Rare Embroidered and Painted Silk Picture: Hagar and the Angel of God, Anonymous, Mrs. Saunders & Miss Beach's Academy, Dorchester, Massachusetts, circa 1805

Worked in silk and paint on silk; inscribed in the embroidery.

Private Collection, Boston, Massachusetts

American Needlework Treasures: Samplers and Silk Embroideries from the Collection of Betty Ring at the Museum of American Folk Art (p. 73, fig. 119)

Some stain extreme right border; colors vivid; silk in sound condition; tacked to the original strainer; unframed.
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.

Three other pieces from the Saunders and Beach Academy portray this scene, but none has retained such brilliant colors. Although found unframed, this embroidery was evidently "strained" in preparation for framing (for which John Doggett usually charged fifty cents), and space was left for an inscribed glass mat. It descended in the Everett family, and on December 18, 1805, a "Mr. Everett of
Boston" paid Doggett $4.67 for " 1 embroidery frame" and $4.00 for " 1 glass with enamelling" possibly for this needlework (John Doggett's ledger, Joseph Downs Manuscript Collection, Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, Delaware). If it was, indeed, framed, the unfaded silk reveals that it was displayed but briefly.