FINE AND RARE SILK EMBROIDERED MOURNING PICTURE: IN MEMORY OF HEZIAH MOODY, ATTRIBUTED TO HADASSAH MOODY, ABBY WRIGHT'S SCHOOL, SOUTH HADLEY, MASSACHUSETTS, DATED 1803

Inscribed: In Memory of Heziah Moody who died July 6, 1813 in the 13th year of her age.

Sotheby's, New York, Edgar Williams and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, January 26, 1974, sale 3596, lot 713.

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, William Penn Museum, Mourning Becomes America: Mourning Art in the New Nation, March 28 through May 23, 1976;
Albany, New York, The Albany institute of Art, June 1 through July 15, 1976.

Betty Ring, "Needlework Pictures from Abby Wright's School in Hadley, Massachusetts," Antiques, September 1986, pp. 482-493, illus. fig. 1, p. 485.

Some losses and fading.
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.

Betty Ring wrote about this sampler in a letter to Anita Schorsch dated February 19, 1985. She wrote:

"Keziah Moody was born January 3. 1789 and died July 6, 1804. The other details noted on the memorial evidently refer to the first child of the family, Seth, born December 20, 1779, and the third, Mary, born March 17 (?), 1784." She continued: “The memorial to Keziah was probably worked by her sister, Hadassah who was born June 29, 1787, or possibly by the next younger sister Rachel, born July 10, 1793. The latter is less likely. I think the piece is no later than 1804 or 1805, and in May of 1804, Abby Wright wrote that she had forty students 'from fourteen to twenty-one years old and upward.' In an undated discourse to her students (probably about August or early fall, 1804) Abby Wright said, ‘By the very suddenness and unexpected death of the late Miss Moody (a member of this school) we are led to contemplate the uncertainty of earthly prospects. She was one of our number, she was the first (of the family) to enter this school and as a scholar,…’ A biblical embroidery signed by Hadassah Moody can also be attributed to this school by the technique of Embroidery... The Moody family’s residence in South Hadley and two Moody embroideries typical of this group is important evidence for attribution.”

Betty Ring to Anita Schorsch, February 19, 1985, p. 2.