ABIGAIL F. CUNNINGHAM CHARLESTOWN ACADEMY Charlestown, MA dated 1808 Silk embroidery Inscribed on the eglomise glass, WROUGHT BY ABIGAIL F. CUNNINGHAM UNDER THE TUITION OF/ H. SPOFFORD CHARLESTOWN AD 1808. A truly magnificent silk embroidered picture featuring two women and three children harvesting and sorting grapes. Note the vines growing up and into the tree. In the background, the field is being harvested by several men. The central picture is surrounded with a highly developed flowering vine and an extremely rare inner gold eglomise. To date there are only eleven known needlework pictures from the Charlestown Academy. Miss Hannah Spofford taught at the Charlestown Academy from 1806 to 1811, preceding that she taught in Worcester, MA 1804 -1806. Abigail (1796-1866) was the daughter of Nathaniel Fellows Cunningham (1770-1841) and Hannah Adams (1769-1840) all from Boston. In 1815 she married John Shepley (1787-1850) a lawyer from Fitchburg, MA and later Saco, ME. Silk and watercolor on silk; 30 ¾ x 28 ¼ inches framed. Sold STEPHEN & CAROL HUBER (860) 388-6809 View Other Silk Embroidered Pictures