose Common: 1750-1850

Needlework Picture, 1747-1750


To begin, "Needlework Picture" is a Boston-made embroidery that colorfully depicts a lush green landscape. In the forefront are a young lady holding a fishing pole, a group of reapers, a promenading couple, and a mounted horseman. Around them are dogs, birds, and leaping deer. Made between 1747 and 1750, it is the largest of seventeen scenes called "fishing lady" pictures. It is worked in wool and silk with beads on linen canvas. Although its maker is unknown, the picture descended through the Lowell family and hung at James Russell Lowell's home, "Elmwood." The image of a young woman waiting to catch a fish while other couples are frolicking suggests a youthful maker and romantic fantasies (Historic New England).

Material Composition

"Needlework Picture" is an embroidered image that was made of wool and silk on a linen canvas in the mid-eighteenth century. Although embroidered images were not uncommon in the 18th century, the use of needlework in this way offers an intriguing window into the artifact's social history. There is a long history behind the association of women and needlework, with class playing a significant role; in the early modern period (between 1500 and 1800), women of humble means spun and wove cloth from necessity whereas women from affluent families had more leisure time and embroidering cloth became a means of advertising their social status (Klein 2001, p. 38). Thus, it is likely that it was a woman from higher status that was behind the fabrication of this piece. Often, embroidered images are considered to be the "capstone project" in an elite woman's education or for their role in the family's presentation of its gentility and fashionable taste (Pappas 2015, p. 2). The use of this medium suggests that the work was meant to exhibit the artist's refinement, or the family's gentility by extension; by using wool and silk to display a tasteful image of a refined pastoral scene, the artist's ambitions were likely meant to use visual artwork to uphold her family's social status. 

Visual Elements

Because the use of needlework indicates that the image was meant to display social taste, its visual composition is important to consider within the context of 18th century refinement practices. In fact, visual images of female anglers appeared on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1700s (Pappas 2015, p. 1). These "fishing lady" images appeared a century after John Donne's poem, The Bait, was penned in 1633; Donne's poem was a meditation on courtship, casting a suggestive metaphor that positions women in the role of the fisher while men are helpless fish. Fishing functioned as a metaphor for women patiently "luring" men with their looks and their feminine accomplishments, with the ultimate goal being a successful and advantageous marriage (Pappas 2015, p.1). "Needlework Picture" directly engages with this relationship by placing a fishing lady toward the center of the image. "The elegantly dressed man" is "paying court" to the "finely attired" woman, who turns her head to listen to his address while her body faces the fish on her line (Pappas 2015, p. 2). Although the intentions of the artist cannot fully be ascertained, this visual appears to reference the fishing metaphor by offering a parallel relationship between the fish and the man behind the woman. As he attempts to court her, she catches hold of the helpless fish.

A significant aspect of the metaphor is the "ultimate goal." The woman's pursuit of a successful and advantageous marriage by luring men with their looks and their accomplishment suggests that the fishing lady would be attempting to impress suitors with her appearance and practices. In this instance, her clothing is colorful and regarded as fine attire. In the 18th century, dress signaled rank and character as surely as posture did, where its value was derived from the feel, the cut, and the expense of the material (Bushman 1993, p. 69). While the gentry did not invariably dress in vibrant colors, their clothes had stronger hues that the poor could not replicate with their vegetable dyes (Bushman 1993, p. 70). As is evident in the image, her vibrant and finely made attire indicates that she is a woman of means. Because her clothes reflect her rank, character, and taste, they contribute to her attempt to lure suitors through appearance. The elegantly dressed gentleman that is courting her appears to match the genteel standard for fine attire.

Additionally, the act of fishing also signifies social virtue. Fishing was not just a way for young women to be out in public in fashionable clothes so as to be seen by potential suitors, but an activity that evidenced their industry, virtue, and patience, contributing to their status as desirable candidates for marriage (Pappas 2015, p. 23). Thus, angling allows the fishing lady to publicly exhibit attractive characteristics for marriage amongst folks in the upper class. Both in the act of fishing and her appearance, the fishing lady in this embroidery suggests a desire for a marriage that would uphold her status as an individual with a refined background.



To the side of the embroidery is a couple strolling together. Their hands are interlinked and their clothes appear to share a similar grace with the fishing lady and her suitor. Behind them are colonial buildings amidst rolling hills, likely alluding to domestic life (Pappas 2015, p. 2). Given that the couple is walking toward the colonial buildings whilst also moving away from the pastoral landscape, the couple might be moving toward domesticity in their relationship.


Toward the bottom of the image is a mounted huntsman. Surrounding him are several dogs chasing a deer. Given the centrality of the fishing metaphor to the picture, this might signify his "hunt" for a wife (Pappas 2015, p. 2). Overall, the embroidered image utilizes nature to establish iconography that suggests themes of youthful courtship. The relationship between humanity and nature in this instance is consciously drawing upon metaphors to portray nature in a pastoral and upper-class context.

In the middle of the 18th century, land substantiated the upper class with social and economic wealth by offering rich resources and vibrant scenery. Pastoral imagery was an expression of sociopolitical power because agriculture was the primary source of employment and wealth (Ruff 2015, p. 77). Artistic depictions of the landscape exhibit social power because the land itself was imbued with value. The concentration of wealth and beauty ushered in a more romantic conception of the landscape amongst the elites, in which the boundaries between nature and humanity merged (Ruff 2015, p. 81). Upper class relationships with nature romanticized the pastoral landscape, which is a characteristic that can certainly be attributed to "Needlework Picture."

To the other side of the picture is the imagery of humans harvesting crops while sporting genteel attire, as deer and birds can be found behind them. People did not conceive of nature as a separate entity away from the affairs of humanity and the inhabited world in the first half of the 18th century (Baetjer, Rosenthal, & Denver Art Museum 1993, p. 32). Artwork of the landscape typically was idealized and artificial before environmental thought transformed around the 19th century (Baetjer, Rosenthal, & Denver Art Museum 1993, p. 31). As is commonly found in this period, "Needlework Picture" offers a romantic depiction of Boston's natural landscape. The juxtaposition of humans with leaping deer and swooning birds in the same lush landscape conveys a sense of fantasy (Pappas 2015, p. 2). By emphasizing fantasy in this depiction of human relationships with Boston's natural environment in the colonial era, this embroidery plays into romantic conceptions of the landscape. Additionally, this romantic portrayal discloses the sense of fantasy that was tied to genteel courtship practices in the 18th century (Pappas 2015, p. 2). "Needlework Picture" draws upon a romantic conception of nature that was common amongst 18th century elites. It did so to further substantiate the fishing metaphor and uphold the romantic fantasies that accompanied the courtship ideals of an upper class artist. Thus, the embroidery intertwines human practices with lush pastoral visions of the Boston landscape to serve its purpose of tasteful 18th century imagery and to evince the artist's gentility. 

Display & Performance

"Needlework Picture" is a large embroidery (about 21 inches tall and 58 inches wide) that was passed down through the Lowell family and was on display at Elmwood in the 19th century (Historic New England). Because of its size and function at James Russell Lowell's home, the embroidery likely served as a "conversation piece"; polite people often hosted conversation pieces in their homes to facilitate socialization, with the implication being that guests could react to the pictures and discuss them (Bushman 1993, p. 87). Conversation pieces were generally paintings of domestic scenes, exhibiting the taste of its owner (Bushman 1993, p. 87). The display of conversation pieces upheld upper class gentility and expedited social practices. Consequently, the performance of "Needlework Picture" as a displayed work of art inevitably assisted the Lowell family's endeavor of upholding their social status. Indeed, the Lowell family rose to prominence in Boston by the 19th century and continued to establish itself as an accomplished family after Francis Cabot Lowell brought the first power loom to the United States (Amory 1947, p. 43). 

Ultimately, the embroidery's depiction of the landscape and its motifs of domestic courtship were put in social performance by being on display for the Lowell family. Though the original artist is unknown, the use of an embroidered approach to create romantic depictions of the landscape and 18th century courtship practices pushed its viewers to recognize the Lowell family's higher status in Bostonian society. 

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