$2,820
Needlework Sampler "By Sally Farley aged 12 years 1794," silk threads on a linen ground, with three alphabet panels above a pious verse and a scene with a house flanked by trees and a fence with an arched gate and urn-form finial, enclosed on three sides by a geometric flowering vine, (fading, minor losses), sight size 19 1/4 x 14 5/8 in. , framed. Note: A note inscribed and affixed to the reverse reads: "Sampler wrought by Sally Farley in 1794. Bequest to Mrs. Francis R. Williams Winchester-Elizabeth Farley Underwood Sept. 1939." Provenance: By family decent to the present owner. Sarah (Sally) Farley was born June 3, 1781 in Brookline, New Hampshire, one of ten children born to Benjamin and Lucy Farley, and was the twin of Betsy Farley. Sally was the aunt of the two Farley children portrayed in a painting by Zedekiah Belknap sold at Skinner August 13, 1995, sale 1661 lot 82. Sally was also the great aunt of Elizabeth Farley Kelly Underwood, who is noted in the inscription on the reverse of the needlework and was, incidently, the wife of William Underwood, owner of the company manufacturing Underwood Deviled Ham. A genealogy chart of the Farley family is included in the lot.
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2003-06-08
