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ANSTISS CROWNINSHIELD
Salem, Massachusetts
c. 1740
This rare and important antique silk embroidery descended in the family and is one of a pair (the mate is in
the Peabody Essex Institute) worked by Anstiss Crowninshield in Salem, Massachusetts before her marriage to Christopher
Babbidge, Jr. (1718-1751), a mariner, on September 27, 1749. According to Betty Ring, "The work of Anstiss
Crowninshield is perhaps the earliest of the Salem silk embroideries known today."
Worked on black silk with long crinkly silk stitches, these embroideries were difficult to execute and very few
survive. Salem was a prosperous area and young ladies of means attended fashionable schools where talented schoolmistresses
taught elaborate embroidery.
Anstiss (1726-1768) was the daughter of John Crowninshield and Anstiss Williams. She had one daughter with her
first husband Christopher Babbidge, and three children by her second husband William King (c.1729-1773).
Silk on black silk; 9 ¾" x 14 1/8" sight, 14 ½" x 19" framed.
Price on request.
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