Place

Germany

Date

1879 – 1880

DIMENSIONS in centimetres

47 x 18.5

Materials & techniques

Linen, cotton, ceramic, mother of pearl; Plain woven, embroidered, pleated, buttonhole stitch, cross stitch, herringbone stitch, chain stitch, feather stitch, drawn

Credit

Gift of Ann and Maynard Gertler

ID

Textile Museum of Canada T04.40.1a-h

Elisabeth (Stieffel) Stieglitz produced a set of miniature garments to pass her teaching certificate in Germany (1879–1880). These beautifully stitched pieces were all packed in a box that has been handed down through family members, and travelled from Germany to the United States and finally Canada.

It began when Elisabeth moved to the United States in her late teens and married Leopold Stieglitz, a doctor, and the elder brother of the American photographer Alfred Stieglitz. The box was passed on to her daughter, Constance Straus, who lived at Four Wind Acres in Mamaroneck, New York. The box was exhibited at the Lincoln School by Constance in upstate New York in 1925. She later passed the box on to her daughter Ann (Straus) Gertler, who grew up in the artistic and social world of Alfred Stieglitz and Georgia O’Keeffe, who presumably knew about this box of treasures.

Ann Gertler became a social activist in Canada, part of the Pugwash Group, and with her husband, Maynard Gertler (Order of Canada), were book publishers in Montreal. Maynard was the head of Amnesty International in Canada, and they both worked on social and political activities throughout their lives.

This sampler illustrates the stitches and needlework techniques that Elisabeth used to skillfully create her finely worked nightgown, shirt, and chemise miniature garments.