Pincushion

Place Made
Salem North Carolina United States of America
Date Made
1820-1825
Medium
silk on silk
Dimensions
LOA 4; WOA 2 1/2
Accession Number
855.3
Description
DESCRIPTION: Stuffed vasiform shaped pincushion/ needlecase mounted on a sheath containing two red felt needle holders which are edged with white tatting. The main cushion is decorated on its face with a silk embroidered three-rose design on silk, with edges of the cushion joined by a silver wire edging and tied with silk tassels. The sheath, also of silk, is decorated on both sides by a silk embroidered wreath design of small leaves and white flowers. The needle holders are designed to slip out of the sheath and are mounted at one end onto a ribbon of calico in a black printed design, the ribbon slipping through the upper end of the sheath.
History
HISTORY: The donor stated that the pincushion descended in her family and was made by an aunt that attended the Salem Girls Boarding School.. Geneological research has yet to determine which of her family members may have attended the Salem Girls’ Boarding school, but much of the donor’s family lived in counties surrounding Salem. A strikingly similar example is in the Winterthur collection and is marked Bethlehem, but teachers traveled back and forth between the schools and we know the girls at both schools were making similar things. The Bethlehem example is the same shape, materials, and has the same tatting on the red felt needle sleeves.
Did you by chance find a pincushion in the collection similar to the one at Winterthur:
? http://museumcollection.winterthur.org/single-record.php?resultsperpage=20&view=catalog&srchtype=advanced&hasImage=&ObjObjectName=&CreOrigin=&Earliest=&Latest=&CreCreatorLocal_tab=&materialsearch=&ObjObjectID=&ObjCategory=&DesMaterial_tab=&DesTechnique_tab=&AccCreditLineLocal=&CreMarkSignature=&recid=1981.0093&srchfld=&srchtxt=bethlehem&id=63d9&rownum=21&version=100&src=results-imagelink-only