This is a woven silk view of the signing of the "Declaration of Independence July 4th 1776". It was created in 1893 for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Stevengraphs were invented by Thomas Stevens of Coventry, England after the decline of the ribbon weaving industry, Stevens used his skill using a Jacquard loom to create colourful pictures in silk, of which this is a fine example, wall art.

The 1893 Columbian Exposition was an important moment for the United States with 27 million visitors, equivalent to half the population of the country at that time, it ran for six months.

This Stevengraph is almost certainly copied from a painting by Turnbull in The Capitol, Washington, showing the presentation of the Declaration of Independence to the Congress of the American Colonies at the Pennsylvanian State House.

The Stevengraph is presented in it's original mount, but shown here outside the mount as well, the Stevengraph without the mount measures 19 x 6.5cm (7.5" x 2.5") and the mount 29 x 17.5cm (11.5" x 7").

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