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a touching, believable scene from 1871
' "SACRAMENT" IN THE MORMON TABERNACLE, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH. ' Large hand-colored engraving of the sacrament being passed in the recently-constructed building, four years before it was dedicated. A double-page spread on a single sheet of paper from an original issue of Harper's Weekly for September 30, 1871.
One
horizontal leaf. 11¾ X
19½ inches (image) + printed border and margins (up to 14 X
21 inches of best mattable area; total paper dimensions with some edge chipping:
15¼ X 21¼ inches).
Like nearly all such plates, the hand tinting is modern watercolor, very nicely rendered. This is a large and vulnerable image, originally hinged at the back to allow removal from the issue in a single folded sheet. Some weakness and starting along the fold has been repaired on the back at various times, partly with thin (hopefully archival) tape on the back. The older tape shows modest yellowing, but without bleed-through to the front. In all, this illustration is in very good condition compared to the few other examples I have handled over the years. Once matted and framed, it should be spectacular!
*SOLD*
A SUPERLATIVE ARTISTIC COMPOSITION, portraying a surprising scene, four years after the Tabernacle was first opened (it would not be dedicated until 1875). This large depiction shows Brigham Young preaching at the podium, waving a book in the air, while pewter goblets of water are passed through the congregation by adult men carrying large pitchers and wearing "inartistic" overcoats fashioned (according to the text on the verso) from blankets intended for the Indians.
One
small girl drinks from a goblet proffered her by a kindly old man with long
white hair and a sort of skull-cap which makes him look like a Jewish rabbi.
Another young girl sleeps peacefully through the service in the arms of a
respectable-looking matron in black.
Two women in the fore-ground nurse their babies while they listen to the speaker as the emblems are passed (seen further above). According to the commentary on the back:
.
. . Brigham Young . . . loves, especially if there are gentiles present, to
dilate upon the trials of his people, and their coming to their valley barefooted
and naked; of their success, and the proofs that they were a chosen people--showing
here, as in private, the strange magnetic influence which he wields with so
much effect upon the minds of his disciples.
Such an image could not have been based on a photograph like the outdoor scenes
of Salt Lake which appeared in Harper's during this era. Yet, while
dependant upon the artist's memory and sketches of the event, it allows the
Saints both dignity and compassion. The sacrament was indeed passed while
speakers continued with their sermons in those days, as recorded in other
accounts.
To
whatever degree this view is accurate (and who can doubt the sleeping man against
the wall, or the demeanor of the children and their mothers!), we have here
a sociological treasure and a poignant specimen of art
which has not been seen by many Latter-day Saints.