In the 18th 和 19th centuries, young women from well to do New Engl和 families could attend academies where, in addition to traditional academic pursuits, they could learn forms of ornamental 和 decorative arts. 在这些学校里, young women could be instructed in arts such as painting, 蜡像, 涂漆, 玻璃上的绘画, quillwork, feather-work, 还有装饰针线活. 在这些努力中, quillwork such as Mary Woodbury’s st和s out, not only for its complexity 和 beauty, but from the sheer cost of the materials required to create one—on top of the cost of tuition. 布兰迪·卡尔普，写作 the 沃兹沃思阅览室’s sconce, estimated that the cost of producing it could have been as much as $2000 in today’s money!

最基本的是, quillwork (also called quilling or quillery) is a process of rolling narrow strips of paper into tight or loose rolls either freeh和 or around a quill, 上胶, then pinching the edges to make teardrops, 眼睛, 和 其他形状, pushing the centers up out of the rolls to create 锥形状, 和 then fashioning the tiny shapes together into elaborate designs like Mary’s. 尽管这些天, paper can be purchased in long narrow strips 和 myriad colors to produce designs, things weren’t so easy for 18th century schoolgirls. 在她的 女子艺术学院 published in 1767, Hannah Robertson describes part of the process:

灯饰是非常漂亮的作品, 和 when executed with judgment, 会持续几百年吗, 和 may be made to represent various figures such as beasts, 鸟, 房子, 花, 树, 纹章, &c. The first thing proper to be done is to stain paper fit for the purposes with the various colours you chuse … when dry, let it be glazed over; then delivered to a book-binder to be gilded 和 cut in very narrow slips; after which your own judgment, 或者一个模式, 我会指引你, whether you intend for picture or glass frames, 盒子, &c. … Take care not to let any of the glue fall on your work after the filligree is laid on; because it will dim the gilding …

Quillwork was just the beginning of Mary’s labors, however. The sparkling 花 each had to be fashioned petal by petal. Although the exact process is difficult to determine, artificial 花 at the time were fashioned of 蜡, 阿拉伯树胶, 或鱼胶. Other contemporary quillworks are embellished with 蜡 figures, 贝壳, 和 other materials (see “进一步阅读” for links to works in other institutional collections).

The intricacy 和 beauty of these quillwork pieces belie the age of the maker. 汉娜·罗伯逊说, “我凭经验知道这一点, that a child of eight or nine years of age will learn to make 花 better than at any time of life, 和 will learn their sowing [sewing] better at ten 和 eleven than sooner.” We’re not sure exactly how old Mary was when she created her sconce, but probably younger than one would think.

玛丽·伍德伯里是谁?

Mary Woodbury was born in Beverly, 1717年的马萨诸塞州, the daughter of Josiah 和 Lydia (Herrick) Woodbury, both descendants of founding families on the North Shore of 麻萨诸塞州. 1737年，她嫁给了Dr. Benjamin Jones of Beverly, a prominent physician. Mary died one day shy of her birthday in 1748, leaving four children under the age of 10. 她丈夫再婚两次, yet held on to her sconce 和 other artworks, which were then passed down through the family of their daughter Lydia 和 given to the MHS in 1931.