A Reward of True Faithfulness From Mother Lucy To Eleanor Potter184811 3/8 × 10 1/2"Watercolor and ink on paperGift of Ralph Esmerian2013.1.520Gift drawing featuring large central motif of eight-pointed star containing cross with shooting stars, the whole contained within green circle with scallopped circumference, star pink and yellow. Floral motifs in four corners with bird with flower in mounth each corner. Scallopped cartouche with text bottomcenter. Text top center, LS RS, across bottom, over top two birds. Title contained in cartouche.1547473905P1.2001.302Polly Ann (Jane) ReedDrawingsThe American Folk Art Museum believes this work to be in the public domain.ShakerBird LS above in ink: "Dove of the Morning." Bird RS: "Dove of the Evening." Text between birds: "Hear me my child says Mother, while/I speak words of truth unto you. I have/marked you with the star and cross, and/fed and nourished you, that you might be a/thrifty plant in my vinyard, bringing forth/fruits of righteousness and every godly virtue." LS: "But what I am a-/bout to say to you, is,/that your path thru time/will be interset with/hedges, and formed of an/uneven level. But you/must patiently bear what-/ever trials or afflictions/may come upon you: for/truly you have the gospel/to cheer your dreary way/and my blessing to light/you thro the dark wilder-/ness of time." RS: "And for this you ought/never
to retire to rest at/night without giving/special thanks to God. For/in his loving
kindness, he/hath separated you from a/world of wickedness, to par/take of the
joys of Eternal/Life. So be encouraged/to keep my way, and in/my love farewell./From your Loving/Mother Ann." Across bottom: "Flowers plucked from
Mother Lucy's Tree of Increase" Encircled, at bottom: "A Reward/of True Faithfulness/From Mother Lucy/To Eleanor Potter./July 22nd/1.8.4.8." Three labels on back.New LebanonNew LebanonUnited StatesNew YorkWorks on PapereMuseum - Collection HighlightsNew LebanonGerard C. Wertkin, Millennial Dreams: Vision and Prophecy in American Folk Art, New York (Museum of American Folk Art: 1999) 23.
June Sprigg, "The Gift of Inspiration: Shaker and American Folk Art, Hirschl & Adler, New York (The Studley Press, Inc.: 1979) 26.
June Sprigg, Shaker Design, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (1986) 202.
Cited: Daniel W. Patterson, Gift Drawing and Gift Song: A Study of Two Forms of Shaker Inspiration, (Sabbathday Lake, ME: The United Society of Shakers, 1983)ShakerBeginning in 1837, an intense religious revival swept through the Shaker villages. Over a period of twenty or more years known as the Era of Manifestations, or Mother’s Work, Believers accepted visionary experiences as a part of daily life. These phenomena “received by inspiration” were recognized as “gifts” by the Shaker leadership, and included messages, songs, and drawings. A little more than two hundred gift drawings survive, all but a few the work of women at the villages in New Lebanon, New York, and Hancock, Massachusetts. Polly Reed, the meticulous scribe who recorded this gift, also transcribed visions into heart- and leaf-shaped cutouts, a spiritual map, and other works in watercolor. Mother Lucy was Lucy Wright (1760–1821), a principal leader of the United Society of Believers during its formative years. The drawing also contains a visionary message believed to have been received from Mother Ann Lee (1736–1784), the founder of the Society.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Gift Drawing: A Reward of True Faithfulness from Mother Lucy to Eleanor Potter," exhibition label for Folk Art Revealed. Stacy C. Hollander and Brooke Davis Anderson, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2004.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgP1.2001.30218481848 2013 1 52 ShakerBeginning in 1837, an intense religious revival swept through the Shaker villages. Over a period of twenty or more years known as the Era of Manifestations, or Mother’s Work, Believers accepted visionary experiences as a part of daily life. These phenomena “received by inspiration” were recognized as “gifts” by the Shaker leadership, and included messages, songs, and drawings. A little more than two hundred gift drawings survive, all but a few the work of women at the villages in New Lebanon, New York, and Hancock, Massachusetts. Polly Reed, the meticulous scribe who recorded this gift, also transcribed visions into heart- and leaf-shaped cutouts, a spiritual map, and other works in watercolor. Mother Lucy was Lucy Wright (1760–1821), a principal leader of the United Society of Believers during its formative years. The drawing also contains a visionary message believed to have been received from Mother Ann Lee (1736–1784), the founder of the Society.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Gift Drawing: A Reward of True Faithfulness from Mother Lucy to Eleanor Potter," exhibition label for Folk Art Revealed. Stacy C. Hollander and Brooke Davis Anderson, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2004.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.org