Currently not on view
Flora,
1808
Sally Ann Sprague, American, 1799–1837
y1958-61
According to an old label on the frame, Sally Ann Sprague created this embellished watercolor at the age of nine, making her the youngest artist in the exhibition. As was typical for girls of her social class at the turn of the nineteenth century, Sprague’s education included instruction in drawing and needlework. More advanced students progressed beyond samplers in linen to pictorial needlework pictures in silk. Combining her skills at both painting in watercolor and working with a needle and thread, Sprague adorned this image of Flora (goddess of flowers), probably copied from another source, with hand-stitched details, such as those in Flora’s shoes, the garland in her hair, and the decorative outlining of her green robe.
Information
Title
Flora
Dates
1808
Maker
Medium
Watercolor, silk and metallic threads on silk
Dimensions
38 x 30.5 cm. (14 15/16 x 12 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Edward Duff Balken, Class of 1897
Object Number
y1958-61
Culture
Type
Materials
-
American provincial paintings, 1790-1877: from the collection of Edward Duff Balken: galleries E and F, January 9 through February 23, 1947, (Pittsburgh, PA: Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute, 1947).
, cat. no. 25 -
American folk art: a collection of paintings presented in 1958 by Edward Duff Balken of the Class of 1897 to the Art Museum, Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 1958).
, cat. no. 7 - "Recent Acquisitions," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 18, no. 1 (1959): p. 40-42., p. 40
- "Another generation's folk art: Edward Duff Balken and his collection of American provincial paintings and drawings: appendix I: an inventory of works from the home of Edward Duff Balken", special issue, Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 57, no. 1/2 (1998): p. 29-30., p. 30
- Colleen Cowles Heslip and Charlotte Emans Moore, "Catalogue of the collection," in "A window into collecting American folk art: the Edward Duff Balken Collection at Princeton," special issue, Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University, 57, no. 1/2 (1998): p. 31-162., pp. 82–84, cat. no. 24 (illus.)
