Object details

Object number

ARC.008657

Creator(s)

Mary Okill (about 1786 - 1859, New York)

Title

Certificate of Excellence

Date

January 1855

Medium

Ink on paper

Language

English

Dimensions

16.5 x 22.4 cm (6 1/2 x 8 13/16 in.)

Signatures, inscriptions, and markings

Printed (surrounding illustration of Minerva/Athena bestowing knowledge): Virtous emulation crowned with honor. / I.R.Smith del / Daughter receive thy reward. / Peter Maverick sc
Inscribed in ink (above illustration): Excellence.
Inscribed in ink (underneath illustration): This certificate will / entitle Miss I. Stewart to a / premium on the first of July next for / Excellence in Reviews if she remain / till the close of school to receive it. / Mary Okill / January 1855

Provenance

Awarded by Mary Okill to Isabella Stewart Gardner in January 1855.

Commentary

Reticent when asked about her childhood, Isabella Stewart Gardner nevertheless saved a number of books, albums, and paper ephemera as relics of her youth. She retained several certificates like this one from the school run by Miss Okill in New York City. A rebellious student by her own admission, young Belle Gardner was awarded a “premium” “if she remain till the close of school to receive it.”

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