Painted with Silk

Upcoming Exhibition

Painted with Silk

The Art of Early American Embroidery

December 13, 2024 - June 15, 2025

Upcoming Exhibition

Painted with Silk

The Art of Early American Embroidery

December 13, 2024 - June 15, 2025

From the 1600s until about 1830, the education of American girls emphasized reading, writing, and embroidery. For girls whose families could afford to send them to school, a finely worked embroidery which was worthy of being framed for display in her home served as a kind of diploma. Painted with Silk will feature approximately 80 unusually beautiful and well-preserved examples of this inherently fragile art in order to explore the cultural values and norms that schoolgirl embroidery was used to teach.

Exhibition:

Painted with Silk

Dates:

December 13, 2024 - June 15, 2025

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General museum admission is FREE for residents of Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties.

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Ann Susan Hancock. The Shepardess of the Alps, ca 1820’s. Silk and watercolor on silk. Michael R. Payne and Suzanne Rudnick Payne.

The Shepherdess of the Alps

Ann Susan Hancock (around age 13)

ca. 1820's

Charlestown Academy, Charlestown, Massachusetts, Collection of Suzanne and Michael Payne

The Shepherdess of the Alps

Ann Susan Hancock (around age 13)

ca. 1820's

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The Finding of Moses

The Finding of Moses

Unidentified Maker, Mrs. Lydia Bull Royse's School, Hartford, Connecticut

ca. 1810

Collection of Suzanne and Michael Payne

The Finding of Moses

Unidentified Maker, Mrs. Lydia Bull Royse's School, Hartford, Connecticut

ca. 1810

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Wisdom Instructing Youth in the Science of Geography

Wisdom Instructing Youth in the Science of Geography

Unidentified Maker, attributed to Susanna Rowson's Academy, Boston area, Massachusetts

ca. 1810

Collection of Suzanne and Michael Payne

Wisdom Instructing Youth in the Science of Geography

Unidentified Maker, attributed to Susanna Rowson's Academy, Boston area, Massachusetts

ca. 1810

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All is the Gift of Industry

All is the Gift of Industry

Caroline Porter (age 12), Mrs. Saunders & Miss Beach's Academy, Dorchester, Massachusetts

1805

Collection of Suzanne and Michael Payne

All is the Gift of Industry

Caroline Porter (age 12), Mrs. Saunders & Miss Beach's Academy, Dorchester, Massachusetts

1805

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Sampler

Sampler

Melancia Bowker (age 13), Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire

1817

Collection of Sharon and Jeffery Lipton

Sampler

Melancia Bowker (age 13), Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire

1817

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Sampler 1818

Sampler

Sarah Eckstein (age 9) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

1818

Collection of Sharon and Jeffrey Lipton

Sampler

Sarah Eckstein (age 9) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

1818

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These are My Jewels

These Are My Jewels

Catherine Langdon Wright, Susanna Rowson's Academy, Boston, Massachusetts

1808

Museum Purchase, Gibbs-Williams Fund

These Are My Jewels

Catherine Langdon Wright, Susanna Rowson's Academy, Boston, Massachusetts

1808

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Sampler (Moby Dick)

Sampler (Moby Dick)

Elaine Reichek

1997

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Gift of the Estate of Melva Bucksbaum

2019.371

© Elaine Reichek

Sampler (Moby Dick)

Elaine Reichek

1997

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Sacred to the Memory of Isabella Clarke

Sacred to the Memory of Isabella Clarke

Unidentified Member of the Clarke Family, Richmond, Massachusetts

1975

Collection of Suzanne and Michael Payne

Sacred to the Memory of Isabella Clarke

Unidentified Member of the Clarke Family, Richmond, Massachusetts

1975

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Sampler (H.R.)

Sampler (H.R.)

Elaine Reichek

1993

Collection of the Jewish Museum, New York

© Elaine Reichek

Sampler (H.R.)

Elaine Reichek

1993

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Imogen and Pisanio

Imogen and Pisanio

Mary Francis

1809

Collection of Suzanne and Michael Payne

Imogen and Pisanio

Mary Francis

1809

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