A VERY RARE SILK EMBROIDERED TERRESTRIAL GLOBE, MERCY SMEDLEY, CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, EARLY 19TH CENTURY

the spherical form stitched in silk with ink inscriptions identifying the continents and oceans; mounted in a turned cherrywood base.

Jackson / Gillooly, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, March 1999

Seattle, Washington, The Seattle Art Museum, American Sampler, May 18, 2002 - May 16, 2004

With some fading; in a blown colorless glass dome cover.
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.

Mercy Smedley, from Oxford, Pennsylvania, was a student at the Westtown School.  A similar work is in the collection of The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), worked by Lydia Satterthwaite (b. 1803) of Chester County, Pennsylvania, dated 1817 (42.28.5).  It is illustrated and discussed in Edward Maeder, 600 years of Embroidery from the Permanent Collection, 1380 – 1980, 1982.  Another example of terrestrial and celestial globes worked by Sarah R. Sheppard, 1844 are illustrated and discussed in Betty Ring, Girlhood Embroidery, Volume II, p. 395, fig. 435.