1267: Needlework mourning picture dated 1823 Start Price USD 7,500.00 Current Price USD 38,000.00 Time Left - Bid Count 27 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Saturday, November 22, 2008 End Time Saturday, November 22, 2008 Location Philadelphia, Pennsylvania See more about '1267: Needlework mourning picture dated 1823' Description Current Lot Needlework mourning picture dated 1823 Depicting a young girl in white dress, bonnet and coral necklace holding a ball, the background with weeping willow and lake with swans, eglomise mat inscribed 'M.A. Pray in her 13th month daughter of J &C Pray Worked by her sister C. Pray, 1823', eglomise mat, in silk and chenille threads, heightened with watercolor on silk ground, gilt frame. H: 31 1/4 in. W: 37 3/4in. PROVENANCE: Deaccessioned from a Pennsylvania Historical Institution.NOTE: The needlework exhibits characteristics of Maine memorials in the use of oversize flowers in the foreground and river with swans beyond the figure. The Pray name is fairly common in Maine. The Maine Census of 1820 records forty-two heads of households with the Pray surname . The initials on the eglomise mat, however, have not yet been matched to a Maine family. The frame appears to be of Philadelphia origin. John Pray (1774-1843) a victualler and wife Catherine Weidner Pray (1774-1840)of Northern Liberties, Philadelpha and members of the First Reformed Church ,had nineteen children. Seven survived to adulthood. A daughter, Catherine, born in 1804, would have been 19 years of age in 1823, could have been the needleworker. Another daughter, Mary Ann, born in 1821, fits the initials, M.A. and could have been 13 months of age in 1823. Mary Ann Pray, though lived until 1884. Place a Bid!