twomemorials

Young ladies worked silk embroidered memorials to honor the memory of deceased family members and young men occasionally created their own memorials, generally using pen and ink and watercolor on paper. We offer these two very interesting examples.

This was made by his son and namesake, Reuben Spencer, then age 32, and it expresses the enormous grief that the Spencer family must have felt following the death of Capt. Spencer, “Aged 66 Years 8 Mos and One day,” after he was thrown from his horse. A large and handsome monument dominates the scene while a tiny riderless horse gallops at left and a small church is nestled into the right corner. Reuben Spencer, Sr. was born in Saybrook , Connecticut and served as captain of the Regiment of Militia in the County of Dutchess , New York in the Revolutionary War.

Reuben Spencer, Jr., whose initials appear at the lower right corner, was a City Surveyor of New York as well as a boat captain in the Brazilian trade. One of his sons, Jesse Ames Spencer, was an Episcopal clergyman, educator and author of great repute; a copy of his published memoir accompanies this piece. It is in excellent condition and remains in its original dark figured maple frame.

A small and beautifully detailed double memorial, this honors siblings John Terry, who died in 1812 and Nancy Terry, who died in 1814; they were the children of Timothy Brewster Terry. The composition is excellent, with a pair of graceful, spring-green willow trees bending towards the center and protecting the tombs. Many generations of the Terry family lived in Southold, located on the north fork of Long Island , from the 1650s forth.

Other watercolor and ink memorials that are almost identical to this one have turned up in the area and a small body of work is now known to have been produced by Oliver Brewster Goldsmith (1815-1888) throughout his life. A dated 1828 Oliver B. Goldsmith watercolor memorial to George Washington (patterned after the well-known 1801 engraving by Thomas Clarke), is owned by the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum of Colonial Williamsburg. This and other Goldsmith memorials were made when he was a boy; quite interestingly, Mr. Goldsmith became a calligraphy artist and professor of penmanship in New York . It is in excellent condition and remains in its original black painted frame.

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AMERICA'S LEADING SAMPLER AND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
936 Pine Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107
215-627-7797 fax 215-627-8199

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