Images(2)

Doily

Object number2021.41.1

Made by Leonilde Frieri Ruberto

Date1960-1969

MediumFabric

Credit LineGift of Laura E. Ruberto

DescriptionWhite crochet doily. Eight (8) radiating arms from central hole alternate with eight (8) radiating truncated arms. Arms are connected by arched crochet strands creating sixteen (16) perimeter lobes. DimensionsLength x Width x Depth: 10.438 x 10.438 x 0.25 in. (26.5 x 26.5 x 0.6 cm)
Historical NotesLeonilde Frieri Ruberto was born in Cairano, Italy and lived through World War II while her husband was held as a POW in the U.K and the United States. Later in her life, after the earthquake in Irpinia one of her daughters asked her to write down her life story in a spiral notebook. Written in imperfect Italian in one continuous sentence, Ruberto describes her life in Cairano, raising children with a husband abroad (he immigrated to Venezuela after the war to earn money), and migrating to the neighborhood of Bloomfield in Pittsburgh. Ruberto’s granddaughter published her memoir in a bilingual edition called Such Is Life; the cover shows Leonilde doing needlework, as her family often remembers her doing. She was a skilled sewer and needleworker.

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