- 337
Rare and Important Canvaswork Bible Cover, Sarah Saunders (1741-1789), Philadelphia, 1753
Description
- 15 by 22 1/2 inches
Provenance
John Saunders (1752-1790);
David Saunders (1789-1869);
James Douglass Saunders (1829-1903);
John Henry Saunders (1880-1940);
John Henry Saunders, Jr. (1907-1993);
to the current consignor.
The Bible Cover was made by Sarah Saunders in 1753 in Philadelphia. She was born November 10, 1741 and was the eldest of eleven children born to the Quakers Joseph Saunders (1713–1972) and his wife Hannah, née Reeve (1717–1788).
Joseph Saunders migrated from England to Philadelphia in 1732 where he became a successful merchant. He was also the first clerk and later a director of The Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire, now simply named The Philadelphia Contributionship, a company founded by Benjamin Franklin and others in 1852.
The embroidery was the cover of a large James I Bible owned by Joseph Saunders and measures 22½ inches wide by 15 inches deep. Sarah Saunders has sewn her name and the year on the central part of the embroidery. She was only twelve years old at the time.
Sarah Saunders married the Quaker William Redwood (1726–1815) as his 2nd wife in 1776 in Philadelphia. Sarah died October 29, 1789.
Joseph Saunders died in 1792. His only surviving son John moved to Alexandria, Virginia in 1773 and died there quite young in 1790. He married Mary Pancoast in 1783 and they had six children but only three survived to adulthood. The Bible with its embroidered Cover now came into the hands of his youngest son David Saunders (1789–1869) who with his wife Hannah Travilla, née Douglass (1799–1873) lived in Washington DC where David was employed with the Treasury Department of the Post Office.
David and Hannah Travilla Saunders had three sons. The eldest William Hartshorne Saunders was a medical graduate from the University of Pennsylvania and died mysteriously in Nicaragua in 1857. He had married Hannah S. Bradley of the prominent Bradley family in Washington DC and Maryland. The middle son John graduated in law from the University of Virginia in 1843 and moved to San Francisco in 1850 where he established a successful law firm, was the City and County Attorney for several years and was elected a State senator for two sessions. He was never married and died in 1885. The youngest son, James Douglass Saunders, moved from Washington DC to San Francisco in 1855. He was a professional musician.
David and Hannah Travilla Saunders left Washington DC for San Francisco in 1863 traveling via clipper around the Horn of South America with all their worldly possessions, including the Bible with its embroidered cover.
When David died in 1869 the Bible was inherited by his youngest son, James Douglass Saunders, who was born August 10, 1829 in Washington DC. He married Emily C. Brannan in 1867 in Napa, California. She was niece of the colorful San Francisco identity Sam Brannan.
James Douglass and Emily Saunders had three sons. The eldest, William Hartshorne Saunders was born in 1868 and graduated in law from the University of Virginia in 1894. He died young in 1897 and was unmarried. Their middle son James Douglass Saunders Jr was born in 1894 and at age sixteen was enrolled at the Virginia Military Institute. He died there of Typhoid Fever in 1890.
When James Douglass Saunders died in 1903 the Bible and its embroidered cover was inherited by their youngest son, John Henry Saunders, who was born in 1880 in San Francisco. He married Lillian Frances Chinn in 1905. They divorced in 1925 after he went to live in Australia. Much of the Saunders family memorabilia, including the Bible and its cover, was left in the care of his ex-wife who kept it in safe-keeping for their only son John Henry Saunders Jr who was born September 29, 1907.
John Henry Saunders Jr migrated to Australia in 1930 after graduating from Stanford University. He married Maureen Frances Meagher in 1935 in Sydney. When America entered WWII he enlisted in the US Army and served in New Guinea. After the war, as an expatriate ex-serviceman, he was entitled to terminal leave with his family in his home state. Thus during 1946, John with his wife and two children, Graeme and Robert, spent six months in San Francisco, sailing there and back on the S.S.Monterey.
On the return journey he brought back with him much of the family memorabilia including the Bible in its embroidered cover.
John and Maureen Saunders had two sons. The elder, John Graeme Saunders, was born December 7, 1936. He died of Motor Neurone (Lou Gehrig's) disease in 1978. The younger son Robert Brian Saunders was born July 27, 1941.
John Saunders died in 1993. Some years before his death he passed on to his son Robert all the family memorabilia, including the Bible and its embroidered cover. Noting that over the generations the Bible and cover had suffered some wear and tear, Robert had the embroidered cover properly preserved by having it mounted in an airtight frame by professional conservators. Given its age, no attempt at restoration was made.
For a detailed outline of the people concerned with the ownership of the embroidered Bible cover visit www.saundersfamilyhistory.com
Condition
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.