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Antique Decorative Pillows and Textiles
Unique Textile Items
Embroidered Needlework Circa 1620 "The Judgment of Solomon"
   
         
       
           
     
     
  A truly outstanding circa 1620 embroidered needlework picture depicting the Judgment of Solomon showing Charles I as Solomon, seated under a canopy/pavilion. The canopy is worked in silk, chenille and metal threads with highlights of sequences and beads. A soldier holds the baby boy upside down with a mother on either side of him. The sun in the sky has been worked with metal threads and surrounded by a cloud and there’s a small assortment of inserts. This piece looks to have been cut down in size since to the very right of the picture there’s part of a ladies dress showing. The main figures are all slightly padded, the picture is really quite dense in needlework. Framed in its original gold gilded handmade frame.

Condition: A few small slits that are barely noticeable and some age discoloration to the silk background. The silk floss threads are still bright and fresh in color. The frame is period and has many chips which are to be expected of a piece this age. An amazing piece with age consistencies.

The story: Two new mothers approach Solomon, bringing with them a single baby boy. Each mother presents the same story - she and the other woman live together. One night, soon after the birth of their respective children, the other woman woke to find that she had smothered her own baby in her sleep. In anguish and jealousy, she took her dead son and exchanged it with the other's child. The following morning, the woman discovered the dead baby, and soon realized that it was not her own son, but the other woman's.

After some deliberation, King Solomon calls for a sword to be brought before him. He declares that there is only one fair solution: the live son must be split in two, each woman receiving half of the child. Upon hearing this terrible verdict, the boy's true mother cries out, "Please, My Lord, give her the live child - do not kill him!" However, the liar, in her bitter jealousy, exclaims, "It shall be neither mine nor yours - divide it!" Solomon instantly gives the baby to the real mother, realizing that the true mother's instincts were to protect her child, while the liar revealed that she did not truly love the child.

  
   
     Size: 10" L x 12" W x 1" D               Price: $4725.00                Item: #UI08J-5      
  
               
 
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