Needle and Thread
Little is known about Schafer, although he is known to have exhibited both paintings and sculpture at various London Galleries. This painting was one of the first bought for the Ferens' collection along with Under Petticoat Government by Blandford Fletcher (1858-1936). It was purchased in 1906, the same year the work was shown at the Hull Autumn Exhibition in the Municipal Art Gallery (now the City Hall), before the Ferens was opened in 1927. It had been exhibited previously at The Royal Academy under the title The Sempstress. A contemporary(?) note in the painting's history file describes the work as: 'A beautifully painted picture of high artistic quality, pathetic, sad and reminiscent of Rembrandt in its beauty of light and shade'. It is, indeed, indebted to the 17th century Dutch tradition of sombre, introspective portraits, a style introduced by Rembrandt and one which greatly influenced many Victorian painters. Scenes such as this, depicting working women, were popular with the Victorian public and provided subject matter for many painters and authors of the period. This particular piece was inspired by Thomas Hood's poem The Song of the Shirt, about a poor seamstress 'plying her needle thread-/stitch, stitch!'
