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Two 18th century or, more probably, early 19th century, oval, 220 x 150 mms., embroidered pictures of "Emma Corbett," heroine of the first English novel about the American Revolution.
Published by ?Philadelphia c, 1800
Seller: John Price Antiquarian Books, ABA, ILAB, LONDON, United Kingdom
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These embroideries are possibly the work of Samuel Folwell (1764 - 1813), the American miniaturist, silhouettist, engraver, and hair worker. In any case, they are very much in the style of needlework and embroideries produced by Folwell and his wife, Ann Elizabeth Gebler Folwell. In the first embroidery, Emma sits contentedly under a tree holding a garland of flowers, with a basket of flowers at her feet. She wears a long flowing white gown, and her long curly hair (very much in the style of the 1790s) is decked out with flowers. In the background is a road and gate leading to a farm house. The second picture is a fine example of the iconography of mourning so popular in America after the death of George Washington in 1799. In this one, a forlorn woman sits under a tree in front of a tombstone which reads "In Memory of Emma Corbett." There are withered and dead leaves around her and in the background is a house with a thatched roof. Both textiles have some loss to the background, sky, but are otherwise in very good condition. This second textile exhibits many elements of the iconography of mourning of a type often associated with the death of Washington, but they might have been done before his death. The illustration of a woman grieving in front of a tombstone seems to be clearly patterned after a painting by Angelica Kauffman (1741 - 1807), Virtue Weeping at the Tomb of Emma Corbett, an engraving of which was published by Robert Wilkinson, London, 7 August 1786; and another engraving of "Emma Corbett" was published by Laurie and Whittle of London in 1794. It is difficult, of course, to have a firm attribution to Folwell, or even to his school; but they are more consistent with the work that he was doing than with English examples. Moreover, the iconography of mourning seems to have been particularly pervasive in post-colonial America. Finally, if the embroideries post-date the death of Washington, it seems unlikely that the English would have felt comfortable with the stylistic allusions to the iconographic illustrations of mourning for Washington. Samuel Jackson Pratt published Emma Corbett, or, The Miseries of Civil War, anonymously in 1780; it was translated into French in 1783, and ran into many editions (16 in the 18th century). Pratt (1749 - 1814) published just this one novel, an extremely popular epistolary sentimental novel, set in North America at the time of the Revolution. As originally published in Bath, in 1780, the novel had a subtitle, "Miseries of the Civil War," and it was additionally described as "founded on some recent circumstances which happened in America." It was the first full-length novel to have as its subject the American Revolution.
