A really beautiful tactile Methodist artifact. Probably created for a Methodist Conference of some sort.

Admittedly the connections between the dates and text are a bit of a mystery. Alfred Cookman [1828-1871] was of course an influential 19th century methodist-holiness evangelist, but was deceased by 1882 and 1883. The Buds of Promise was the juvenile missionary department of the Methodist church. And C. C. McCabe [i.e. Charles Caldwell McCabe, 1836-1906] was an influential Methodist, Civil War Chaplain, and later Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Just waiting for a Methodist historian to find its original use. 

Hand-painted satin laid to cotton cloth on rear, edged in metallic fringe with original hanger. There are a few frays to fringe and a tear at the lower section of the satin. Approximately 20 x 26 inches.