May Thy Voyage Be Prosperous
ca. 1810
Medium
Watercolor on paper
Dimensions
1 5/8 x 1 5/8 in. (4.1 x 4.1 cm)
Classification
Watercolor
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Gloria Manney, 2006
Accession Number
2006.235.112
Tags
About this artwork
This tiny watercolor bearing the touching inscription "May Thy Voyage Be Prosperous" embodies the refined accomplishments expected of young women at early American female academies. Created circa 1810 at Mrs. Morris's Academy, this diminutive work (measuring barely over an inch square) represents the intersection of education, craft, and sentimental culture in the early republic. Female academies proliferated in Philadelphia and other American cities during this period, teaching needlework, pain...