PC3

Made by Students

Silk and watercolor on silk

Ruth Atwater Cooke (1788- )

ca. 1800

Private Collection

Litchfield, CT

Silk embroidery of a young girl, dressed in peasant clothing holding a sheath of wheat. She carries a basket in her right hand. The features of her face are drawn in ink. There is a cottage in the background on the right hand side. The remainder of the background is a country landscape. The body of the embroidery is done in a circular shape. There is a garland of flowers swagged above the image and a spray of flowers in each lower corner.

It is likely that Cooke completed the piece after attending the Academy. The aquatint of "The Cottage Girl," thought to be the original source material for the three known Academy embroideries, was published six years after Cooke was at the school. The two other examples also both date to 1802. Lastly, the skillful embroidery evident in Cooke's ...work is probably beyond what a 5-year-old would complete at the Academy. For reference, Nancy Hale was 17 when she completed her version.
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