Needlework Picture, "Death of Abel" by "Mrs. H. Weed"

Dateca. 1830

Artist/Maker Mrs. H. Weed (active ca. 1800)

MediumSilk and silk chenille embroidery threads with watercolor on a silk ground (fiber identification by eye) in a gilded frame with reverse painted glass mat

DimensionsFramed: OH 31" x OW 35 7/8" Actual (by sight): OH 24 5/8" x OW 29 3/8"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1957.601.1

DescriptionThis is a rectangular needlework picture worked in shades of gold, blue, green, blue/green, brown, gray, and white silk and silk chenille embroidery thread with watercolor on a silk ground. At the center of the scene is a man with gray, painted skin, stretched out at the feet of a grieving woman who kneels with eyes cast upward and arms outstretched. A man bends over the dead body and holds the woman’s (anatomical) left arm in his hands. Behind him and to the right of the picture, are two women and two children; they stand next to an embroidered building with a diamond-paned window. Next to the building is an embroidered tree with branches stretching above the man’s head. In the distance, a shaft of light emanates from the sky, shining upon a range of low hills and a willow tree. In the middle ground, an embroidered line of bushes or treetops curves from the edge of the building to the left edge of the picture. The foreground is worked in gold, blue/green, dark green and brown, depicting shadows and grass in an undulating manner. A boulder or hillock stands in the left foreground, and a slim brown curved tree trunk stands in the far right foreground. The figures are painted with articulated muscles, and their garments are embroidered in silk satin stitch in colors of light and dark gold. The sky is painted in colors of gray and blue. The willow tree is stitched in colors of green/gold, and the hills are gray/white. The brown roof of the building, tree trunks and gold leaves are stitched in chenille thread.
The painted glass is a modern replacement. The frame is probably a period replacement two-inch gilded and lacquered flat frame with liner and half round molding trimming the outer edge.

Stitches: chain, couching, encroaching satin, outline, satin
Label TextThe story depicted in this needlework picture derives from the Book of Genesis, Chapter 4, verses 1-16. Cain and Abel, sons of Adam and Eve took their offerings of their produce to the Lord. The Lord had regard for Abel’s offerings and Cain was jealous; the Lord told him that if he did well, he would be accepted. Still angry, Cain went into the field and killed Abel. This scene depicts Eve mourning her son, Adam comforting her, with the wives of Cain and Abel weeping in the background.
InscribedLettered in gold paint on the eglomise mat is "DEATH OF ABEL." This appears between the phrases "EMBROIDERED BY" AND "MRS H. WEED."
ProvenanceEdith Gregor Halpert (Downtown Gallery, New York, N.Y.). Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Halpert appears to have purchased the picture from an unidentified owner, who obtained the piece from a direct descendant of Mrs. Weed in Kingston, N.Y.