Hannah Firth Jones
American, born 1778 (American painter, printmaker, 1764-1813)
Sacred to Friendship
1804
Hand painted silk satin, with silk and chenille French knots, satin stitch, and straight stitch embroidery
24 x 30 inches (60.96 x 76.2 centimeters)
Gift of Mrs. William P. Hacker, 1982.
1982.031.003

Embroideries depicting scenes of mourning became popular in the United States after the death of George Washington in 1799. Samuel Folwell, a Philadelphia artist who designed many mourning pictures for students in his wife's embroidery school, probably drew this scene onto the silk, and painted the faces, sky, and arms. Hannah Frith Jones was twenty-six years old and already married when she embroidered this picture under the instruction of Mrs. Folwell.