VOLUME XXV/
A SELECTED OFFERING OF ANTIQUE SAMPLERS AND NEEDLEWORK
est. 1947
M. Finkel ~ Daughter. AMERICA'S LEADING ANTIQUE SAMPLER & NEEDLEWORK DEALER
936 Pine Street. Philadelphia. Pennsylvania. 19107-6128 215-627-7797.800-598-7432. fax 215-627-8199 www.samplings.com
Please visit our website: www.samplings.com
detail of sampler by Sarah Ann Bunn, 1828, Eliza A. Rue's School, Pennington, New Jersey page 10
Copyright Š 2004 by M Finkel & Daughter, Inc All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without the permission in writing from M Finkel & Daughter, Inc Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Al\ IE RI CA'S LEADI NG SMIP LE R AN D NEED LEWORK D EA L ER
M. Finkel as Daughter.
\\ elcome to Volume XXVI of Samplings, our catalogue of antique samplers and needlework ... \i e hope that you enjoy this catalogue, which is our 26th issue; we thank all of you for your contin-
ued and growing interest in this field. The field of schoolgirl samplers and needlework provides fascinating opportunities to collectors. A sampler acts as a window into the specific history of a young girl, her family, a teacher, a town, a region and a tradition, and as such provides us with unusual insight. It goes without saying that samplers, from a simple marking piece to an elaborate scene, are also extremely visually appealing. They provide graphic needleworked pictures, each with a remarkable individuality. Each of our samplers has been fully researched and documented; it is well-known that we both conduct ourselves and have others engage in intensive genealogical research and often achieve important results. When we describe a sampler or silk embroidery, we frequently refer to a number of tine books that have been written in this field. A selected bibliography is included at the end of the catalogue and is updated regularly. If any of these books prove difficult to procure, let us know and perhaps we can assist in locating them. We also include a description page about our conservation methods and encourage you to call us with any questions in this area. This year marks the 57th anniversary of the founding of our firm. We continue to value our positive relationship with clients, many of whom are now second generation, and strive to maintain our commitment to customer service. Buying antiques should be based in large measure on trust and confidence, and we try to treat each customer as we ourselves like to be treated. We operate by appointment and are at the shop five days a week, except when we are exhibiting at out-of-town antique shows. Please let us know of your plans to visit us. We suggest that you contact us in a timely fashion if one or more of our samplers is of interest to you. Should your choice be unavailable, we suggest that you discuss your collecting objectives with any one of us. Our inventory is extensive, and we have many items not included in our catalogue. Moreover, through our sources, we may be able to locate the sampler that you are looking for; you will find us knowledgeable and helpful. Payment may be made by check, VISA, Mastercard, or American Express, and we ask for payment with your order. Pennsylvania residents should add 6% sales tax. All items are sold with a five day return privilege. Expert packing is included: shipping and insurance cost are extra. We prefer to ship via UPS second day air or Federal Express insured. We look forward to your phone calls and your interest. www.samplings.com Please check our website for frequent updates
Amy Finkel Morris Finkel Mary Mills mailbox@samplings.com 800-598-7432
Are you interested in selling? We are constantly purchasing antique samplers and needlework, and would like to know what you have for sale. We can purchase outright or act as your agent. Photographs sent to us will receive our prompt attention. Call us for more information.
AMERicA's LEADING sAMPLER AND NEEDLEwoRK DEALER
M. Finkel ~ Daughter.
ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF CONTENTS Ellen Abbot, Lincolnshire, England, 1802 .......................................................................................................................... page 14 Asclepius, Greek God of Medicine, Silk Embroidery, France, circa 1800.......................................................... page 29 Sarah Ann Balls, England, 1833 ............................................................................................................................................... page 21 Beaded Child's Cap, Pennsylvania, early 19th century ................................................................................................. page 8 Matilda Buckelew, New Brunswick, NJ, 1837, taught by Sarah Vickers ............................................................. page 20 Sarah Ann Bunn, Eliza A. Rue's School, Pennington, New Jersey, 1828 ........................................................... page 10 Mary Carr, Jamestown, Rhode Island, 1777. ....................................................................................................................... page 25 EJecta Caroline Cook, New York, 1834 ................................................................................................................................. page 32 Permela Davenport, Heath, Franklin County, Massachusetts, 1820..................................................................... page 18 Mary Wing Dodge, Marietta, Ohio, 1826. ............................................................................................................................. page 9 Mary Ann Amanda Falls, Big Island, Bedford County, Virginia, 1839.................................................................. page 5 Pair of Samplers by Ann Finn, England, dated 1832 and 1833 ............................................................................... page 11 Samaria Gaines, Sisters of Providence School, African American, Baltimore, July 1859.......................... page 12 Sarah Ann Graffin, Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, 1839................................................................................................. page 1 Fanny Griffin, East Haddam, Connecticut, dated 1805................................................................................................ page 13 Abigail Harriman, Henniker, New Hampshire, 1832..................................................................................................... page 3 Lavina R. Hartman, Mt. Holly, New Jersey, 1833............................................................................................................. page 6 Mary Joyce, Schenectady, New York, 1819.......................................................................................................................... page 26 Deborah S. Keerans, Lancaster, Pa., 1832........................................................................................................................... page 30 Lydia Loring, Derby School, Hingham, Massachusetts, 1794.................................................................................. page 2 Catherine Lydgit, St. Helen's, England, 1845.................................................................................................................... page 28 Elizabeth Miller, Pennsylvania, 1842..................................................................................................................................... page 33 Miniature Sampler, England, circa 1800.............................................................................................................................. page 4 Pattern block and motif sampler, Germany, 1798........................................................................................................... page 30 Queen's stitch pocketbook, Fanny Peck, probably Connecticut, 1818 ................................................................ page 32 Perpetual Calendar, Beadwork, France, 1834.................................................................................................................... page 31 Pictorial Motif Sampler initialed C.V., The Netherlands, 1807. ................................................................................ page 14 Pocketbook, Continental Europe, circa 1780.................................................................................................................... page 23 Pocketbook, Europe, late 18th century ................................................................................................................................ page 22 Pocketbook, England, circa 1780............................................................................................................................................. page 22 Pocketbook with silver point and paper, Europe, circa 1790.................................................................................... page 24 Rhode Island needlework picture, Cooke and Baker families, 18th century.................................................... page 27 Elizabeth Richeson, England, 1714........................................................................................................................................ page 4 Schwenkfelder sampler, Pennsylvania German, Montgomery County, circa 1820........................................ page 7 Elizabeth Snowden, Ackworth School, Yorkshire, England, 1795......................................................................... page 16 Spanish sampler, ("dechado"), 1820....................................................................................................................................... page 8 Amy Ann Tillinghast, Balch School, Providence, Rhode Island, circa 1810.................................................... page 17 Drusilla Weaver, New England, 1822 ..................................................................................................................................... page 21 Frances and Sophia Willard, Charlestown, New Hampshire, 1826........................................................................ page 15 Ann Wilson, Pleasant Hill Boarding School, Byberry, Pa., 1809 ............................................................................. page 19
M. Finkel (; Daughter. AMERicA's LEADING sAMPLER AND NEEDLEwoRK DEALER
Sarah Ann Graffin, Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, 1839 Undoubtedly one of the most important groups of Pennsylvania samplers was worked in Lehigh County in the 1830s by a handful of talented young schoolgirls. Their distinctive bold design and brilliant color place these extraordinary samplers within the finest of Pennsylvania German folk art. Betty Ring, in , vol. II of Girlhood 1 Embroidery, describes these works (pages 460 - 461) as spectacular samplers and illustrates the nearly identical 1838 example by Sarah Ann Dreisenbach, which is in the collection of the 1oravian Museum in Bethlehem. Mrs. Ring makes reference to Sarah Ann Graffin 1s sampler worked the fo llowing year and we feel privileged to offer this fine sampler. The composition of these samplers is characterized by a large blue building set on a variegated lawn with sheep and two highly distinctive trees; some of the samplermakers included smaller houses nearby. The extravagant, lush border with many blossoms and leaves is another distinctive feature of these samplers and both the Graffin and Dresienbach works share the same verse which counsels a youth tempered with piety and truth. These two samplers each also depict the same small baskets filled with flowers and strawberries. All of the work was executed with a high level of skill indicating that both teacher and students were advanced needleworkers. The History of Lehigh County Pennsylvania published in 1914 documents the Graffin family and informs us that Sarah Ann was the daughter of Thomas and Rachel (Smoyer) Graffin of Howertown and then Catasauqua in Lehigh County, the fourth of their thirteen children. Her obituary, which appeared in Catasauqua newspaper, indicates that she died in 1911 in Wilmington, Delaware where she was living with a daughter and son-in-law. Worked in silk and wool on linen, the sampler is in very good condition with slight weakness to the linen and an area that is unfinished in the lower border. It has been conservation mounted into a cherry and maple cornerblock frame. Sampler size: 17"4'' x 18"
Price upon request
AME Ri cA's L EA DI NG sAMPLE R AN D NEE DL Ewo RK DEA L E R
M. Finkel OS Daughter.
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Lydia Loring, Derby School, Hingham, Massachusetts, 1794 The Derby School, a wellknown and highly regarded school for young ladies, was located in Hingham, Massachusetts, and the embroidered pictures made there form one of the earliest and most interesting of all groups of New England silk embroideries. Betty Ring informs us much as to the history of the school in vol. I of Girlhood Embroidery and illustrates some of the needlework produced there in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The earliest known Derby School piece was documented in the 1921 publication, American Samplers by Bolton & Coe, a sampler by Lydia Loring worked in 1794. The excellent piece that we offer is an exciting new discovery, a silk embroidery worked by the same student, Lydia Loring, and also dated 1794. The Loring family was quite prominent in Hingham, contributing patriots, craftsmen and inventors. The history of this branch of the Loring family in Massachusetts began when Deacon Thomas Loring settled in Hingham, a town that was named for its predecessor, also with the name of Hingham in Norfolk, England. When Deacon Loring died in 1661, a lengthy inventory of his substantial household property was taken as required by law and is published in full in the Loring Genealogy (Cambridge, 1917) providing a fascinating picture of the material culture of the period. Lydia was born in 1781 to Joseph Loring and his 2nd wife, Ruth James, and was the last of his ten children. Her older brother, Josiah Loring, was one of the finest American cartographers and globemakers. In 1828 Lydia married the Hon. Lovell Walker of the nearby town of Templeton. Her silk embroidery has a youthful charm that is distinctly American with its portrayal of a variety of specific flowers caught in a bowknot. The cross-stitch inscription is a Derby School characteristic and is found on the 1795 embroidery by Nabby Fearing, published by Mrs. Ring. It is indeed a pleasure to offer this fine and rare example. Worked in silk on silk, it is in excellent condition in an early 19th century gold leaf frame with a replaced eglomise mat. Sight size: 8" x 7W'
Framed size: 13W' x 12W' Price: $7800.
M. Finkel e; Daughter. AMERICA's LEADING sAMPLER AND NEEDLEwoRK DEALER
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Abigail Harriman, Henniker, New Hampshire, 1832 Thi handsome sampler with its outstanding needle,¡ork borders was worked by eleven year old Abigail Harriman of Henniker, New Hampshire, a small o vn in Merrimack County, west of Concord. The ar e blossoms and lustrous leaves emanate from a lo ,. two-handled container and make their way up - e ides of the sampler to the upper border where a air of bold black and white birds perch on a sprig a en with berries. A narrow inner border of sa in- titched diamonds contains the alphabets, oralistic verse and inscription.
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. igail was the eighth of the ten children of Gould and Phebe (Eager) Harriman who were married in Henniker in 1803 and, according to the 1880 History of the Town of Henniker, lived on a farm in the .:outhwest part of town. Gould's father, Ebenezer Harriman (1734-1826,) was one of the early settlers of - e town and, again according to the published town history, was considered to be "one of the prominent an ubstantial men of the town in his day." The Henniker Historical Society has provided us with re ords that trace the Harriman family back to Leonard Harriman who was born in Yorkshire, England an emigrated to Massachusetts in the early 1640s. Born, as she stated on her sampler, on Nov. 12, 1821, Abigail worked this sampler when she was eleven ¡ear old. The town of Henniker provided funds for a school in 1831 and it is highly possible that girls attended a public school and learned needleworking skills while there, as was the case in Canterbury, New Hampshire, to the north of Henniker. In 1844 Abigail married Henry Piper of the neighboring town of Bradford. They became the parents of four children between 1849 and 1863 and Abigail died at age 74 in 1894. She is buried in Bradford along with her husband. Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a mahogany and bird'seye maple corner block frame. Sampler size: 17" x 16" Price: $8600.
AM E RI CA'S L EADI NG SAMPL E R AN D N E E DLEWO RK D EA LE R
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Elizabeth Richeson, England, 1714 This fine early 18th century band sampler exemplifies the increasing emphasis placed on alphabets and verses of learning as samplers became more of a schoolgirl exercise than a reference for needlework patterns and techniques. Here the inscription reads in part, "When I was young I little thought that wit must be so dearly bought." Young Elizabeth Richeson began her sampler June 11, 1714 in the 11th year of her age and stitched at the bottom "As I doe well remember this I ended the fifteenth day Desember in the first year of the reign of King Geog the 1 1714." In addition to the extensive vocabulary of stitches used in the alphabets, numbers, inscriptions and stylized bands, Elizabeth showed her skill with the needle in the whitework panel of fine cut work squares, the last four of which form the date, 1714. Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in very good condition with slight overall fading and minor scattered loss, conservation mounted in its original frame. Sampler size: 19" x 8W'
Price: $6800.
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Miniature Sampler, England, circa 1800 Miniature samplers hold a unique appeal for collectors and excellent examples have become increasingly difficult to find. Frequently made as mementos or presentation pieces, we find that many were unsigned but carry sentiments or aphorisms along with alphabets.
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X
Be virtuous while
th.
ou .art young.so shall thine age be honour)
This is a splendid and unusually diminutive sampler with a time-honored message stitched with great care and precision. It measures only 33/ 4 by 3 112 inches. Worked in silk on linen, it is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a black painted and molded frame. Sampler size: 3%" x 3W' Price: $2800.
Framed size: 5" x 4%"
M. Finkel 6i Daughter. AMERrcA¡s LEADING sAMPLER AND NEEDLEwoRK DEALER
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lary Ann Amanda Falls, Big Island, Bedford County, 1rginia, 1839 Virginia samplers are considered by scholars and collectors to be quite scarce, with documented examples becoming increasingly difficult to find. Amongst the known examples, the great majority were made in the coastal region. The book, In the Neatest Manner: The Making of the Virginia Sampler Tradition by Kimberly Smith Ivey, Colonial Williamsburg, provides excellent research and analysis regarding these samplers.
Mary Ann Amanda Falls lived in Big Island, a town on the James River, 19 miles northwest of Lynchburg and due west of Richmond. Some of her ancestors had been .-r6inians since the 1670s. In 1839 Mary Ann worked this outstanding sampler which features an effu.: :e arrangement of houses, trees and birds along with family initials, alphabets, verse and a fully ¡orked Irish stitch flame pattern block, a regional characteristic found on many other Virginia samplers. itionally, in large block letters right across the center of her work, the samplermaker informs us of er national pride (as well as her inefficient space planning) and inscribed, "United States of Am." The ¡o-li ne verse appearing just above the main house reads, "May I govern my passions with absolute sway An grow wiser and better as life wears away." This is a quotation from Walter Pope, 17th century Ent1lish astronomer and writer, which suggests the values held up as models for young women . . lary Ann was born in 1827 to Benjamin Falls (1790-1872) and Catherine Noell Falls (1794-1854). In 7 she married Alexander Monroe Hatcher, a young man from another family with deep roots in Virginia and they became the parents of five children. Alexander served the Virginia Confederacy as a corporal in the Civil War. The family remained in Big Island throughout their lives and Mary Ann died there in 1879. This praiseworthy Virginia sampler was worked in silk on linen and remains in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted into a beveled cherry frame. Sampler size: 17" x 17W'
Price: $26,000.
detail) At. ! ER ICA'S LEADING SAMPLE R AND NEEDLEWO RK DEALER
M. Finkel as Daughter.
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Lavina R. Hartman, Mt. Holly, New Jersey, 1833
Samplers from Burlington County, New Jersey are considered by scholars, collectors and enthusiasts to be the most interesting and sought after of all American samplers. Excellent composition, strong influence of Quaker instruction, appealing use of color and fine needlework are the hallmarks of these samplers. We are pleased to have discovered this sampler worked by Lavina R. Hartman, an ¡elevenyear-old who was living in Mt. Holly, the county seat and, more importantly, the center of sampler making activity in Burlington County and source of many fine samplers. Lavina was the daughter of Caleb and Mary Hartman, whose 1821 marriage was recorded in Mt. Holly vital records. She would have attended a local school in 1833 as the regional, Quaker-specific characteristics on her sampler indicate: the geometric half medallions, branches of flowers and urn with pendulous acorns. The pair of trees and soaring blue birds appear on other Mt. Holly samplers and may in fact have been the trademark of Lavina's teacher. An excellent file of genealogical research accompanies this sampler. Lavina married a carpenter,
Elkington Wills, also of Mt. Holly, and their marriage was announced in The Burlington Gazette of January 29, 1841. In 1850 they were living in Mt. Holly with their five children as well as Lavina's mother, Mary. Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a cherry frame.
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Sampler size: 12%" x 17W' Price: $6200.
M. Finkel ~ Daughter. AMERICA's LEADING sAMPLER AND NEEDLEwoRK DEALER
ch\ enkfelder sampler, Pennsylvania German, _lontgomery County, circa 1820 c __.el er are a sect of Pennsylvania Germans with American roots in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, .·Caspar Schwenkfeld von Ossig (1489- 1561). This German nobleman, scholar and preacher was rary of Martin Luther and John Calvin, and was influenced by the Protestant Reformation. His followers c e ;Jerse ted in Europe for centuries and in 1734 a small band of 180 followers sailed for America, landing in · .:el hia. The Schwenkfelders continue to celebrate this landing and deliverance every September 24 ' ""-~'c"'hmi z Tag) with a religious service and day of thanksgiving. Indeed this is the oldest ongoing Thanksgi.; America. ~:z
_ - . ~ h\\'enk:felders settled in such Montgomery County towns as Salford, Perkiomenville, Royersford, Kulpsville :: ~ : urse Schwenksville. They were, and remain, a close-knit group with strong ties to their heritage. Fraktur, ~-- rate furniture and samplers are amongst the crafts made by the Schwenkfelders that bear strong and distinct ~ -~es as such. Tandy and Charles Hersh's book, Samplers of the Pennsylvania Gennans (The Pennsylvania ·ety, 1991) documents Schwenkfelder samplers made between 1733 and 1877, many of them undated ::.: ~<l ed only with initials but all of them recognizable because of their shared and very specific motifs. tmding sampler, a recent discovery that has been authenticated by Tandy Hersh, exhibits many welder motifs: the classic and traditional potted flowers and plants, stars and crowns. The two houses in r left actually have more in common with Schwenkfelder watercolors and add an interesting note to this .er. The initials are likely those of the maker along with her teacher. The sampler is one of the more interest·-: Pe lvania German samplers to come to light in recent years. in silk on linen, it is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a curly maple and ·comer block frame. Sampler size: 16Yt" x 19" Price: $14,000.
AME Ri cA's LEADING sAMPLER AND NEEDLEwoRK DEALER
M. Finkel ~ Daughter.
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Beaded Child's Cap, Pennsylvania, early 19th century
Pennsylvania German communities valued the needleworking skills required to create and adorn household textiles and fashionable clothing. This exquisite child's cap, decorated with vibrant tiny glass seed beads, is a fine example of the work produced by Pennsylvania German women in the early 19th century. Pink and green beads form a diamond-patterned ground between two bands of naturalistic flowers. The turquoise, white and gold pinwheel motif on the crown of the cap is much like that found on fraktur and other Pennsylvania German decorative arts. This is attributed to the Moravians, a sect of Pennsylvania Germans with large communities in Bethlehem and Lititz. A very similar cap is pictured in Irwin Richman's 2001 publication, Pennsylvania German Arts: More Than Hearts, Parrots, and Tulips. The cap is in excellent condition. Size: approximately 4W' diameter
Price: $2800.
Spanish sampler ("dechado"), 1820 In 1998 the Hispanic Society of America in New York hosted an exhibition, "Learning the Art of Embroidery: Nineteenth Century Spanish Samplers," that revealed a tradition of vivid coloration, varied techniques and delicate workmanship, with many of the patterns spanning centuries. The majority of the band patterns worked onto this excellent 1820 Spanish sampler are easily identifiable as published designs that first appeared in 16th century German and Italian pattern books, notably by Peter Quentel in 1527 and Nicolo Zoppino in 1529. This sampler, the inscription of which translates, "Made by Geisa Lira_a during lessons by N.P.S.S and S.N. year of 1820," displays the samplermaker's skills in surface embroidery as well as openwork in both white and colored threads. Worked in silk on linen, it is in excellent condition with very minor discoloration and is conservation mounted into a molded walnut frame.
Sampler size: 15" x 14W'
Price: $2800.
M. Finkel ~ Daughter. AMERICA's LEADING sAMPLER AND NEEDLEwoRK DEALER
_ ary \ing Dodge, Marietta, Ohio, 1826
"etta, Ohio located at the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers, was the site of the first anent white settlement in the Northwest Territory and was established in April of 1788. Oliver _6e, Mary's grandfather, was amongst the pioneers who braved the hardship of a winter expedition ..: a member of first company of men whose service as officers in the Revolutionary War entitled them : land in the Western Reserve of the Northwest Territory. The town became known for its distinctly · \" England" character and became the model for many other settlements in the Territory. In 1815, - ~ :ear of Mary's birth, the population was approximately 1400 and the town was comprised of about · 5 homes. The townspeople included schoolteachers and instructresses from the East, as is evident : om this impressive sampler. _ -=
_lary was the daughter of Oliver Dodge, a businessman engaged in shipping on the Ohio River, and LU ocia (Wing) Dodge, whose father owned one of the larger farms in this same area of Ohio. In 1842 _ ary married William Holden but sadly died the following year, most likely during childbirth. Her sampler has an appealing and unusual scale and the overall design of it differs from the norm; however, _lary's aptitude is easily discernable. Sue Studebaker notes that the "flowering wreath that encircles :he reserve area where Mary stitched her name is artfully done." Overall this is a fascinating sampler, oth visually and historically. ·orked in silk on linen, it is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a beveled mahogany frame with beaded edges. ampler size: 17" x 18"
Price: $22,000.
AME RI CA's LEADING sAMPLE R AND NEED LEwoRK DEALER
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Sarah Ann Bunn, Eliza A. Rue's School, Pennington, New Jersey, 1828 In the late 1820s and 1830s there existed a school in Pennington, New Jersey, in which Eliza A. Rue designed particularly handsome and graphic samplers and instructed young ladies to work them according to the JeSU$ permit thy s~>cre-d nAme te> sh.nd highest standards. These 8os the firs t dlorf of._ Youthful h•nd, samplers, two of which are in And ._s ltu fi n~er8" oe'r ffl.c Ca nv.ras s ntov· e of the New the collection Oh teach ht r t ender h<art to sed<. thY Jo"O"e With t hy d. ear children lei her ha v·~ a part Jersey State Museum, are eas.And w ·rite th.Y n arn-< fhY.trlf UJ'on htr h~•rl ily recognizable for their lush R li.,.S flower baskets, dramatic borders, Extract verse and, in a few cases, little cornucopias overflowing with flowers. Betty Ring, in vol II of Girlhood Embroidery, illustrates an 1829 sampler worked at the Rue school, and we offer another, more developed example, worked in 1828 by Sarah Ann Bunn. Mrs. Ring's writing tells us much about Eliza A. Rue, the descendant of French Huguenots and the daughter of Rev. Joseph Rue of Monmouth County. After the death of her father in 1826, Miss Rue began teaching and soon developed this distinctive sampler design. Sarah Ann Bunn was born on March 12, 1818, the daughter of Frances (Hoff) Bunn and her husband Joshua Bunn, a preacher and justice of the peace. Pennington is located nine miles west of Princeton and was described in an 1832 geographical gazetteer as a pleasant and flourishing town containing 40 or 50 homes. The Bunn family was quite prominent in the area. Sarah included mention of her parents and siblings on her sampler, another characteristic of Rue school needlework. In 1840, Sarah married Rev. Crook Stevenson Van Cleve, also of Pennington. Her sampler is one of the finest from this school to become available in some years. It descended along with a 1791 marking sampler made by Betsey Mulford (17751828) whose granddaughter married into the Van Cleve family and this sampler remains with the Bunn sampler.
\7'ilit~~aL
Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in its original mahogany veneer frame. Sampler size: 17W' x 15" Price: $26,000.
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M. Finkel ~ Daughter. AMERICA's LEADING sAMPLER AND NE EDLEwoRK DEALER
Pair of samplers by Ann Finn, England, 1832 and 1833
It is fortunate that these two samplers, the work of Ann Finn, have remained together since they were made as a pair and are so offered here. Although the samplermaker arranged the motifs of her samplers in a traditional symmetrical manner, each of these remarkably clean, crisp samplers has a playful, whimsical quality that is most pleasing. Ann's 1832 sampler features a multicolored urn of pink and red carnations, a pair of geometric stars, birds, trees, and flowers and a very striking fat brown rabbit frolicking under arching branches. On her 1833 sampler she humorously varied her motifs and included two large-beaked birds, a chicken and an owl.
The choice and scale of the various elements as well as the exuberant color and outstanding condition serve to make this pair of samplers truly delightful. Worked in silk on linen, they are conservation mounted in complementing frames, one being cherry with a maple bead and the other maple with a walnut bead. Sampler sizes: 10" x 7%" each Price the pair: $5800.
I E RI CA'S LEADI NG SAM PLE R AND NEE D LEWO RK DEALE R
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Samaria Gaines, Sisters of Providence School, African American, Baltimore, July 1859 In the nineteenth century prior to the Civil War, Baltimore was the American city with the largest population of free Mrican Americans. It was also the center of the Roman Catholic Church in America and the location of the first diocese, established in 1789. The city was especially hospitable to the large numbers of people of color many of them formerly enslaved, some of whom came from the Caribbean as early as 1791 after the revolution in Saint Domingue (now Haiti). In 1828 a group of three Mrican American Catholic women of Caribbean descent, with the help of a white Catholic priest, established the first Mrican American order, the Oblate Sisters of Providence, whose stated mission was to "renounce the world to concentrate themselves to God and the Christian education of coloured girls." Their school was established in northwest Baltimore and is now recognized by scholars for its enormous significance: a community of women of color, united in their commitment to religion and education, leading young girls in a positive and previously unheard-of direction and defying deeply-held opinions and prejudices. This school has been in continuous existence since its founding. The Sisters of Providence, without financial support from the Catholic Church, provided education for generations of Mrican American girls and challenged the status quo. Diane Batts Morrow's book entitled, Persons of Color and Religious at the Same Time: The Oblate Sisters of Providence, 1828-1860 (The University of North Carolina Press, 2002) provides a fascinating history and in-depth study of this unique religious order and its teachings. As the decades passed, the school grew and flourished. Conditions for free blacks deteriorated as those in sup-
port of slavery took more extreme positions; however, even in the turbulent 1850s, the Oblates prevailed in their mission. In 1839 the student population at the school, which accepted both boarding and day students, was 59 pupils; by 1855 there were between 250 and 300 students enrolled. Gloria Seaman Allen, scholar, author and curator who has extensively studied the culture of American samplers, states that the Oblates' curriculum included English, Cyphering, Writing, Religion, French and Embroidery, similar to the subjects offered at comparable schools for white girls. In her article in The Magazine Antiques, "Mrican American Samplers from Antebellum Baltimore" (April2004), as well as in other writings, Mrs. Allen documents the
M. Finkel e; Daughter. AMERICA's LEADING sAMPLER AND NEEDLEwoRK DEALER
13 _ known to have been made at the schools of the Sisters of Providence, with the majority cc 1 2 and 1878. The samplers remain in the collection of the Oblate order with the excep. h 路 at the Maryland Historical Society and one which is privately owned. :samplers made by Mrican American girls cannot be overstated. Very few become available and to offer this excellent Sisters of Providence School sampler, made by Samaria Gaines in July -_ --:...: 路e e has only recently come to the attention of Mrs. Allen who wishes to include it an exhibi.la.ryland Historical Society in 2007. Samaria's sampler closely resembles the type that would have by\ hite girls who were educated at religious seminaries in the middle of the 19th century: it 路 .. :ool work depiction of Christ, fully executed in cross-stitched Merino yam. The inscription along cr de reads, "Samaria Gaines worked at the Sisters of Providence School Baltimore July 1859." _6ers in the Oblate's archives document that Samaria was a charity day student enrolled for one - _ =ming in the summer of 1858. Her father paid tuition at the rate of $1.50 per academic quarter and 路e been pleased with his daughter's efforts, as Samaria was the recipient of a premium award for u in 1859. Her sampler was framed at a nearby Baltimore frame shop and retains much of the ~ -- framer's label. It remained in the family for four generations until just recently. _ ,ur from this school drew attention even when it was produced. A black New York newspaper, The _Anglo-African, published a report from their Baltimore correspondent in July 1859 which describes . ::2.r-end exhibition at the Sisters of Providence School and the reporter specifically praised the needleres of religious subject. There is no doubt but that Samaria Gaines' work was amongst those and admired.
c.- in wool and silk on canvas, it is in very good condition with slight loss. It has been conservation --
and is in its original chestnut frame with the framer's label. ize: 22W' x 18Yt" Price: $24,000.
Fanny Griffin, East Haddam, Connecticut, dated 1805 This striking little sampler, worked by young Fanny Griffin, has very unusual stylized borders on three sides and two diamond comer elements, but its greatest appeal is its aphorism which is as meaningful now as it was in 1805: "There is nothing so much worth as mind well instructed." On March 30, 1795, Fanny, the third of ten children, was born to Josiah and Dorothy Gates Griffin of Millington, East Haddam, Connecticut, where her father was a colonel in the militia. Her mother was a descendant of George Gates (1634-1724), one of the early settlers of East Haddam. In 1824 Fanny married, as his second wife, Abner Sheldon Ely of Lyme, Connecticut. They had five children and resided in North Lyme. The sampler is in excellent condition, conservation mounted in a beveled mahogany frame. Sampler size: 11 W' x 7W'
AMERICA's LEADING sAMPLER AND NEEDLEwoRK DEALER
Price: $5200.
M. Finkel ~ Daughter.
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Ellen Abbot, Lincolnshire, England, 1802 English darning samplers were no doubt inspired by their Dutch predecessors and serve to remind us of the practical aspect of ladies ' needleworking skills. Textiles, whether for domestic or personal use, were expensive and highly treasured in all households. The skills that could serve to extend the life of an article of clothing, a fine damask window valance or a simple bed sheet would have been a highly regarded talent. This carefully worked darning sampler has five darns worked in silk on linen. The crossed darns are particularly large and demonstrate a thorough knowledge of sophisticated weaves. Dated October 18th, 1802, the sampler was worked by Eleanor Abbot, the daughter of Anthony and Elizabeth Abbot. She was christened on March 8, 1789 in Belchford, Lincolnshire. The sampler is in excellent condition, conservation mounted in its original frame of mahogany veneer with gilt liner. Sampler size: 11 %" x 1212'' Price: $4200.
Pictorial Motif Sampler initialed C. V., The Netherlands, 1807 Many Dutch samplers of the late 18th and early 19th centuries depict a myriad of pictorial motifs that challenged the samplermaker's skill in overall design and execution. Here these traditional motifs are worked in a charming, folklike manner. Central to the design is Adam and Eve under the apple tree, which is behind a gated fence. In the upper left corner is a lamb carrying a cross and banner, signifying the Lamb of God (Agnus Dei) . The two figures that appear to be embracing represent the Old Testament story of Jacob wrestling the angel (Genesis 32:24-30). Also found on the sampler are Joshua and Caleb, the spies of Canaan, who returned from Canaan carrying the fruit of the Promised Land between them (Numbers 13:23); and two elk on either side of the tree of life, symbolizing the wisdom of God. Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition, conservation mounted in a cherry frame with maple bead. Sampler size: 1312'' x 14W'
Price: $4200.
M. Finkel 6i Daughter. AMERICA's LEADING sAMPLER AND NEEDLEwoRK DEALER
es and Sophia Willard, Charlestown, N.H., 1826 In our decades of working with samplers, this is the first time we have encountered one hJ3CDEFG~ l ) sampler worked and signed by two girls. YWX YZ.. The makers were sisters Frances and Sophia Willard, who ,_IP~ffi.o3 VytrJ:.~! ?B?X were 13 and 11 years old, respectively, at abcd~fthijklmnoP.:rr"st:.V YfWXYZ* ·" the time. They must have been attending school together; nonetheless, it is a highly unusual for two young girls to have worked in tandem. The end product is an impressive and handsome sampler which features a lively array of embellishments, including a house, baskets and a bouquet of flowers deco- 5 - e lower portion of the sampler. Alphabets, the most popular American sampler verse and the - ri ption (with its misspellings: "wrougt" and "thare") fill the top two thirds. A delicate and - - a1 border of linked vines with flowers and leaves provides an excellent framework. A stylized ument "Sacred to Friendship" may well acknowledge the special relationship that the Willard .... - hared. ~
cil$G~gJ~ff Jf:L ~tfs9 U o* ~.
~
. illard sisters lived in Charlestown, in Sullivan County at the Vermont border. A large family
- c a ompanies this sampler and the handwritten pages of births, marriages and deaths (along ·- a ditional research from published town and family histories) tell us much about the family and ent of this sampler. This branch of the Willard family in America began with Major Simon I ard who was born in England in 1605 and came to America in 1634, living in various towns until - _ .:c ed in Charlestown, New Hampshire. In 1756, Moses Willard died during an Indian raid on le town in which his son, also Moses Willard (grandfather of Frances and Sophia), then 18 years _ \'as wounded. The parents of Frances and Sophia were Abel and Fanny (Grout) Willard who were 'ed in Charlestown in 1812. Frances was born in 1813 and Sophia in 1815. In 1830 Frances 'ed Ebenezer Dunsmoor and they had four children. The family Bible records the Willard and moor vital records and indicates that the Frances was the ultimate owner of the sampler. Sophia -married in 1831 to Newton Allen, a selectman of Charlestown and they became the parents of ' r hildren as well. ·orked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted · •o a beveled cherry frame with black bead. pier size: 161;2'' x 16W' .
Price: $12,500.
I E RICA's LEA DI NG sAMPLE R AN D NEE DL Ewo RK DEA L E R
M. Finkel ~ Daughter.
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Elizabeth Snowden, Ackworth School, Yorkshire, England, 1795
naturally tends to all that is gre;ot. worthy. friendly. generous. and noble; and the true Spirit of it.not only comp ofe s, but cheers the Soul. Though it banifhes all Levity of Beh;oviour, all vicious and difTolute Mirth, yet in Exchange it fills the Mind with a perpetual Serenity, and uninterrupt¡ -ed Pleafure. The Contemplation of Divine Mercy and Power, and the Exercife of Virtue. are in their own Nature fo far from excluding all Gladnefs of Heart, that they are the principal and confiant Sources of it. Elizabeth Snowden Ackworth School
The Ackworth School was established by the London Yearly Meeting in the village of Pontefract, Yorkshire, England in 1779 with the purpose of providing an education for Quaker children from less affluent families. It was expected that both male and female students would receive an education along with skills that would help them to find employment after they left the boarding school. The girls learned needlework, both plain sewing and finer techniques, and many of the Ackworth sampler designs became the hallmarks of excellence in samplermaking throughout England and the United States. One classic Ackworth design, in fact a composition unique to this school, is wonderfully austere: a simple verse executed in the exceedingly legible Quaker lettering in an oval format and surrounded only by a narrow outline. The Ackworth School still exists and owns a large collection of samplers worked there, many of which closely resemble this worked by Elizabeth Snowden in 1794. Records in the school archives indicate that Elizabeth Snowden was enrolled between 1792 and 1796 and that two sisters and a brother attended the school as well. Their parents were William and Sarah Snowden and the family lived very nearby the school; indeed they were members of the Pontefract Monthly Meeting. Elizabeth would have been thirteen years old in 1795 as she was born in 1782. Her needleworking talents were finely honed at this point as is obvious in the appreciation of her precisely worked sampler. Worked in silk on wool, it is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into its original black molded and painted frame with a black eglomise mat. Size of the oval: 11%'' x 9%'' Framed size: lSW' x 13W'
Price: $6800.
M. Finkel e; Daughter. AMERICA's LEADING sAMPLER AND NEEDLEwoRK DEALER
. _:\nn Tillinghast, Balch School, Providence, e Island, circa 1810 The school of Mary Balch, in Providence, Rhode Island, was one of the most important American schools and a large and impressive body of silk embroideries was produced there by both boarding and day students. Established by 1785, the school remained prominent for approximately 45 years and left a legacy of needlework that forms what is widely acknowledged to be the single most impressive body of American schoolgirl samplers and silk embroideries. This outstanding silk embroidered picture was worked at the Balch School by Amy Ann Tillinghast ~
and it remains in its fine original labeled Peter Grinnell & Son frame. twas born April27, 1790 to Mary (Earle) and Joseph Tillinghast, a shipmaster, shipbuilder and Providence. Both of Amy's parents were from early, prominent Rhode Island families. Her older .·. also attended the Balch School where in 1796 she worked a fine sampler which is published in 6 Girlhood Embroidery, vol. I, figure 205. In 1823 Amy married William Arnold, also of Providence. children and Amy died on January 14, 1868. The silk embroidery descended in the family. The depiction is that of the Old Testament story of Jacob, Rachel and Leah. Jacob worked for seven years to win the hand of Rachel only to be tricked on their wedding day by her father, Laban, into marrying her older sister Leah. Jacob worked another seven years and then married Rachel as well. Students of the Balch School worked many more mourning silk embroideries than Biblical or allegorical embroideries, rendering this outstanding example that much more unusual. For more information and related examples please refer to Let Virtue Be a Guide to Thee: Needlework in the Education of Rhode Island Women, 1730 - 1830, by Betty Ring, pages 199 - 203.
ast silk embroidery is in its fine original frame which retains, most fortunately, its original Peter and Son label. Much is known about this firm, due in large part to an article on this framer by Betty -~ .·;hich appeared in The Magazine Antiques, January, 1980. On the label of this Tillinghast silk embroi- _. nand-written, are the name of Amy Ann Tillinghast and the price of $12.50, the cost for the reverse paint.: ---and frame. c1
Framed size: 22'l4'' x 27'l4''
Price: $32,000.
.-\.\ IERrcA·s LEADING sAMPLER AND N EEDLEw o RK D EALE R
M. Finkel ~ Daughter.
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Permela Davenport, Heath, Franklin County, Massachusetts, 1820 Samplers worked on linsey-woolsey, a ground fabric woven of linen warp and wool weft, are considered to be quite rare. The great majority of these pieces were worked along the coast of New England, almost always in varying shades of olive green. This splendid little sampler was worked onto blue linsey-woolsey and must be considered unique in the body of known works. It is inscribed, "Heath August th 8 1820 Permela Davenport age twelve ye[ars]," and was made in the small town of Heath, located in northwestern Massachusetts, where the history of the Davenport family is well documented. Permela was born on July 28, 1808 to Stephen and Huldah (Maxhum) Davenport, a sixth generation descendant of Thomas Davenport who settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts in the late 17th century. Permela's parents married in 1805 and lived in Heath, maintaining connections to the nearby town of Colrain as well. Permela married Barnabas Porter of Colrain in 1829 by whom she had six children between 1830 and 1844. Records of these families are included in various early publications and town vital statistics, although more research conducted in Franklin County would likely produce even greater results. The sampler features a fine scene of a double chimney house with fence, a tree and a smaller building as well as a bird and basket. Worked in silk on linsey-woolsey, it is in excellent condition and it has been conservation mounted into a curly maple frame. Sampler size: 11" x 121;2''
Price: $13,000.
M. Finkel as Daughter. AMERICA'S LEADING SAMPLER AND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
·uson, Pleasant Hill Boarding School, Byberry, ,., . lvania, 1809 · Boarding School, a girls' <S hool located on a famirth of Philadelphia, was by Rev. John Comly _ Ra hel Budd. Graduates of
ri<Sinal format for only six crnitted young men as well 10 and only three samplers - hool are known to exist. =-:.: e sampler by Ann Wilson ~: "splay of Quaker sampler-.·.:--..-;_ - ·. e are pleased to have the : o=ering it. edlework tradition includes y stitched letters forming a _ - r in a spare vine enclosure. '"'"--"'""'-.... _. e titled "Extract," the senti:: reli ·ous and embody the beliefs . All Quaker samplers share C:.,.lr"""""~""<S pare refinement and ·:1 samplers take this a step fur- : e students stitched with tan silk, further emphasizing their plain character. The other known .e been published and may be found in American Samplers, by Bolton & Coe, plate XCVI (Julia ") and American Needlework, by Georgiana Brown Harbeson, page 52, figure 2 (Anna Eliza Rue, - ept by Rev. Comly are comprehensive and include detailed ledgers. These are in the collection ore Historic Friends Library at Swarthmore College and enable us to know a great deal about · Boarding School, as well as the time spent there by Ann Wilson. Included in the file that accom"' - sampler is a three-page poem from the Comly family chronicles which tells the history of the .::... photocopies of the original1808 ledgers that indicate the many purchases made by Ann, includ. ..._needles 19 cents" and commensurate payments from the United States Bank. Other of Ann's .ures includes lead pencil, India rubber, ciphering books, grammar book, quills and mending to shoes . ....: ~ e daughter of John and Sarah Wilson, a well-to-do couple from Lower Merion, Pennsylvania, just : P · adelphia. She entered the school in July of 1807 and her sister Mary joined her there in November e year. The school attracted girls from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Delaware as the ---c:-- --_ ·sting of pupils indicates. Education at a Quaker school was an indication that a family took the -- :training their sons and daughters very seriously, and samplers, the schoolroom product of the eduo; their daughters, would have been proudly displayed in the public rooms of the homes of these families. in ilk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a black .................... and molded frame. ler size: 8W' x 614'' Price: $18,500.
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Matilda Buckelew, New Brunswick, NJ, 1837, taught by Sarah Vickers Matilda Buckelew informs us that she worked her sampler in her ninth year in 1837 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, under the instruction of Sarah Vickers. The Buckelew family came from Scotland where the spelling of the family name was Buccleuch (pronounced BuckClue). Matilda's family was in New Jersey by the 1600s. Her grandfather, Frederick Buckelew, a farmer, was born in South Amboy in 1756 and served in the Revolutionary War. His son, Dr. Frederick Buckelew, married Maria Cogan and their daughter Matilda was born on July 24, 1828 in New York. Her marriage was recorded in 1850 to Captain Henry Wicks of Long Island, New York, where he commanded a merchant vessel. They had at least one child, a son born in 1851, and were living in West Orange, New Jersey, in 1870. Sarah Vickers was born in 1788 in New Brunswick. Her parents were Thomas and Mary (Parker) Vickers. Sarah never married, pursuing one of the only acceptable careers for a woman, that of schoolteacher. Her will and inventory indicate that when she died in 1868 she owned an impressive home filled with fine decorations. While no other samplers worked under Miss Vickers' tutelage have come to our attention, it is likely that they will in the future and Matilda's sampler will help document this school. Worked in silk on linen, it is in excellent condition, conservation mounted into a beveled curly maple frame with a black bead. Sampler size: 16" x 15"
Price: $5800.
(detail)
M. Finkel eÂť Daughter. AMERICA's LEADING sAMPLER AND NEEDLEwoRK DEALER
~\nn
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Balls, England, 1833 This attractive sampler exhibits the exceptionally fine, expertly executed, small scale needlework found on many English samplers. The work is subtly arranged in horizontal bands harkening back to the format of 17th and 18th century English band samplers, but within each horizontal section are symmetrically arranged motifs. Chain-like, octagonal vignettes frame the samplermaker's name and date.
The most unusual and endearing quality of this sampler is the scene of two men fishing; one is sitting on the bank of the pond, propped against an old bent tree and the other is fishing from a small boat. The pond turns into a stream that flows along the side of a grand .::_ e: in the background. An undulating border completes the tight composition of the sampler. ~- in silk on wool, it is in excellent condition with some small holes in the wool and slight dark-; - ong the left edge, and is conservation mounted in a curly maple molded frame.
Price: $3850.
Drusilla Weaver, New England, 1822 22. Drusilla Weaver made this beguiling -~
er, the bottom half of which offers an
- _.:: al technique: the name and date are
路路e in tight little cross stitches onto crisp,
=- ~ 路 en which was then inserted into the fab ric that forms the base of the flower - --路e . Delicately shaded blossoms spring from -"' asket, and bunches of berries and a pair of :- e birds on stylized shrubs further decorate the ...., ler. - frame is original to the sampler, an excellent ainted cornerblock frame with fine mold-. -, and it adds greatly to the overall appeal of - - sampler. Worked in silk on linen, the sam:.e:r is in excellent condition and it has been con: T\'ation mounted. ~;:
pier size: 12" x 10"
Price: $2400.
AME RI CA'S LEADIN G SAMPL ER AN D NEE DL EWORK D EA L E R
M. Finkel as Daughter.
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In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, pocketbooks were often ornately decorated with fine needlework. Men used envelope shaped pocketbooks much like we would use a safe-deposit box today-to hold currency, deeds, and other valuable documents. Women rarely carried such documents, so their pocketbooks, often smaller and daintier than those designed for men, held small sewing implements, jewelry or favorite trinkets.
Pocketbook, England, circa 1780 Oval vignettes of printwork and leafy vines and sprigs with finely detailed buds and blossoms adorn this dainty pocketbook. Print work, formed by using minute black stitches on a white silk ground, imitated engravings that were fashionable in the period. Here a young lady admires a flower as a bird sits perched on her left hand; the reverse side depicts an unbridled horse. The pocketbook is in excellent condition, stitched in silk on silk with pink silk lining the two interior pockets and a silver clasp forming the closure. Size: 4W' x 3%" Price: $2400.
Pocketbook, Europe, late 18th century
This delicate pocketbook bears the German inscription "A memento of our friendship," inscribed on a cottage, reminding us that pocketbooks were often gifts of affection. The opposite side bears the round hand monogram "IB" within a laurel wreath. Tiny chain stitches create a shaded pink inner border and metallic threads form the outer border and closure. It is in excellent condition, worked in silk and metallic thread on silk with a double pocket interior lined with pink silk. Size: 3'l4'' x 6"
Price: $2200.
M. Finkel e!S Daughter. AMERICA's LEADING sAMPLER AND NEEDLEwoRK DEALER
Pocketbook, Continental Europe, circa 1780
c"':: etail of this exquisite pocketbook is worthy of praise. The complex embroidery includes metal- -rapped core (bullion), elaborate couching, and fine shaded embroidery, all on green silk satin. -" symbolism tells us that it was presented with great affection; on the back of the purse are two -,..:c hearts aflame with cupid's arrows piercing each. As one opens the purse it becomes apparent -,::he design of the ornamentation and the shape of the overlapping flap compliment each other _"' . . . tiiully. The compartmentalized interior is lined with pink silk brocade and the entire piece is in _ : llent condition. The superiority of this fine needlework is reinforced by its provenance, as it was erly in the collection of noted needlework historian, Cora Ginsburg.
:\\!ERICA's LEADING sAMPLER AND NEEDLEwoRK DEALER
M. Finkel ~ Daughter.
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Pocketbook with silver point and paper, Europe, circa 1790
This lovely pocketbook reflects a technique which is sometimes called "needleweave." Gold metallic threads form the background for the woven architectural motifs. One side depicts a grand cathedral and the other a brick-walled farm. The interior is lined with pink silk and most significantly includes a little pad of paper and a silver point. Although rarely seen today, silver point was a pleasing method of writing and drawing that utilized a pointed rod of silver, which, when drawn across paper that was specially coated with white pigment, left a grayish mark. The pocketbook has a silver clasp and it remains in excellent condition with very slight discoloration to the lining. Size: 3W' x SW'
Price: $3800.
M. Finkel e9 Daughter. AMERICA's LEADING sAMPLER AND NEEDLEwoRK DEALER
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¡ Carr, Jamestown, Rhode Island, 1777 In 1777, nine-year old Mary Carr of Jamestown, Rhode Island, worked this endearing little sampler. Since examples from this early period have become increasingly difficult to find, this piece presents to the collector a unique opportunity. The composition of it is somewhat transitional; the format is that of the band samplers of the mid 18th century influenced by the more square shape of later 18th century samplers. Mary's folky pictorial bands feature birds, flowers and berries and the alphabet, as one would assume at this early date, lacks the letters "I" and "U". The inscription reads, "Mary Carr her samplar made in the 10 year of my age 1777." er enjoys an excellent provenance as it was in the Theodore H. Kapnek Collection. After --. - e auction of his samplers in 1981 was a milestone event because of the depth and breath _ le tion as well as the research in which he engaged. The field of antique samplers in general piers in particular gained new status as a result of this important auction. \'a the daughter of Benjamin (1725-1791) and Mary (Martindale) Carr of Jamestown, the ix children. The Carr immigrant ancestor arrived in America in 1635, settling in
ilk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted : rio black molded and painted frame. Price: $9800.
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Mary Joyce, Schenectady, New York, 1819 Some samplers offer a folkier sensibility than the majority and hold distinct appeal because of this. Thirteen year old Mary Joyce of Schenectady worked a sampler of this type in 1819, with an endearing pictorial composition and a highly personal inscription. The lower portion features a charming scene with a large Federal house with a blue slate roof and smaller outbuildings. The fences, trees and dogs provide detailed animation; the overly large rooster atop one of the buildings may have been, in fact, a real weathervane that the samplermaker chose to depict on her sampler. The relatively lengthy inscriptions reveal much about Mary Joyce's family and we transcribe them below as her use of the archaic form of the letter "s" makes it difficult to decipher readily. This branch of the Joyce family began in approximately 1700 when George Joyce, a protestant from the north of Ireland, settled in Albany. His son John Joyce married Martha Wentworth and the family moved to Schenectady; their granddaughter, Mary, was the maker of this winsome sampler. The needlework, while less technically polished than that on some samplers, involves a variety of stitches and techniques. Notable amongst these is the drawn-work at the edges and the satin-stitched inner sawtooth border. Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in very good condition with some slight weakness to the linen. It has been conservation mounted into a walnut frame with line inlay. Sampler size: 14" x 15"
Price: $7800.
John Mcintire Joyce depart'd this life in his 15 year August the 26 AD 1819 much regret'd by his fond Parents as he was their Eldest Son and also by his kind Grandmother Margaret Stelbard Age 80 George and Jane Joyce are the Names of my Honorable Parents long may they live and happy may they be is the sincere prayer of your Affectionate Daughter Mary Joyce
M. Finkel as Daughter. AMERICA'S LEADING SAMPLER AND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
e Island needlework picture, Cooke and Baker A.-.....o~·es, 18th century ·e little samplers depicting folky scenes of houses and animals were occasionally produced _ - eas of Massachusetts and Rhode Island in the mid 18th century. These rare pieces exude &----.,...,.- :himsy and personality as is the case with this example, a depiction of a stately red brick -.: - e many trees, flowers, insects, birds and animals that populate its grounds.
· ectural details add subtle but important elements to the composition: the wide front ng perspective, the graphic fence, repeated as a widow's walk between the bricked chimlintels above each window. The deep teal green background functions as a lawn initially end upwards, replaced at the top of the composition by a pale swath of sky. The deer, -. erries, trees, etc. provide great counterpart to the house. A small stylized flower in o; e lawn was worked in metallic threads, an interesting addition to the tent stitches ·on that descended with this piece indicates that it was worked in Providence, Rhode he Cooke and Baker families of Rehoboth, Massachusetts. Indeed, records in The Hi torical Society indicate that John Baker was born in England in 1633 and by 1654 m, .\1assachusetts, having come to American as part of the Great Migration during the 0 when - 3.000 peo- ·o - e colony ......"""""~ ...~·-e from e Baker - ta
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Catherine Lydgit, St. Helen's, England, 1845
+¡ ~~
This large and extraordinary sampler includes depictions that distinguish it from the copious English samplers of the period. While the enormous brick building, likely a town hall or other public building, dominates the composition, the little fellow in military attire to the right, General Tom Thumb, steals the show.
P.T. Barnum's greatest "discovery" was a diminutive Connecticut boy, Charles Sherwood Stratton (1838 1883), who grew to be only 33 inches tall. At the age of four, he and his parents were hired by Barnum's circus where he was billed as "General Tom Thumb," after the English folklore hero Tom Thumb. The addition of the military costume made an obvious comparison to Napoleon. In 1844 Barnum sailed to Liverpool with the six-year-old Gen. Tom Thumb to make a skillfully staged and hugely publicized debut in Europe. After enormous success and exposure, they went on to London where they entertained Queen Victoria and the royal family. A long and lucrative public tour followed. The maker of this 1845 sampler informs us on her work that she lived in St. Helen's, a town in Lancashire only 12 miles from Liverpool, as so we can surmise that Catherine had seen Gen. Tom Thumb and probably owned a copy of the published photograph. In that we have not previously encountered a depiction of him on a sampler, we assume that this was not part of the teacher's "assignment." Also worked onto this sampler are Adam and Eve under a large apple tree with the serpent coiled up the trunk, a biblical quotation, plus an assortment of other classic sampler motifs. Worked in silk and wool on linen, it is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a beveled mahogany frame. Courtesy of tnc !5ndgepol't Publ~ Ubrery, Hlstonc;o~~l CoUectlons
Sampler size: 2312'' square
Price: $4800.
M. Finkel 6S Daughter. AMERICA's LEADING sAMPLER AND NEEDLEwoRK DEALER
epius, Greek God of Medicine, Silk Embroidery, ce circa 1800 ~
.. ·onally handsome, rare silk embroidery depicts Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine, ter was no doubt based upon a true physician who practiced in Greece around 1200BC ----ribed in Homer's Iliad. According to Greek mythology, Asclepius was the son of Apollo and •. ben Apollo learned that Coronis had been unfaithful, he ordered that she be killed, but his . Asclepius, was rescued from his mother's womb while she lay upon her funeral pyre. - earned the art of medicine and healing from the centaur, Chiron, but when he skillfully -~: o ·his patients from the dead, Zeus felt that he had overstepped his bounds and killed - iith a thunderbolt. Asclepius was then made a god and placed in the heavens as the con--~----..'"'·- 0 hiuchus, the serpent-bearer. -~
carded Asclepius sits on a throne and holds his staff, a knotty tree limb entwined by a sinwhich is now often used as a symbol of medicine and healing. He is about to crown with . eath a man dressed in Western garb as three other men holding masks, which look just !:~·elves, peer from behind ornate temple pillars. A trumpeting angel holds a book, "Medicina -. ~ \vhich is the title of a text by Louis Le Roy, which was a roaring success in the early .......~~=- - _ entury. It is quite possible that the man being crowned isM. LeRoy and the men in the . represent the quack doctors Le Roy attacked in "Le charlatanisme demasque," which was lished under a pseudonym. i exquisitely lustrous silk metallic veil as expertly ..........e-. .. : ·:atercolo r. _...._~~-.. . etallic coil
~I E RICA'S LEAD IN G SAMPLE R AND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
M. Finkel as Daughter.
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Deborah S. Keerans, Lancaster County, Pa., 1832 Deborah Starr Keerans worked this nicelycomposed sampler in 1832, citing on it her parents, Levi and Deborah Keerans as well as her teacher, M. A. Moore. The moralistic verse and handsome flowering vine surrounding it were worked with great delicacy; the outer border exhibits fine queen'sstitched strawberries, leaving no doubt as to Deborah's skill as a needleworker. The Keerans family belonged to the Sadsbury Quaker Meeting, located south of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, until 1835 when, joining the substantial movement westward, they removed to Indiana, joining the Duck Creek Quaker Meeting in Henry County. 1\vo years later, Deborah married Samuel Shute and they became the parents of nine children. When Deborah died in 1908 in Richmond, Indiana, her obituary in the Friends' Intelligencer noted that she was "a lifelong member of the Society of Friends, a woman of rare worth, beloved by all who knew her." Worked in silk on linen, her sampler is in very good condition with slight loss, and has been conservation mounted into a mahogany veneer frame with inlay. Sampler size: 17'' x 16"
Price: $3850.
Pattern block and motif sampler, Germany, 1798 This delicate sampler is a very appealing combination of pattern blocks, sections of narrow floral and geometric bands, and small spot motifs. Most often pattern blocks found on European samplers are fully worked, but here the needleworker very successfully used open space within the patterns, which along with the subdued colors, gives the sampler a light, dainty appearance that is most attractive. Across the top of the sampler is an alphabet and numbers, and scattered throughout are many initials, tiny hearts, deer and flowers as well as Christian motifs. The maker's initials "ATH" appear just below the date, 1798, in the lower right corner. Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition with only a few dark spots and is conservation mounted in a curly maple molded frame. Sampler size: 12" x lOW'
Price: $2250.
M. Finkel aJ Daughter. AMERICA's LEADING sAMPLER AND NEEDLEwoRK DEALER
rpetual Calendar, Headwork, France, 1834
- ¡ork pictures were made in the early 19th century by French schoolgirls and we have been for- o have owned a number of these throughout the years. This however, is the only known ~. e of its type: it is a "Calendrier Perpetuel" which was made to be manipulated and altered by _ ..:...::e of slits and a ribbon on the reverse. A beaded band spelling out the days of the week may be o that it is accurate for every week of every year, bearing a direct relationship to the inscrip- ¡. hich translates as, "The days that I spend close to you are the only happy ones of my life." -.
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ass beads of various colors were individually stitched to the ground cloth, with faceted metallic beads used to form the lettering. It is in its original gold leaf frame and remains in excellent
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o- the picture: 9W' x 11 %"
Price: $5800.
:\.\I ER ICA'S LEADI NG SAM PL E R AN D NEE DL EWORK DEA L E R
M. Finkel as Daughter.
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Electa Caroline Cook, New York, 1834 When just seven years of age, EJecta Caroline Cook of New York completed this impressive accomplishment, a finely worked verse and motif sampler. The composition is well balanced and surrounded by a handsome border of roses and narrow sawtooths, all of which indicates regional characteristics of New York samplermaking from the first three decades of the nineteenth century. In 1827 EJecta was born in New York to James and Susan (Fairchild) Cook. She married Edwin Ethelbert Willis in 1853, a prosperous and hugely adventurous man. Edwin spent the years from 1849 to 1853 prospecting for gold in California, returning to New York after substantial success to marry his sweetheart, our samplermaker. The History of the Willis Family, published in 1916, relates, in great detail, the story of their lives. EJecta and Edwin had seven children and she died in childbirth in 1866. Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in very good condition with some slight darkening and weakness to the linen; it has been conservation mounted into a mahogany frame with inlay. Sampler size: 16%" x 16W' Price: $3800.
Queen's stitch pocketbook, Fanny Peck, probably Connecticut, 1818 11
The Queen 1s stitch is one of the most difficult of the needlework stitches, a fact that undoubtedly accounts for its virtual extinction for the past century and a half. Even at the height of its popularity, from about 1780 to 1810, it was used only for very small items, 11 writes Susan B. Swan in A Winterthur Guide to American Needlework, 1976. This small pocketbook, worked entirely in the Queen 1s stitch in a rich palette of colors, is positively a gem. Fanny Peck would most likely have made this for her own use as a repository of small sewing tools and other personal objects. Worked in silk on linen, it remains in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and placed in an early 19th century painted frame. Size of the pocketbook: 9W' x 4W' Overall framed size: 14" x 8%" Price: $6400.
M. Finkel e; Daughter. AMERICA's LEADING sAMPLER AND NEEDLEwoRK DEALER
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Elizabeth Miller, Pennsylvania, 1842 Pennsylvania samplermakers frequently included folky pictorial images on their needlework and on this 1842 example, Elizabeth Miller did precisely that. Her whimsical scene offers a fine neo-classical house with well developed columns overshadowed by an enormous bird perched on a plant sprouting potted flowers. The willow tree, little birds, dogs and flower basket provide further detail. The poem inscribed here appears on other samplers and espouses the benefits of education, an obvious and fitting verse. It reads as follows, "Education is a gem I We all should try to find I More lasting than a diadem [crown] I It eleviates the mind." Of course, one can only believe that Elizabeth meant to stitch the word "elevates" and her mistake renders her sampler that much more amusing. \ orked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into its fine original cherry frame. ampler size: 15%" x 16%" Price: $8200.
AME RI CA's LEADING sMIPL E R AND NEEDLEwo RK DEALER
M. Finkei6J Daughter.
SELECTED NEEDLEWORK BIBLIOGRAPHY Allen, Gloria Seaman. Family Record Genealogical Watercolors and Needlework. Washington, DC: DAR Museum, 1989. Bolton, Ethel Stanwood and Coe, Eve Johnston. American Samplers. Boston: The Massachusetts Society of the Colonial Dames of America, 1921. Brooke, Xanthe. Catalogue of Embroideries. The Lady Lever Art Gallery. Alan Sutton Publishing Inc., 1992 Edmonds, Mary Jaene. Samplers and Samplermakers, An American Schoolgirl Art 1700-1850. New York: Rizzoli, 1991. Herr, Patricia T. The Ornamental Branches, Needlework and Art from the Lititz Moravian Girls' School Between 1800 and 1865. The Heritage Center Museum of Lancaster County, Pa, 1996. Epstein, Kathy. British Embroidery: Curious Works from the Seventeenth Century. Colonial Williamsburg and Curious Works Press, 1998. Hersh, Tandy and Charles. Samplers of the Pennsylvania Germans. Birdsboro, PA: Pennsylvania German Society, 1991. Humphrey, Carol. Samplers, Fitzwilliam Museum Handbooks. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1997. lvey, Kimberly Smith. In the Neatest Manner: The Making of the Virginia Sampler Tradition. Colonial Williamsburg and Curious Works Press, 1997. Krueger, Glee F. A Gallery of American Samplers: The Theodore H. Kapnek Collection. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1978. New England Samplers to 1840. Sturbridge, Massachusetts: Old Sturbridge Village, 1978. Ring, Betty. American Needlework Treasures. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1987. Girlhood Embroidery: American Samplers & Pictorial Needlework, 1650-1850. Knopf, 1993. Let Virtue be a Guide to Thee: Needlework in the Education of Rhode Island Women, 1730-1830. Providence: The Rhode Island Historical Society, 1983. Schiffer, Margaret B. Historical Needlework of Pennsylvania. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1968. Schorsch, Anita. Mourning Becomes America: Mourning Art in the New Nation. Clinton, New Jersey: The Main Street Press, 1976. Staples Epstein, Kathy, Tinley, Lynn. "Some Honest Worke in Hand ... " English Samplers from the Seventeenth Century. Greenville, South Carolina, 2001. This Have I Done: Samplers and Embroideries from Charleston and the Lowcountry. Curious Works Press and the Charleston Museum, 2002. Studebaker, Sue. Ohio Samplers, School Girl Embroideries 1803-1850. Warren County Historical Society, 1988. Ohio Is My Dwelling Place. Ohio: Ohio University Press, 2002. Swan, Susan B. Plain and Fancy: American Women and Their Needlework, 1700-1850. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1977.
M. Finkel e:J Daughter. AMERICA's LEADING sAMPLER AND NEEDLEwoRK DEALER
Conservation Mounting of Antique Samplers and Needlework Because of the important role that condition plays in the field of antique samplers and needlework, we strive to insure that these pieces undergo proper preservation while in our care. Below is a step-by-step description of the "conservation mounting" process. Our techniques are simple and straightforward; we remove the dust and dirt particles mechanically, never wet-cleaning the textiles. We use only acid-free materials and museum-approved techniques throughout the process. Please call us if you have any questions in this regard. 0
Carefully clean the piece using our special vacuum process.
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Mount it by means of hand-sewing onto acid-free museum board that has been slip-cased with fabric appropriate to the piece itself, and at the same time stabilize any holes or weak areas.
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Refit the item back into its original frame, or custom-make a reproduction of an 18th or early 19th century frame using one of our exclusive patterns.
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Supply a reverse painted black glass mat, if appropriate, done in correct antique manner.
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When necessary, install truVue Conservation Clear glass which block 97% of the harmful Ultra vio let light.
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In the framing process the needlework is properly spaced away from the glass, the wooden frame is sealed, and the dust cover is attached with special archival tape.
Frances & Sophia Willard, ew Hampshire, 1826 page 15
detail of sampler by Elizabeth Miller, 1842, Pennsylvania page 33
est. 1947
M. Finkel ~ Daughter. AMERICA'S LEADING ANTIQUE SAMPLER & NEEDLEWORK DEALER
936 Pine Street. Philadelphia. Pennsylvania. 19107-6128 215-627-7797.800-598-7432. fax 215-627-8199 www.samplings.com