Faith, Hope, & Charity
date: label: date made
content: 1855
name: label: maker
content: Feather, Emma Frances
notes: label: Description
content: By the 1840s a new technique [in the field] of needlepoint known as Berlin wool work was the rage. It arose in Germany at the beginning of the 19th century. New dyes became available and brightly colored wools could be worked in tent stitch on canvas. The patterns were painted by hand on “point paper,” which today would be called graph paper. Some of the patterns were copies of famous paintings.
label: Description
content: This rectangular Berlin wool work piece depicts Faith, Hope, and Charity. The three large seated female figures in the center of the work. The one on the left is holding a babe, the one in the center holds a chalice and a book, and the one on the right holds a flower. Three small children are in the center foreground, one holding a parasol and another with a dog. At the bottom is stitched: “EMMA FRANCES FEATHER – 1855.” It is embroidered on cotton canvas that has a warp of 28/in and weft of 24/in. The thread is worsted wool and the stitches are cross and half cross.
label: Description
content: Faith, Hope, and Charity are three theological virtues. The woman on the left represents Charity, the woman in the center, Faith, and the woman on the right, Hope. The opening flower she is holding is a symbol for hope. The more traditional symbol for hope is an anchor.
label: Description
content: Emma Frances Feather was born on June 27, 1840, in Reading, Pennsylvania, to James Augustus and Mary Ann Fisher Feather. She married Levi G. Coleman on February 23, 1897. She died January 31, 1906. In the Reading, Pennsylvania, directories, she is listed as a vestmaker and Levi is listed as a merchant tailor.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Reading
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
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content: Embroidered Pictures
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content: Textiles
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Brumbach
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TE.T15608
label: catalog number
content: T15608
label: accession number
content: 298622
objectType: label: Object Name
content: canvas work
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: cotton (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 33 1/2 in x 34 1/8 in; 85.09 cm x 86.6775 cm