Th e S ch m i t t Colle ctio n
1010
1010. SILK-EMBROIDERED AND WATERCOLOR PICTURE OF A WEEPING WOMAN AND A SWAN Circa 1807 By Ann Clap, worked at Saunders & Beach Academy in Dorchester, Massachusetts, circa 1807. Woman is leaning against a memorial inscribed “Sacred to the Memory of Ebenezer Clap Esqr who died Jan. 29th 1802 Aged 70, Not Lost But Gone Before”. Housed in its original frame with white eglomise mat by John Doggett. Inscribed on mat “Wrought by Ann Clap at Mrs. Saunders & Miss Beach’s Academy Dorchester 1807”. 16.75” x 12.5” sight. Framed 23.5” x 18”. 10,000/15,000 Provenance: Stephen and Carol Huber, Old Saybrook, Connecticut, November 28, 2005.
198
Judith Foster Saunders and Clementina Beach opened their academy in Dorchester around 1803, one of many such schools that opened in the Late 18th and Early 19th Centuries. Saunders had already operated a school in Gloucester and was known for her exceptional skill in teaching needlework. The school ran until about 1834, possibly longer, and advertised for enrollment consistently through 1827. An 1810 census indicates forty people resided in the school’s home at the corner of Adams and East Streets in Dorchester. Saunders & Beach was noteworthy for the silk embroideries created by its students, some of which are in the permanent collections of Winterthur and Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts.
see photos of all lots and view condition reports at www.eldreds.com
Source: Dorchester Atheneum