Shaker Case for Knitting Needles

Art Historical Context

Behold the delicate *Shaker Case for Knittingles*, a 1935/1942 watercolor and graphite rendering on paper by Elizabeth Mout, measuring 37.7 x 26.1 cm. Part of the esteemed Index of American Design—a Works Progress Administration (WPA initiative during the Great Depression—this artwork meticulously documents a functional Shaker craft object, preserving America's folk heritage through precise artistic reproduction. The Shakers, a celibate religious sect founded in the 18th century were renowned for their minimalist aesthetic and superb craftsmanship, guided by principles of simplicity, utility, and spiritual purity. This knitting needle case exemplifies their design philosophy: unadorned wood with subtle painted motifs, likely reflecting communal labor among Shaker women who wove functionality into everyday devotion. Moutal's technique—vibrant watercolor for color fidelity and graphite for fine details—captures the object's texture and form with scientific accuracy, making it both an artistic gem and a cultural artifact. Housed in the National Gallery of Art's CG-W department, it invites us to appreciate how Depression-era artists like her celebrated overlooked American ingenuity.

About the Artist

Elizabeth Moutal · 1909–2000

Elizabeth Moutal is an artist whose work survives in museum collections in sufficient quantity to indicate a genuine and sustained career, even as the historical record has preserved little biographical information about her origins, training, or the arc of her professional life. Her name and her works endure where so much else has been lost, a quiet testament to the durability of artistic product...