Seventeenth Century English Tent Stitched Picture

Seventeenth-century English tent stitched needlework picture,  second half of the seventeenth century

It is worked with silk, gilt thread and seed pearls on a linen canvas depicting a pastoral scene featuring six figures with a central couple standing beside a stream where a man is fishing (lower right) beside a crane-like bird.  In the lower left there is a woman lounging beside a basket. In the background, there is a man walking over a bridge, a woman milking a cow, and buildings in the distance.  The initials G and H are stitched with pearls, all encompassed by a scrolling foliate frame border that has been stitched to a background linen.

It is housed within an old painted and molded frame, which could be original. The pictures show some glare on the glass and don’t fully illustrate the color.  You can actually count the stitches.  There is some light toning, and a few pearls around the border have been lost.

This piece was acquired by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in 1936 and has been deaccessioned.

8-1/2″ x 6-1/4″ sight, 11″ x 9″ with frame.