Lot 836
  • 836

IMPORTANT MOURNING EMBROIDERY TO 'C. CHAPIN', ATTRIBUTED TO ABBY WRIGHT'S SCHOOL, SOUTH HADLEY, MASSACHUSETTS, CIRCA 1799

Estimate
10,000 - 20,000 USD
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Description

  • silk, chenille, and silver thread and watercolor on silk satin
  • 17 in. by 13 in.
Silk, chenille, and silver thread and watercolor on silk satin. Inscribed G. Chapin.

Provenance

Col. Edgar William Garbisch and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, Pokety Farms, Maryland;
Sotheby's, New York, Collection of Colonel Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, Part 1, 1974, lot 31.

Literature

Betty Ring illustrates this piece in “Girlhood Embroidery,” Volume I, p. 159, Fig. 176, where it appears as the frontispiece to the chapter on Silk Embroideries of South Hadley.

Condition

Overall in excellent condition. Has been removed from the strainer.
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.

Catalogue Note

Betty Ring records the following information about this mourning picture:

“Typical of Abby Wright’s School, are the wispy willow trees, plants surrounded by minute seed stitches, the silver trimmed urn, and applied paper for the inscriptions. The weeper, characteristic of early examples, more commonly wears a black striped dress, and the backgrounds typically include the same mansion and meetinghouse…This embroidery is dedicated to Chloe Lombard, who married Captain Israel Chapin of Springfield, Massachusetts, on June 26, 1788, and it is attributed to Harriet Chapin (1789-1818), the first of their seven children."

See Betty Ring, Girlhood Embroidery: American Samplers & Pictorial Needlework, 1650-1850, vol. I (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993), p. 158., fig. 179.