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拍品專文
Beauty, creativity and whimsy embody Eliza Cranston's splendidly rendered school girls' sampler. This work incorporates the phrase, "let virtue be a guide to thee," which Betty Ring chose to title her 1983 exhibition and book, a ground-breaking study of Rhode Island needlework.
The multi-layered or tiered design interspersed with figurative vignettes and randomly placed decorative embellishments exemplify the Newport school begining as early as the 1760's. While the design would have been overseen by an instructress, samplers associated with Newport evoke a spontaneity akin to a young girl's temperament. See related: Betty Ring, Let Virtue Be A Guide to Thee: Needlework in the Education of Rhode Island Women, 1730-1830 (Providence, Rhode Island, 1983) pp. 58-87.
The daughter of Stephen Cranston (1767-1792) and Sarah (Salisbury) (1754-1840), Eliza Cranston (1792-1892) was born in Warren, Rhode Island where she remained during her entire life. In 1808, she married a local farmer, George Cole (1782-1832) and after his death became the second wife of Daniel P. Phinney (1768-1857). As listed in census records and city directories, her primary address was 19 Child Street, on the corner of Sanders from the mid-1870s until 1887, when she is noted to be living in a "Home for Aged Women" (Providence City Directory, 1887, p. 433). From 1860 to 1887, she resided with Sarah B. Cole (1818-1904), who was probably a daughter from her first marriage. Interestingly, Sarah was a dressmaker, suggesting that Eliza's needlework talents were passed down to the next generation. Eliza is buried in Providence's North Burial Ground, along with her first husband, Sarah B. Cole and two other members of the Cole-Phinney families. See Genealogies of Rhode Island Families, vol. I (Baltimore, 1989), p. 310; Howard Finney, Sr., Finney-Phinney Families in America (1957), p. 31.
The multi-layered or tiered design interspersed with figurative vignettes and randomly placed decorative embellishments exemplify the Newport school begining as early as the 1760's. While the design would have been overseen by an instructress, samplers associated with Newport evoke a spontaneity akin to a young girl's temperament. See related: Betty Ring, Let Virtue Be A Guide to Thee: Needlework in the Education of Rhode Island Women, 1730-1830 (Providence, Rhode Island, 1983) pp. 58-87.
The daughter of Stephen Cranston (1767-1792) and Sarah (Salisbury) (1754-1840), Eliza Cranston (1792-1892) was born in Warren, Rhode Island where she remained during her entire life. In 1808, she married a local farmer, George Cole (1782-1832) and after his death became the second wife of Daniel P. Phinney (1768-1857). As listed in census records and city directories, her primary address was 19 Child Street, on the corner of Sanders from the mid-1870s until 1887, when she is noted to be living in a "Home for Aged Women" (Providence City Directory, 1887, p. 433). From 1860 to 1887, she resided with Sarah B. Cole (1818-1904), who was probably a daughter from her first marriage. Interestingly, Sarah was a dressmaker, suggesting that Eliza's needlework talents were passed down to the next generation. Eliza is buried in Providence's North Burial Ground, along with her first husband, Sarah B. Cole and two other members of the Cole-Phinney families. See Genealogies of Rhode Island Families, vol. I (Baltimore, 1989), p. 310; Howard Finney, Sr., Finney-Phinney Families in America (1957), p. 31.