I was all ready to move onto another topic for this next blog post, but it seems like the Foote sisters wouldn’t quite let go of my mind. After I wrote what I did a couple of nights ago, it was really bothering me that I was remembering so clearly Elizabeth’s bed rug from the Connecticut Historical Society exhibit and not Mary’s from Winterthur, despite having been to a number of Winterthur needlework exhibits and behind-the-scenes tours. I headed to my bookshelves and took out the small booklets that have been put together for the last three needlework exhibits there. And guess what I found?
Yes, sure enough, Mary Foote’s (or was is Foot?) bed rug was indeed on display during the exhibit I saw in 2011. This would have been after the Connecticut Historical Society one. I think I can vaguely picture where it was at Winterthur. At the time, did I make the connection to Elizabeth’s? I don’t remember. And yet, I find it a fascinating bit about memory to think that I so strongly made the connection when reading recently the book Plain & Fancy.