Page 11 - Demo

Catharine Gracey, Philadelphia Presentation Sampler, 1824 I is a privilege to offer this outstanding sampler, a classic Philadelphia Presentation type and a new discovery ,;thin this group. These samplers were worked between approximately 1816 and 1839, and have been the %u00b7ocus of scholars and collectors for decades. They generally feature a beautifully worked low basket filled with queen's-stitched berries, grapes and sprigs of flowers with leafy, flowering branches above. Additionally they make use of blue shaded architectural plinths which surround the inscriptions and well-defined sawtooth inner borders with fine, wide outer borders. Catharine Gracey's sampler very closely resembles the sampler owned by Betty Ring and made by Mary Ann Boyd, dated 1831 and published as figure 69 in Mrs. Ring's American Needlework Treasures, and the sampler made by Elizabeth Miskey, dated 1822, figure 401 in Mrs. Ring's Girlhood Embroidery, owned by the CooperHewitt I Smithsonian. The fine border worked by Catharine Gracey is very similar to the border on the Miskey sampler, but Catharine's overall needlework is of a higher quality than that on either of the other two samplers. Catharine was born April 18, 1811 in Philadelphia to William Gracey and his wife Agness Craig, both of whom were born in Ireland. Catharine was the last of their ten children and she did not marry. Both of her parents died in 1835 and Catharine is mentioned in her father's will, of which we have a copy. Catharine worked her sampler when she was 13 years old (\carefully, unstitched the last numeral of the year so that her age would not be revealed to anyone who admired her sampler. This was a relatively common practice amongst samplermakers. A very good file of genealogical research accompanies the sampler. Worked in silk on linen and in excellent condition, it has been conservation mounted in a mahogany beveled frame. Sampler size: 17\Price: $28,000. Al\\IERicA's LEAD I c sAMPLER AND NEED LEw o RK DEAL ER M. Finkel ~ Daughter. 7