Help Identify Age of Civil War Soldier Needlepoint

Hello, thank you for helping if you can. I am trying to determine the age of this needlepoint. It is currently framed under glass. I took a piece of cardboard off of the back that said "A very vintage needlepoint". That is the only info that I have.

I believe the subject is a "Carpetbagger" Civil War era soldier...This is the first needlepoint that I have ever owned, so I don't have a clue as to the age of it.

 

Nope - he's just a Northern soldier. The carpetbaggers went South after the war. The frame, I think, is rather 1980ish.

Also, although that is a rather feminine bag the gentleman has, it is not one of the then fashionable "carpetbags," which were actually made of fancy rugs.

(One hopes that the gentleman has not recently raided a plantation, and made off with Milady's handbag!)

 

I'm a bit skeptical about the US Civil War idea. The building and mountain in the background don't look like any part of the southern US I can think of. The fellow's shoes look better suited to dancing than soldiering. And if I recall correctly the "carpetbaggers" were northern businessmen, not the Union soldiers themselves.

All that said, the person who made it could have applied her own "artistic license" to it, perhaps copying the background from some other subject.

 

Mayhap he replaced his worn out boots with Milord's dancing pumps...?

LOL!

 

I get a European vibe... maybe Switzerland?

 

That's what I was thinking, Pat.

 

Dummy that I am!! I just looked at his footwear again. He's wearing spats - check the left foot.

 

Ah, yes, so he is.

Would a Union soldier have white trousers? Or is that just another "artistic interpretation?"

 

Wikipedia has everything! According to same, pants were varying shades of blue. including light blue. But no white.

And, utilitarian spats are "gaiters." I did think that "spats" sounded more Cotillion than Chancellorsville...

 

I'm ignorant regarding this type of item but it has the look of having been made from a kit. Scene is probably Austrian or Swiss alps- look at mountain peaks and chalet-style structure. Nothing at all to do with USA much less Civil War. Man's costume is nothing I've seen in U.S. even in an historical context.

 

Walter's costume in this play is that of a Swiss Hussar; sounds very similar to that depicted in the embroidery.

https://books.google.com/books?id=i...iss costume white trousers red stripe&f=false

 

Yodelayeehooo!

 

Where is Fid? He may recognize that dude or might at least verify that the original artist intended to depict a Swiss character.

 

Doing a quick Google search, I found Swiss mountains, chalets, and flowers that all look like the images in the needlepoint.

 

I've always been interested in getting one of those monstrous Alp horns but I dont think my local music store has them,

 

Try the guys who make Ricola candies.....