American Art Collaborative

Though the style of clothing, the pose, and the elegance of this work emulate Greek sculpture, the underlying subject is American. Filatrice, meaning “spinner,” represents Clotho, one of the three classical Fates, who spun the thread that symbolically composed the course of an individual’s life. Brown completed this piece in 1850, a time when women in the United States were entering the textile industry as workers and were also campaigning for their rights in society. This woman spinning wool, represented as a deity, was the artist’s testament that modern American women held their future in their own hands. Emily Tolman ’16