| 1876 CENTENNIAL STEVENSGRAPH BOOKMARK, WITH AN EXPERTLY EMBROIDERED RENDERING OF THE PAINTING OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE FINAL DRAFT OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, BY THE ‘PARTY OF FIVE,” BY JOHN TRUMBULL |
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| Web ID: | pat-827 |
| Available: | In Stock |
| Frame Size (H x L): | 17.5" x 15.5" |
| Flag Size (H x L): | 10.5" x 2.5" |
| Description: | |
| This souvenir Stevensgraph (woven silk picture) was made for the 1876 Centennial International Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, America’s first World’s Fair event, held in conjunction with our nation’s 100-year anniversary of independence. The form is straight with a triangular wedge at the bottom. Along the top, fanciful text reads: “Souvenir of the Independence of America.” The finely executed imagery that follows features an image of the equestrian statue of George Washington, the planning for which began in 1783, at the close of the Revolutionary War, but wasn’t authorized by an act of Congress until January 25, 1853. Executed by sculptor Clark Mills, it was dedicated on February 22, 1860 in Washington, DC. It stands today at Washington Circle. The rendering of Washington is set between crossed American flags, followed by the words: “George Washington; First President of the United States; 1789” along the center register. Below this is a rendition of the famous painting by John Trumbull, that most identify as the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776. The scene actually depicts the presentation of the Constitution’s final draft to John Hancock, by the “Committee of Five” (John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman), on June 28th of that year, a few days prior to the actual signing. In the vortex, created by the bottom wedge, the word “Victory” arched and superimposed upon the upstretched wings of an eagle, perched upon a federal shield, carrying an olive branch in its talons, with arrows below and with a billowing streamer in its beak, bearing the familiar Latin phrase, “E Pluribus Unum (out of many, one). One of the key figures who pioneered the technology to produce this manner of textile was Thomas Stevens, a weaver in Coventry, England, who adapted a Jacquard loom to weave colorful pictures from silk. Stevens sold his first in 1862. At that time he was producing four different designs, though by the late 1880's, that number had grown to approximately 900. Though Stevens was the foremost marketer, and successful enough to equate his name with these extraordinarily textiles, French, Swiss, and German competitors all acquired the technology at approximately the same time, in or around 1860. By 1876, when this unsigned textile was made, production had begun in the States. Most Stevensgraphs were bookmarks, but there were greeting cards, postcards, and other formats. Mounting: The two-part frame consists of a black-painted molding with a bowed profile and a textured surface, to which a scooped molding, with press-decorated, foliated scrollwork and a silverish-gold, distressed surface, was added as a liner. The ribbon has been hand-stitched to 100% cotton twill, black in color, that was washed and treated for colorfastness. The glazing is Optium Museum Plexiglas, U.V. protective, scratch resistant, and anti-glare, but crystal clear. Condition: There are a couple of the tiniest flacks of staining, and there extremely minor toning of the fabric to a pinkish hue, perhaps from humidity and dye transfer, but both of these issues are so minor as to be barely worthy of mention. The overall state of preservation is exceptional. |
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| Collector Level: | Intermediate-Level Collectors and Special Gifts |
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| Earliest Date of Origin: | 1876 |
| Latest Date of Origin: | 1876 |
| State/Affiliation: | Pennsylvania |
| War Association: | |
| Price: | Please call (717) 676-0545 or (717) 502-1281 |
| E-mail: | info@jeffbridgman.com |
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