Early 19th century watercolor and embroidered silk mourning picture, attributed to Margaret Brock of Abbeville, South Carolina (1794-1853). Oval vignette features a female figure standing beneath a weeping willow tree, beside an urn and pedestal which reads "In memory of MAB who departed 1794". Banner above reads "Not Lost but Gone Before". The corners of the work are decorated with watercolor flowers and cherubs; script above reads "In death remembered as in life beloved". Later giltwood molded frame. 19" x 16 1/4" sight, 22" x 19 1/4" framed. Handwritten inscription verso "Roxie Campbell / 200 E. 1st Ave. Lenoir City Tenn". Note taped below from Bobbie Chambers Nash, dated 1982, recounts that she found the work in the attic of a Knoxville TN home owned by her brother Dr. Shirley Coleman Chambers and thought it might have belonged to the home's previous owners. However, recent research by the Tennessee Sampler Survey shows that Roxie (Chambers) Campbell and her siblings, Bobbie Chambers Nash and Shirley Chambers, were descended from Margaret Brock Chambers, born Aug. 27, 1794 in Abbeville, SC. It is possible Margaret made the piece in memory of her mother, who likely died in childbirth. Margaret Brock Chambers married William Chambers in 1808 in Georgia and died in Banks County, GA in 1853. Provenance: the estate of Celia (Cece) Webb, Nashville, Tennessee. (Additional high-resolution photos are available at www.caseantiques.com.)

General fading and background discoloration, two 3/4" tears upper left corner; a few scattered dark stains, largest 1" L. Scattered folds. Not glued down.