Chair cushion
In 1766, Martha Washington received from London upholsterer Philip Bell the materials needed to create "one dozn. Chair bottoms." Over the next thirty-five years, she carefully cross-stitched a scallop-shell design she herself possibly created. While she may have intended for the canvases to upholster slip seats, they were ultimately fabricated into cushions that were likely placed on Windsor chairs. Its yellow worsted wool casing, multicolor, hand-knotted silk and wool fringe, and woven silk tape remain intact, making it a rare documented example of Martha Washington's needlework and original upholstery at Mount Vernon.
Published ReferencesCarol Borchert Cadou, The George Washington Collection: Fine and Decorative Arts at Mount Vernon (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 2006), 2000-1.
William Armstrong, “Some New Washington Relics, I. From the Collection of Mrs. B. W. Kennon,” The Century Magazine XL: 1 (May 1890): 16.