Pin Cushion
1670-1680 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
This pin cushion was among the contents of an embroidered casket used by a young girl, Martha Edlin, to store her small personal possessions. She would have embroidered it herself. It does not appear to have been used.
People
Martha Edlin (1660-1725) worked a series of embroideries during her childhood, including this pin cushion, which were cherished by her descendants and passed down through the female line in her family for over three hundred years. We know little about her life, except that she married a man called Richard Richmond and appears to have been a prosperous widow, with daughters and grandchildren, living in Pinner in Greater London at the time she drew up her will.
Materials & Making
Following the usual development of needlework skills in a young educated girl in the mid 17th century, Martha Edlin embroidered a multi-coloured sampler at the age of eight, and a more complicated piece in whitework and cutwork at nine. By 1671, her eleventh year, she had embroidered the panels of an elaborate casket, and two years later a beadwork jewellery case. The needlework skills she demonstrated in these pieces would be important attributes in her adulthood, in the management of her household and in the making, mending and decoration of her own and her family's clothes.
This pin cushion was among the contents of an embroidered casket used by a young girl, Martha Edlin, to store her small personal possessions. She would have embroidered it herself. It does not appear to have been used.
People
Martha Edlin (1660-1725) worked a series of embroideries during her childhood, including this pin cushion, which were cherished by her descendants and passed down through the female line in her family for over three hundred years. We know little about her life, except that she married a man called Richard Richmond and appears to have been a prosperous widow, with daughters and grandchildren, living in Pinner in Greater London at the time she drew up her will.
Materials & Making
Following the usual development of needlework skills in a young educated girl in the mid 17th century, Martha Edlin embroidered a multi-coloured sampler at the age of eight, and a more complicated piece in whitework and cutwork at nine. By 1671, her eleventh year, she had embroidered the panels of an elaborate casket, and two years later a beadwork jewellery case. The needlework skills she demonstrated in these pieces would be important attributes in her adulthood, in the management of her household and in the making, mending and decoration of her own and her family's clothes.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Embroidered silk on satin |
| Brief description | Embroidered silk pin cushion, made by Martha Edlin, England, 1670-1680 |
| Physical description | Embroidered pin cushion in rectangular shape. The front is of white satin embroidered in coloured silks in a design of flowers, a double-headed bird and the initials 'ME'. The back is covered in dark blue satin. The edges are bound with a plaited cord of blue silk and silver thread. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | 'ME' (Embroidered on the front) |
| Gallery label |
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| Credit line | Purchased with the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Art Fund |
| Object history | Purchased. Registered File number 1989/1572. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Object Type This pin cushion was among the contents of an embroidered casket used by a young girl, Martha Edlin, to store her small personal possessions. She would have embroidered it herself. It does not appear to have been used. People Martha Edlin (1660-1725) worked a series of embroideries during her childhood, including this pin cushion, which were cherished by her descendants and passed down through the female line in her family for over three hundred years. We know little about her life, except that she married a man called Richard Richmond and appears to have been a prosperous widow, with daughters and grandchildren, living in Pinner in Greater London at the time she drew up her will. Materials & Making Following the usual development of needlework skills in a young educated girl in the mid 17th century, Martha Edlin embroidered a multi-coloured sampler at the age of eight, and a more complicated piece in whitework and cutwork at nine. By 1671, her eleventh year, she had embroidered the panels of an elaborate casket, and two years later a beadwork jewellery case. The needlework skills she demonstrated in these pieces would be important attributes in her adulthood, in the management of her household and in the making, mending and decoration of her own and her family's clothes. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.447-1990 |
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| Record created | May 12, 1999 |
| Record URL |
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