Embroidered whitework coverlet 1815 - 1818

This embroidered whitework coverlet was made by Mary Walker Stith Jones sometime in the 19th century. At this time in America, the needlework that women produced in the domestic sphere was not considered art. Instead, it was categorized as a craft, an activity that displayed a woman’s virtue and skill. Jones’s embroidered coverlet is full of floral motifs, hearts, and other designs associated with femininity. It is likely that she would have been taught embroidery from a young age, either by her mother or at school, but not in a fine art institution. The act of placing this work in a museum collection implicitly challenges the traditional art-historical canon. We can examine it to reveal the social conditions that determined what was considered "high" art and what was not. Through the study of works such as this, we gain a clearer understanding of the values and institutional structures that shape our perception of art.