Lydia at a Tapestry Frame

Lydia at a Tapestry Frame (1881, Flint Institute of Arts) depicts Cassatt's sister Lydia engaged in needlework at a tapestry frame — a subject that combines the domestic textile arts associated with women with the self-referential element of a work about the making of visual art. Lydia's presence as a model in Cassatt's work during this period reflects both the closeness of their relationship and the pragmatic reality that Cassatt worked primarily with family and close acquaintances as sitters. The tapestry frame gives the painting a structural geometry unusual in her figure work.

The tapestry frame provides a linear, geometric structure within the composition — an architectural element that organizes the painting's space around Lydia's working figure. Cassatt renders the threads and texture of the tapestry work with careful attention, while the figure's clothing and the surrounding domestic setting are handled more loosely.