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Do you know why she chose to paint it like that? It kind of looks like it's old and wrinkly and cavernous and weblike.

This setting was intended to evoke mourning and grief. Her plate specifically represents a shawl worn by a grieving woman, as well as a death shroud. The mourning imagery is a reference to Hutchinson’s tragic death. She was killed in a Siwanoy raid on her village in New Amsterdam that was the result of bad blood between local tribes and the colony's governor of which Hutchinson was unaware.

Cool, thanks!

So explain Anne Hutchinson

Anne Hutchinson was a charismatic Puritan who spread her own interpretation of the bible, which went against the strict doctrine of governing ministers. She was eventually convicted of heresy and excommunicated.

Her plate is based on 18th century mourning imagery. The plate represents both the type of shawl worn by a grieving woman as well as a death shroud.

Can you tell me more about this plate?

Anne Hutchinson's plate is based on 18th century mourning imagery. These images were often created by women, and combined watercolor with needlework in their depictions of grief. The plate and the runner incorporate death imagery including weeping willows and grecian urns, and also references the shawls worn by puritan women like Hutchinson.

Is Anne Hutchinson the same as the one Hutchinson River Parkway is named after?

Yes she is! Anne Hutchinson was active in the colonies of Massachusetts Bay, New York, and Rhode Island.

She preached her own interpretations of the Bible which got her expelled from the Bay colony, but she was really interested in approaching religion as more of a discussion than strict doctrine.

Cool! I drive on that pkwy every time I come into the city.

How interesting! We are surrounded by history all of the time!

What is this scene? It’s beautiful!

Hutchinson was a charismatic Puritan woman who spread her own interpretations of the Bible in Massachusetts Bay Colony in the earlier 1600s.

Hutchinson's place setting is based on eighteenth-century mourning imagery, showing women grieving at a tomb.

Ahh

The willow tree under the plate is also a traditional English symbol of mourning that was brought to the United States.

Tell me more.

I see that you are looking at the Anne Hutchinson plate. Hutchinson was a charismatic Puritan woman who spread her own interpretations of the Bible. Born in England, Hutchinson learned from her father, a discredited Anglican clergyman, to question the religious teaching of the Church of England.

Anne Hutchinson Place Setting

Judy Chicago

Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art

On View: Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, 4th Floor

ARTIST Judy Chicago, American, born 1939

MEDIUM Runner: Cotton/linen base fabric, woven interface support material (horsehair, wool, and linen), cotton twill tape, satin panel, sheer plain-weave cotton strips, polyester/cotton fabric, rayon/polyester cotton fabric, cotton and polyester twill tapes, cotton, satin, metallic gold cord, silk thread Plate: Porcelain with overglaze enamel (China paint), rainbow luster overglaze, and silver metallic glaze

DATES 1974–1979

DIMENSIONS Runner: 51 3/8 x 301/8 in. (130.5 x 76.5 cm) Plate:14 x 14 x 1 3/16 in. (35.6 x 35.6 x 3 cm)

COLLECTIONS Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 2002.10-PS-27

CREDIT LINE Gift of The Elizabeth A. Sackler Foundation

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, 4th Floor

RECORD COMPLETENESS

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