Images(5)

Sham, Pillow

Object number2021.41.7 a,b

Made by Leonilde Frieri Ruberto

Date1934

OriginCairano, Italy

MediumFabric; Plastic

Credit LineGift of Laura E. Ruberto

DescriptionSet of two (2) matching pillow shams (a,b). Each pillowcase is made of rectangular white fabric. Inset rectangle of double-layered fabric with open-weave border; one short end of this area has opening with four white plastic buttons for closure. Single-layer perimeter fabric is edged with scalloped eyelet floral pattern with white embroidery; part of the eyelet openings are flower petals.Historical NotesPart of Leonilde Frieri Ruberto's wedding trousseau. Needlework was done with a combination of handwork and machine work. She made them in Cairano, Italy and brought them with her to Pittsburgh. These pillow shams were used as everyday bed linens. Leonilde 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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