This early Victorian needlework depicts the biblical story of Moses discovered among the reeds of the Nile.
Worked in silk and chenille, the scene shows the infant Moses being lifted from his basket while Miriam watches nearby.
The figures wear early 19th century dress, which gives the biblical subject the gentle, domestic character so often found in English devotional needlework of this period.
The coloring is soft and appealing, and the combination of silkwork, chenille, and black eglomisé creates a particularly rich surface. Framed under glass in its original eglomisé surround and giltwood frame, it is a beautiful and unusual example of Victorian biblical needlework.
This subject, often called Moses in the Bulrushes or The Infant Moses, was a popular one in early 19th century English embroidery. It combined religious narrative with sentiment, decorative color, and the opportunity to show skill in figures, costume, and landscape. Here, the tenderness of the scene and the survival of the original eglomisé frame add greatly to its appeal.
Dimensions: 21.25″ high x 18″ wide x 1.5″ deep
Condition: Very good; the silkwork is in very good to excellent condition. The original black eglomisé is intact. The giltwood frame has minor touching to the gilding.
Price: $620
Decoration: Biblical scene of Moses drawn from the Nile, worked in silkwork and chenille, with black eglomisé surround
Material: Silkwork, chenille, glass, eglomisé, giltwood frame
Style: Victorian
Origin: England
Date: Circa 1840
       

Notable Details:
Biblical subject of Moses in the Bulrushes
Worked in silk and chenille
Early Victorian figures in period dress
Original black eglomisé surround
Giltwood frame with old glass
Tender religious and domestic subject
Strong decorative presence at a modest scale

This early 19th-century watercolor portrait is signed “Painted by Mr. King” and dated 1829.
It shows the sitter, Hanah Tichbon, dressed as a proper young woman of the period, wearing white with a gold chain and cross and holding a small book, likely a Bible.
The portrait presents the composed public image expected in Georgian society.
The reverse tells a very different story.
Written on the back of the card is a handwritten record of Hanah Tichbon, also called Hanah Honsett, born September 22, 1809, and married to Thomas Matcham on October 6, 1829.
The inscription continues with brief notes over the following years, recording that she left him at Bath, attended the Brighton races, later “ran away from Sheffets,” and in 1841 “ran away in London and was found.”
Together, these entries form an unusually personal record of a life in early nineteenth-century England.
Portraits of the period were created to preserve appearance and respectability.
Here, the inscription transforms the object into something more revealing.
The calm image on the front contrasts sharply with the fragmentary history on the reverse, which records a series of departures that would have been considered deeply scandalous in early nineteenth-century England.
Portraits that retain a handwritten record of the sitter’s life are uncommon and give this example a particularly personal historical dimension.
The portrait is presented in a simple gilt frame that complements the period character of the work while allowing the image to remain the focus.
Dimensions: 6.5″ x 7″ including the frame
Condition: Wear consistent with age and use. Minor age related wear to the frame and surface. Handwritten inscription on the reverse.
Decoration: Watercolor portrait of Hanah Tichbon wearing white with a gold chain and cross and holding a book
Material: Watercolor and pencil on card
Style: Early 19th-Century Georgian portrait work
Origin: England
Date: 1829