A lovely, richly colored firescreen has just been conserved at Museum Textile Services, and is a perfect seasonal subject for the MTS Blog as we head into the cold weather. In the 18th and 19th centuries, fireplaces were used constantly to warm the house, bringing bright, hot, roaring fires in the long, dark New England winter. A firescreen protected the faces--and sometimes voluminous clothing--of those sidling up to the fire from its high heat and sparks. For wealthy families, these screens also became lavish decorative objects, stitched and designed with care by the women of the family.
Beaded and needlepointed firescreen made by Abigail Brooks Adams, 1808-1889. Courtesy of Adams National Historical Park.
This firescreen was made by Abigail Brooks Adams and is part of the collection of the Adams National Historical Park in Quincy, Massachusetts. The Adams family produced two presidential couples, John and Abigail Smith and their son and daughter-in-law John Quincy and Louisa Johnson. The third generation of Adams, Charles Francis and Abigail Brooks were also a political power couple, and it was Abigail Brooks Adams who made this beautiful firescreen. You may recall that in 2013 MTS replicated a set of silk bed hangings purchased in France by Abigail and Charles, which we documented in a series of blogs.
 Portrait of Abigail Brooks Adams by William E. West, 1847. Courtesy of Adams National Historical Park. | Abigail had immense patience and skill to stitch hundreds of slim glass beads to her canvas, and perfectly create the symmetrical floral pattern in even, soft wool stitches. The deep cherry-red glass beads, and the warm gold of the bold initials "ABA" stitched into the center, must have glimmered and shone in the candle light before the fire. This attention to detail is an impressive feat for the mother of seven children who would have also balanced running a large household with accompanying Charles on political events, sometimes all the way to England. The Massachusetts Historical Society holds the papers of the Adams family, including a notice in the Quincy Patriot of November 13, 1858, showing Abigail served as the county manager for the Mount Vernon Ladies Association, calling for subscriptions to help preserve George Washington’s Mount Vernon mansion for future generations. |
From the letters and diaries left behind, it appears the relationship between Abigail and Charles was full of care, affection, and mutual respect. The entry in Charles’ diary from their wedding day on Thursday, September 3rd, 1829, is particularly sweet and humorous-–he clearly had eyes for no one but his Abby.
Photo of the photographer’s in-laws, Charles F. Adams and Abigail Photograph of Charles Francis and Abigail Brooks Adams, circa 1883, by Marian "Clover" Hooper Adams. Photo courtesy of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
To conserve the firescreen, we first carefully remove the deteriorated watered-silk lining and gently cleaned all elements with a HEPA micro-vacuum. The beads received additional cleansing using swabs and saliva. We were lucky to find a very good match with modern glass beads, which we stitched into place and secured the neighboring thread ends. A few missing crewel stitches were likewise replaced with modern wool yarns. The lining was encapsulated in magenta nylon net and then we stitched it back in place using cotton thread. We were then able to reuse the ribbon with hook-eyes that the Adams National Historical Park is using to suspend the firescreen from an ornamental brass T-bar.
Preserving the Abigail Adams firescreen has a nice historical echo, paying homage to this beautiful physical artifact left by a woman who herself worked for historical preservation.
 | Megan Mary Creamer, Technician, has a BFA in industrial design from Massachusetts College of Art, and is completing an ALM in museum studies at Harvard University Extension School. She joined MTS as an intern in 2014. |
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