VOLUME XLII
(detail of sampler by Elizabeth Shreve, page 10)
Copyright Š 2012 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.
Welcome ... We are delighted to present this issue of Samplings which is the 42nd edition of our catalogue of schoolgirl samplers and needlework, produced semiannually since 1991. It is our hope that you enjoy reading through this catalogue which presents 33 fine antique samplers and schoolgirl needleworks. We thank you all for your continued and growing interest in this field. Schoolgirl samplers and needlework provide 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. 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 fine books that have been written in this field. A selected bibliography is included at the end of the catalogue and is updated regularly. 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 65th anniversary of the founding of our firm. We continue to value our positive relationships 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 Monday through Friday, and are avaialable on weekends, except when we are exhibiting at antiques 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. Please let us know if you would like us to email you better photos than appear in this catalogue. The majority of the pieces in the catalogue have not yet appeared on our website so as to give our catalogue subscribers the advantage of having a first look. Should your choice be unavailable, we would be happy to discuss your collecting objectives with you. Our inventory is extensive, and we have many other samplers that are not included in our catalogue, some of which are on our website. Moreover, through our sources, we may be able to locate what you are looking for; you will find us knowledgeable and helpful. Payment may be made by check, VISA, Mastercard, or American Express. Pennsylvania residents should add 6% sales tax. All items are sold with a five day return privilege. Expert packing is included: shipping and insurance costs are extra. We prefer to ship via UPS ground or Federal Express air, insured. We look forward to your phone calls and your interest.
www.samplings.com Please check our website for frequent updates and additions to our inventory
Amy Finkel Jamie Banks mailbox@samplings.com 800-598-7432 215-627-7797
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 emailed or sent to us will receive our prompt attention. Please call us for more information.
ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF CONTENTS Mary Ambler, Gwynedd Monthly Meeting, Montgomery County, PA, 1798....................... 20 Sarah E. Ballade, Niagara, New York, circa 1840............................................................... 23 Basket of Flowers, Needlework Picture, American, circa 1840.......................................... 16 Maria Margaretha Breidenstein, Berks County, Pennsylvania, 1805.................................. 24 Elizabeth Lettitia Campbell, New Boston, New Hampshire, 1825..................................... 21 Nancy Chamberlin, Hull, Quebec, Canada, circa 1843...................................................... 26 Amelia Conway, Royal Asylum of the St. Ann’s Society, Surrey, England, 1850................ 12 Lucinda Eldredge, Tuscarawas, Stark County, Ohio, 1830................................................... 3 Embroidered Picture, Scandinavia, circa 1900.................................................................. 16 Lydia Ann Griffith, East Nottingham School, Cecil County, Maryland, 1835...................... 6 Margaretta E. Hodson, Burlington County, New Jersey, 1828........................................... 14 Caroline Lamb, Family Record, Phillipston, Massachusetts, 1817...................................... 2 Sarah Matthews, Strait School, England, 1803.................................................................. 15 Rebecca Miller, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1828.............................................................. 13 Miniature Marking and House Sampler, American, circa 1820......................................... 29 Needlework on Paper, American or English, late 18th century......................................... 28 Christiana Norwood, Needlework Book, Female Model School, Dublin, Ireland, 1831..... 17 Rachel Passmore, Westtown School Darning Sampler, Chester Co., PA, 1819.................. 22 Beadwork Trifold Purse, European, circa 1830.................................................................. 28 Maria F. Ridgway, Keene, New Hampshire, 1818............................................................... 25 Margaret Roome, New York City, New York, 1793............................................................... 5 Anna Sarjeant, England, 1818.............................................................................................. 8 Roxana Saunders, Salem, New Hampshire, 1817................................................................. 6 Kiziah Sharp, Medford, Burlington County, New Jersey, 1825............................................ 1 Anna Maria Sheldrake, England, 1802............................................................................... 11 Elizabeth Shreve, Burlington County, New Jersey, 1807................................................... 10 Edith Spencer, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 1798................................................. 27 William Rodolphus Storms, Sandwich, Massachusetts, 1826............................................ 18 Elisabeth Turner, England, 1779........................................................................................ 29 Elizabeth Virdin, Kent County, Delaware, 1808................................................................... 9 Jane Walton, Westtown School, Chester county, Pennsylvania, 1815................................. 4 Emma Wilson, England, 1800.............................................................................................. 8 Lydia Wood, Newark, New Jersey, 1836.............................................................................. 18
(detail of sampler by Edith Spencer, page 27)
Kiziah Sharp, Medford, Burlington County, New Jersey, 1825 It is a privilege to offer this exceptional and highly important Burlington County, New Jersey sampler made by Kiziah Sharp and published in Betty Ring’s Girlhood Embroidery, volume II, figure 532. As one of the finest known samplers of its type, it illustrates the section entitled, Quaker Samplers of Burlington County. Only a handful of samplers are known that depict the very detailed four-chimney Westtown School building, an iconic and highly recognizable structure for American Quakers. Throughout her sampler Kiziah demonstrates her proficiency and includes many whimsical figures, with one on horseback, assorted sheep and dogs, many large birds as well as flocks of small ones and a pair of classic Quaker swans. Her rich bluegreen lawn with its pair of fine willow trees anchors the composition well, with the large, graceful floral wreath enclosing the inscription providing further depth of color and texture. Additionally, pots, baskets and a cornucopia of flowers, Quaker sprigs of berries and flowers, floating queen’sstitched strawberries, butterflies and little hearts provide excellent embellishment. The border is the classic Burlington County scrolling double vine composition with open-face white flower blossoms. Kiziah’s extraordinary sampler offers excellent visual appeal and has long been considered one of the finest of all Burlington County Quaker samplers. In the early 20th century this sampler was in the collection of Emmeline Reed Bedell (1853-1920) of Philadelphia and it retains her original handwritten label on the backboard. Mrs. Bedell and her collection are discussed by Betty Ring on page 544 of Girlhood Embroidery, and Kiziah’s sampler was catalogued in the seminal 1921 publication, American Samplers, by Bolton and Coe, on page 221 of the first edition. As she stitched onto her sampler, Kiziah was the daughter of Isaac Sharp (1780-1860) and Hannah (Garwood) Sharp (1786-1850). She was born in 1810 and lived her life in the Medford area. Her father was a son of William and Elizabeth (Green) Sharp and her mother was a daughter of Japheth and Hannah (Haines) Garwood. Among other published family genealogies, information about the family is found in Richard Haines and His Descendants A Quaker Family of Burlington County, New Jersey since 1682. In 1834 Kiziah married Allen Prickitt, also from the area. She must have died prior to 1850 when the Prickitt family was recorded in the census taken that year. Allen Prickitt was then living nearby Kiziah’s parents with his second wife and a son, Henry, born in 1844, likely Kiziah’s son. This sampler has been in a private collection and has not been on the market for at least 40 years. Quite wonderfully, the sampler retains its original deep blue silk ribbon and the sampler and ribbon are in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted into its excellent original mahogany frame with original backboard. Sampler size (including the ribbon): 23½” x 23”
Frame size: 27¼” x 27”
Price upon request.
1
2
Caroline Lamb, Family Record, Phillipston, Massachusetts, 1817 Family record samplers served a purpose not unlike inscriptions in the family bible; they recorded and preserved important information regarding the cohesive family unit, which had taken on a heightened importance in the early years of the new republic. An important exhibition of these samplers, presented in 1989 at the DAR Museum in Washington, DC, documented the origin and great variety of this form. Curator Gloria Seaman Allen, in the accompanying catalogue, states that the family record sampler was, most certainly, an American invention. We were pleased to have acquired Caroline Lamb’s large, praiseworthy family record sampler which was made in 1817 in Phillipston, Massachusetts, 30 miles northwest of Worcester. This sampler is almost identical in composition to the sampler made by Dorothy Knight, also in 1817 and in Phillipston, in the collection of Old Sturbridge Village Museum. The Knight sampler was exhibited at the DAR Museum and is published as figure 64 in Family Record: Genealogical Watercolors and Needlework by Gloria Seaman Allen. Caroline and Dorothy certainly worked side-by-side as their samplers are dated only one month apart. Both samplers record the names, births and deaths of family members but also present an outstanding, well-developed pictorial scene of the same large Federal house with a smaller dependency building and smoke coming from all three chimneys, the same trees, identical columns, swags at top and large blossom side borders, all accomplished in lustrous silk on gauze-like linen. Caroline Lamb began the narrative on her sampler by stitching the names and birth dates of her parents, Mr. Joshua Lamb and Miss Martha Cole, then stating, “they were Married at Gerry 1803.” In her inscription along the bottom of the sampler the town name of Phillipston is clearly stated, so we initially thought that the family must have removed from Gerry to Phillipston. In fact, the town of Gerry, which was named for Elbridge Gerry, signer of the Declaration of Independence, vicepresident of the United States under James Madison and later governor of Massachusetts, changed its name to Phillipston in 1812, because citizens objected to Gerry’s redistricting of geographic boundaries for the purpose of political advantage, a practice that was named for him and came to be known as gerrymandering. (continued on the next page)
Caroline Lamb, Family Record, Phillipston, MA, 1817 (cont.) Caroline was the oldest of nine children born between 1804 and 1817. Her mother died within months of the birth of her last child, and Caroline made her sampler just two months after that. Many published town records and family genealogies provide information about the Lamb family, indicating that in 1828 Caroline married Samuel S. Green. They resided in nearby Barre and then in Lowell, and had eight children. Samuel was a blacksmith and machinist who, according to Historic Homes and Places and Genealogical and Personal Memories Relating to the Families of Middlesex County, Massachusetts (New York, 1908), invented a machine for cutting horseshoes. Directories in Lowell include mention of Samuel from 1845 to 1872. Worked in silk on linen gauze, Caroline’s sampler is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted into a mahogany inlay frame. Sampler size: 20¾” x 17¼”
Frame size: 25” x 21½”
Price: $8200.
Lucinda Eldredge, Tuscarawas, Stark County, Ohio, 1830 Born on February 26, 1819, Lucinda Eldredge was the daughter of Nathan and Catherine (Thacker) Eldredge of New York State. Published histories of Stark County, Ohio indicate that Nathan removed to Tuscarawas by 1811 and had his wife join him four years later; Lucinda was born there. At age eleven, she worked this very attractive sampler with its alphabets and appealing verse. The beautifully stitched border is formed of meandering vines of blossoms and serrated leaves that grow from a wonderful patterned vase at the center of the lower border. In 1839 Lucinda married another Stark County resident, William Moffatt (1815-1896). Portrait and Biographical Record of Stark County Ohio (Chicago, 1892), states that William, “ranked among the well-to-do and enterprising agriculturalists of Stark County.” In addition to his success at farming, which involved a 165 acre farm that he developed from wilderness, William was for some time the owner of a shop in Dalton. William and Lucinda raised three two daughters and a son. William died in 1896 and Lucinda in 1907; they are buried in the Massillon City Cemetery in Stark County and the sampler descended in the area for many generations. The verse on the sampler is one of our favorites: “Teach me to feel another’s woe / To hide the fault I see / That mercy I to others show / That mercy show to me.” Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition; it has been conservation mounted into a cherry beveled frame with maple bead. Sampler size: 16½” x 16¾”
Frame size: 20½” x 20¾”
Price: $12,500.
3
4
Jane Walton, Westtown School, Chester County, Pennsylvania, 1815 Collectors of Quaker school needlework will find much to admire in the work of Jane Walton, a newly discovered Westtown School sampler. This large and beautifully stitched sampler epitomizes the aesthetic of needlework produced at Westtown (aka Weston) School in the early years of the nineteenth century. A large scale alphabet, worked in the block-letter Quaker style, dominates the top of the sampler and the bottom of it includes quarter and half geometric medallions which are also classic Quaker motifs. All of the needlework is formed of extremely precise stitches. Jane was older than the majority of Westtown’s students when she was admitted to the school on 8 month, 12 day, 1815, as student #1388, according Westtown archivist, Mary Brooks. Her account at the school was in her own name and records indicate that her father, Daniel Walton, was deceased. Jane was born in 1789, the oldest of Daniel and Martha (Foulke Green) Walton’s five children. The Walton family lived in Richland, northern Bucks County, Pennsylvania and belonged to the Richland Monthly Meeting, an early meetinghouse established in 1742. Extensive Friends’ records and published accounts (Early Friends Families of Upper Bucks County by Clarence V. Roberts) tell us much about this family and indicate that Jane married widower Samuel Roberts (1782-1856), a member of the same Meeting. They became the parents of four children. Jane died in 1865 and her sampler remained in the family for many generations. Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition with the exception of the small area at the top of the letter K, along the upper edge. According to the family, the unframed sampler was nibbled at by a mouse. Now conservation mounted, the sampler is in a cherry frame with an outer bead. Sampler size: 18½” x 14”
Frame size: 22½” x 18”
Price: $6800.
Margaret Roome, New York City, New York, 1793 Provenance: Collection of Betty Ring
Amelia Peck, curator in the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, wrote an article that was published in The Magazine Antiques, February, 2005, entitled, Biblical Samplers From New York City. This remarkable group of samplers includes pieces as early as 1746 and as late as the 1830s made by girls who received instruction from a series of teachers. The article documents and analyzes the approximately 30 known samplers, breaking them down into stylistic groups. Ms. Peck states that “Later in the [18th] century, some biblical imagery is retained, but other, more secular motifs appeared as well,” a statement that applies to Margaret Roome’s fine sampler. It was owned by Betty Ring and published as figure 49 in American Needlework Treasures: Samplers and Silk Embroideries from the Collection of Betty Ring (Dutton, 1987). Margaret, who was 10 years old when she worked this sampler, included appealingly naïve depictions of Adam and Eve at the Tree of Knowledge and Joshua and Caleb, the Spies of Canaan on a sawtooth lawn, with classic sampler imagery, above. The Roome family is one of New York’s earliest Dutch families, as documented by Descendants of Peter Willemse Roome, by Peter Roome Warner (New York, 1883). Margaret was a great-great-great granddaughter of the emigrant ancestor; she was born on April 12, 1788 to William and Margaret (Pray) Roome of New York. In 1808 Margaret married Caleb Stockton Halsted (1787-1827) of Elizabeth, New Jersey and they had six children. After his death, Margaret married Job Haines. She died in 1870. The border that frames the sampler is particularly noteworthy as the stylized carnations are formed of the queen’s-stitch, a technique that required unusual skill. Queen’s-stitched borders of varying composition are another of the shared characteristics of New York biblical samplers. Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in very good condition with some loss to the linen which has been stabilized. It has been conservation mounted and is in a mahogany frame with a figured maple bead. Samper size: 16½” x 16”
Frame size: 20½” x 20”
Price: $17,500.
5
6
Roxana Saunders, Salem, New Hampshire, 1817 This beautifully stitched sampler offer excellent composition and strong aesthetic appeal. Made by Roxana Saunders of southern New Hampshire in 1817, it features a central portrayal of an arrangement of fruit set within, quite remarkably, a solidly stitched rectangle. The plump fruit and accompanying leaves and tendrils are shaded and outlined nicely and Roxana stitched her alphabets and numerical progressions along the top. The border frames the work well and presents small flowers in each corner and narrow lines of double sawtooths at the outer edges. Roxana was born to Ebenezer and Martha Stickney who were married in 1786 in Billerica, Middlesex, Massachusetts, where they remained for some years and had at least their first three children before moving to Salem, New Hampshire. Roxana was the sixth of their eleven children, born in 1796. Three years after working her sampler Roxana married James Betton Whitaker of Salem, and they removed to Windham, a town just northwest of Salem. He was a shoemaker, though an active farmer as well. Together they had seven children before his death in 1867. The 1870 census records show Roxana living with her son Moses, likely until her death in 1881. Her fine sampler was worked in silk on linen, and remains in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted into a 19th century mahogany frame with line inlay. Sampler size: 16½” x 20½”
Frame size: 19¾” x 23¾”
Price: $5800.
Lydia Ann Griffith, East Nottingham School, Cecil Co., MD, 1835 . The outstanding book, A Maryland Schoolgirl Sampling: Girlhood Embroidery 1738 – 1860, by Gloria Seaman Allen (Maryland Historical Society, 2007) is notable for its depth and breadth and it has become an invaluable resource for collectors and scholars. The discovery of a sampler made at a Maryland school previously unknown to Dr. Allen would be difficult to imagine. Therefore, we are delighted to have discovered this splendid sampler made by Lydia Ann Griffith at the East Nottingham School of Cecil County, Maryland; an exceptional sampler worked at a school, until now, undocumented. Dr. Allen has commented on our Griffith sampler as follows, “This bold sampler is the first known to document the teaching of needlework at a Quaker school in Cecil County that was probably associated with the East Nottingham Meeting, also known as Brick Meeting. Responding to the appeal of the Philadelphia Annual Meeting, of which Nottingham formed a part, a school house was erected near the meeting house about 1780 and continued in operation until 1845 when the public school system was inaugurated.” (continued on the next page)
Lydia Ann Griffith, East Nottingham School, Cecil County, Maryland, 1835 (cont.) Lydia’s sampler features an outstanding, large scale floral arrangement in a two-handled vase sitting on a stepped and shaded base. Quaker sampler motifs used by Lydia include the pairs of birds, sprays of lilies and baskets of fruit. These motifs, the central flowers in vase and the appealing and unusual border of grape bunches with accompanying leaves and tendrilling vines, indicate the high level of the education in the needle arts that was taught at East Nottingham School. The Griffith family belonged to Brick Meeting House, a Society of Friends Meeting in northern Maryland that was founded in 1702 on land set aside by William Penn for a Commons and Meeting House. Nathan and Mary (Kirk) Griffith were married there in 1818. Lydia was the oldest child of their five children, born on June 17, 1819. Nathan came to Cecil County from Chester County, Pennsylvania with his family when he was two years old. He became a farmer and “master shoemaker” and served the town as Collector of Taxes and School Commissioner. According to his obituary published in the April 13, 1889 Cecil Whig (the local newspaper founded in 1841), Nathan was a man of “pleasant disposition, strictest integrity and was respected by all who knew him.” Lydia married Clemson Brown (18181860) in 1844 and they became the parents of six children born between 1845 and 1855. Lydia died in 1899; she and family members are all buried in Friends Cemetery of the Brick Friends Meeting House. Information came from Births, Deaths and Marriages of the Nottingham Quakers 1680 – 1899 by Alice L. Beard (Westminster, MD, 2001). One of the documents that shed further light on this family is the will of Lydia’s aunt, Ann Kirk (1797-1886), a Quaker lady who remained single and, along with her sister, Hannah, manufactured carpets. Lydia Ann Brown and her daughters Mary and Elizabeth are named as beneficiaries, as are other Kirk and Griffith family members. We also have copies of the marriage certificate of Nathan and Mary and that of Clemson and Lydia Ann and many other Friends records pertaining to the family. The sampler was worked in silk on linen and is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in a figured maple and cherry frame. Sampler size: 19¾” x 17½”
Frame size: 23¾” x 21½”
Price: $18,000.
As an additional note of interest to sampler enthusiasts, Dr. Allen’s much-anticipated next book, Columbia’s Daughters: Girlhood Embroidery from the District of Columbia is due out in early November of this year.
7
8
Anna Sarjeant, England, 1818 We have not previously seen the aphorism that Anna Sarjeant used on her handsome and graphic sampler and we find it wonderfully appealing. It was published in a volume entitled, The English Spelling-Book, Accompanied by a Progressive Series of Easy and Familiar Lessons, Intended as an Introduction to the Reading and Spelling of the English Language, by William Mavor (London, 1809). This precise wording appears under the section, “Moral and Practical Observations, Which Ought to Be Committed to Memory at an Early Age,” along with many other excellent sayings. This is a beautifully worked sampler dated May of 1818. The lettering, indeed all of the stitching, was carefully composed and crisply executed. Worked in silk on linen, it is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a 19th century maple veneer frame. Sampler size: 11¼” x 9”
Frame size: 15” x 12¾”
Emma Wilson, England, 1800 Emma Wilson’s sampler presents excellence in her letter-perfect poem and her gracefully designed and executed flower and bud on vine border. The verse is one not commonly found on samplers, although its theme was a popular one; it exhorts the reader to, “be sincere upright and true, at home at school and else where too.” Worked in silk on wool, the sampler is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into its fine original frame. Sampler size: 11¾” x 14¾” Frame size: 14½” x 17½” Price: $2600.
Price: $1850.
Elizabeth Virdin, Kent County, Delaware, 1808 Delaware samplers exist in far fewer numbers than those from the other mid-Atlantic states, and we are pleased to be able to offer this splendid Quaker motif and verse sampler worked by Elizabeth Virdin, a young lady from a prominent Kent County family. Elizabeth’s great-grandfather, John Virdin, was born in England and by 1732 had acquired land in Murderkill Hundred, Kent County, Delaware. Elizabeth was born on September 28, 1795, the daughter of John and Sarah (Purdin) Virdin; the family lived south of Dover. Elizabeth must have attended a Quaker school where she learned to work her sampler as it exhibits the composition and specific motifs that were taught at other Quaker schools in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware in the first decades of the 19th century. It seems likely that the school that Elizabeth attended was associated with Duck Creek Monthly Meeting, the Society of Friends meeting that was organized in 1705 near Smyrna. In the section entitled Quaker Samplers in America, vol II, of Girlhood Embroidery, Betty Ring illustrates samplers with the precise Quaker elements that were demonstrated by Elizabeth Virdin, including the two soaring bluebirds just beneath the Extract verse. This verse was from a poem published in Philadelphia in 1787, in a volume entitled, Miscellanies, Moral and Instructive in Prose and Verse; Collected from Various Authors for the Use of Schools, and Improvement of Young Persons of Both Sexes, and it has been documented on other American samplers. In 1815, twenty-year-old Elizabeth Virdin married William Harrington and they had one child, a daughter, Mary Harrington, who was born in 1832. Elizabeth died in 1842 and her sampler descended in the family for many generations until just recently, and is accompanied by a documented line of descent. Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in a cherry beveled frame with wide outer bead. Sampler size: 20½” x 17”
Frame size: 25¾” x 21¼”
Price: $14,500.
9
10
Elizabeth Shreve, Burlington County, New Jersey, 1807
Quaker instructresses and samplermakers of Burlington County, New Jersey are widely credited with creating one of the finest bodies of work within American samplers. We have been fortunate to own many outstanding examples over the years, and recently acquired Elizabeth Shreve’s work of 1807. This sampler is rendered even more interesting as we have previously handled the extraordinary sampler made Elizabeth’s daughter, Rachel Cook, in 1823. Job Shreve (1755-1826) and Elizabeth Gauntt (1763-1827) were members of the Upper Springfield Monthly Meeting; both families had long been members of the Society of Friends and had been in Burlington County for many generations. Notably, Elizabeth Gauntt’s great uncle was John Woolman (1720-1776), the famed Quaker preacher, author and activist. The births of the eleven children of Job and Elizabeth Shreve were recorded in the minutes of the Upper Springfield Monthly Meeting and our samplermaker was born on October 27, 1789. She dated her sampler, using Quaker phrasing, “The 10th Month 1807,” having worked it when she was 18 years old. In 1811, Elizabeth married Richard Cook, again recorded by the Monthly Meeting, and they became the parents of six children. By 1838 the family removed to Philadelphia where they joined the Green Street Meeting. Photocopies of many of the handwritten Friends’ records, including marriage certificates, are included in the file that accompanies the sampler. Elizabeth died in 1853 in London and is buried at the Whitechapel Burial Ground. (continued on the next page)
Elizabeth Shreve, Burlington County, New Jersey, 1807 (cont.) Featuring a stately Federal four-storey house, Elizabeth’s sampler also includes a wide assortment of flora and fauna, so that her detailed needlework covers almost all of the linen. Large birds and insects, tiny dogs and deer, willow trees and evergreens crowd into the pictorial register along with a depiction of a young lady in a striped skirt and a top hat, fashionable in this period. The unusual side borders are particularly appealing and complex, with many stylized flowers arranged in a balanced format. The sampler was worked in silk on linen and is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in a maple beveled frame with cherry outer bead. Sampler size: 16¾” x 13½”
Frame size: 20¾” x 17½”
Price: $28,000.
Pair of Samplers by Anna Maria Sheldrake, England, 1802
Remarkably tight and sharp, these two splendid samplers were stitched by Anna Maria Sheldrake in 1802. They display a wonderful assortment of early motifs, such as the lions, flowers and multi-toned hillocks, and although the elements differ, the formal compositions are the same: each is centered on the lions over spouting plants with birds over potted flowers on hillocks; and each is framed in a different yet angular, undulated budding vine. Anna Maria’s inscription is precisely stitched in the same place on each sampler as well. The samplers were clearly meant to complement one another and it is fortunate that they have remained together for all these years. Worked in silk on very tight linen, they are in excellent condition, though one has very minor discoloration in the lower left corner under her first name. The samplers have been conservation mounted into their original molded frames. Sampler sizes: 6¼” x 4¾”
Frame sizes: 7¼” x 5¾”
Price for the pair: $5600.
11
12
Amelia Conway, Royal Asylum of the St. Ann’s Society, Brixton Hall, Surrey, England, 1850
British orphanages, asylums and institutions that housed and educated the underserved also taught their female students the needlework skills that would help them to find careers in service of well-todo households. Some of these institutions, such as the Muller Orphanage of Bristol, housed thousands of girls, and a great number of samplers were made by Muller girls and young ladies throughout the mid to late 19th century. We are pleased to have discovered a handsome and very finely worked sampler that was made at a school previously unknown to sampler scholars and collectors, the Royal Asylum of the St Ann’s Society at Brixton Hill. The history of this institution is well documented in a variety of publications. Established in the first decade of the 18th century, St. Ann’s Society was founded in St. Ann’s Lane in London, to clothe and educate 12 local boys from families in need; in short order their population was expanded to 30 boys and 30 girls. The Society changed its name to the Royal Asylum of St. Ann’s Society in 1846 when it incorporated by Act of Parliament, with royal patronage. Its stated mission was to provide education and instruction in religious and useful knowledge, and to provide clothing, maintenance and a home for legitimate children, orphans or other, of parents who have seen better days. It was funded by charitable donation provided by benefactors and bequests. In 1829, a large and handsome building was built at Brixton Hill in Surrey, south of London to house a country branch of the Society. (continued on the next page)
Amelia Conway, Royal Asylum of the St. Ann’s Society, Brixton Hall, Surrey, England, 1850 (cont.) This sampler was worked in 1850 at this Brixton Hill. It is an appealing combination of extremely tight, letter-perfect stitching and a striking composition that features a prayer and, unusually, isolates and calls attention to variously phrased religious titles. This sampler serves as a legacy to the many talented needleworkers who benefited from their education at the British orphanages and institutions of the 19th century. Research has confirmed some details regarding the maker, Amelia Conway. She was the daughter of Henry James and Matilda Conway, born in London and baptized at Southwark Christ Church. Unsurprisingly, the 1851 census registered Amelia as a scholar in residence at the Royal Asylum of the St. Ann’s Society. Worked in silk on wool, it is in excellent condition with minor weakness to the wool ground that has been stabilized through conservation. It is now mounted and in a molded and painted black frame. Sampler size: 17½” x 13”
Frame size: 19¾” x 15¼”
Price: $4800.
Rebecca Miller, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1828 A delightful, almost miniaturized sampler, this was made by Rebecca Miller in 1828 and belongs to an important group of samplers, each of which present versions of the same handsome buildings with a distinctive roof line. Some of these samplers are illustrated in Betty Ring’s Girlhood Embroidery: American Samplers and Pictorial Needlework 1650 1850, volume II, as figures 390, 392 and 393. There has been much speculation over the years as to the architecture of this building and whether on not the samplermakers were working from a known, specific mansion or school building, or were drawing inspiration from a print source. Mrs. Ring speculated that the design of this castle-like building was likely the result of a lingering use of early German pattern books. It seems that schoolgirls were quite taken with this structure, as renditions of it appear on samplers made from the 1780s through the 1830s. Large birds, little dogs and a pair of stylized pine trees complete Rebecca’s most appealing needlework composition and a wide line border frames it well. This was worked in silk on linen and it is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in a fine period half-column corner-block frame. Sampler size: 8¾” x 10½”
Frame size: 12” x 13¾”
Price: $4300.
13
14
Margaretta E. Hodson, Burlington County, New Jersey, 1828 Margaretta’s sampler is an excellent example from Burlington County, New Jersey, reflecting the prevalent Quaker influence on samplers made in the area. Overall composition and assorted motifs were popularized and then reinvented, so that an individual sampler can resemble others, but offer new variations with appealing results. Margaretta English Hodson was 10 years old in 1828 and living in Mansfield, Burlington County when she worked this engaging sampler. The central cartouche exhibits the simplicity of conservative Quaker work while the many pictorial motifs represent the best of more decorative Quaker design.
This sampler offers much to admire in both its appealing design and proficient execution. For example, the strawberries worked in the queen’s-stitch, contained within the cartouche, are an impressive accomplishment for a 10 year old. The satin-stitched lawn sets a fine visual foundation for the sampler, and a base from which the floral border emanates. Margaretta was born in 1818 to Samuel and Ann (English) Hodson. The roots of the Hodson family ran deep in Burlington County, where Margaretta’s great-great-grandfather, John Hodson, was born in 1691. He and his wife, Ann Whitaker, were married at the Chesterfield Monthly Meeting and the Hodson family’s affiliation with the Society of Friends began, varying within subsequent generations. By 1837, Margaretta married John Antrim Beck, also a Mansfield native, and they settled in Yardville, a bit north in Mercer County. Their house at 289 Yardville-Allentown Road was on their 202 acre farm. They became the parents of six children and Margaretta died in 1895. The sampler was worked in silk on linen and is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in a black and gold painted frame. Sampler size: 16½” x 17½”
Frame size: 18¾” x 19¾”
Price: $4600.
Sarah Matthews, Strait School, England, 1803 The stylized composition and mirror-image symmetry of English samplers hold great appeal and this praiseworthy sampler excels in both attributes. Additionally, this samplermaker, Sarah Matthews, presented an extraordinary and highly unusual geometric framework and a great assortment of little animals and other pictorial motifs. She signed it and stitched her birth date, as well as the name of her school, which appears just above the narrow border at the bottom. Quite notably, an almost identical sampler is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Their sampler, which was made in 1800 by Fanny Fletcher Dean, shares all of its salient features, including of course, the geometric composition with our Matthews' sampler; Fanny named the Strait School, as well. This sampler can be viewed on the museum’s website as part of their Educator’s Online Gallery. Fanny Fletcher Dean was from Birmingham and this was likely also the residence of Sarah Matthews. While the MFA’s collection includes samplers from many countries, its collection of American samplers and needlework is highly celebrated and has been the subject of three important, recent exhibitions that have contributed greatly to the scholarship in the world of needlework. We would be remiss not to mention and recommend the newly published Women’s Work: Embroidery in Colonial Boston by curator Pamela A. Parmal (MFA Publications, 2012), a fascinating and excellent book. Sarah Matthew’s sampler was worked in silk on wool and is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted into its fine original gold leaf frame. Sampler size: 15” x 12¼”
Frame size: 18¾” x 15”
Price: $4200.
15
16
Embroidered Picture, Scandinavia, circa 1900 This richly colored embroidered folk art picture is an outstanding example of the Scandinavian handcraft tradition, called “hemslojd” in Sweden, which enjoyed popularity at the end of the 19th century and produced some bold and whimsical needlework pictures. Certain regional characteristics indicate that our example is likely Swedish in origin and other visual clues lead to the assumption that it was made to commemorate a marriage. The featured couple clasp hands and hold up a narrow Tree of Life topped by a radiating sun, symbolizing life and good fortune. The lady wears a tradition folk costume including apron and boots and the gentleman sports a military sash across his long, gold-buttoned coat. The image of the stork represents fertility and birth and the large hearts hold obvious meaning. Interestingly, the maker also included a goat, an historic Swedish motif generally used at Christmas time, called the “julbock” or Yule Goat. Worked in polychrome wool on green wool, this is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in a maple and cherry cornerblock frame. Sight size: 21” x 20”
Frame size: 25½” x 24½”
Price: $2700.
Basket of Flowers, Needlework Picture, American, circa 1840 By the second quarter of the 19th century, American needleworkers were using the relatively newly available Merino wool yarn for their samplers and other needlework projects. The wool from the Merino sheep was fleecier and softer than the traditional worsted wool and it took dyes well, resulting in a yarn that was both easier and more satisfying to stitch. This folky depiction of a highly decorative basket with a robust flower arrangement makes wonderful use of Merino wool yarn and contrasts it well with the very fine gauzy linen background. A variety of stitches was used to excellent effect. The stems, tendrils, leaf veins and open-work lattices of the basket were all worked in chain stitch and satin stitch and a variation of French knots form the balance of the work. It is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted. Importantly, it remains in its outstanding original painted frame with rosette cornerblocks that nicely echo the needlework flower blossoms. Sight size: 8½” x 11” Frame size: 11¾” x 14¼” Price: $3800.
Needlework Book, Christiana Norwood, Female Model School, Kildare Place, Dublin, Ireland, 1831 The Kildare Place Society, with its roots in the Society for Promoting Education of the Poor of Ireland, which was established in 1811, operated thousands of schools throughout the 19th century in Ireland. A three month course trained young ladies, mostly from the country, to become teachers. The curriculum of their Female Model Schools included a specific education in the needle arts, with entire instruction manuals that prescribed a progression of assignments. Students who completed this coursework would occasionally stitch or glue their needlework projects into bound books, which served as proof of their accomplishments, as well as reference for practical application of various techniques throughout one’s life. This large and unusually complete volume is one of the finest known of this type. Our book is the work of Christiana Norwood, who so noted in needlework on the finest cover page – a skillfully executed silk embroidery, with very fine black stitching to create the perfect lettering surrounded by a wreath of chenille, ribbon and precise silk stitches, including French knots. This was likely the final project in completing her needlework lessons. From 1st class to 16th, each page displays a project from hemming, pleating, buttonholes and other basic sewing practices to marking samplers, darning, piecework, applique, knitting, straw work and further advanced techniques. Remarkably over 54 different objects, needleworked examples of various types, all made by Christina, are glued, stitched or pinned to the pages of this extraordinary book. The cover is decoratively marbleized, with Christiana’s name lettered on a label, and with reinforced corners and binding. The needlework is in very good condition, the paper pages have some staining and foxing. Dimensions: 16” x 10”
Price: $6800.
17
18
Lydia Wood, Newark, New Jersey, 1836 One of the many fine samplers in the Theodore H. Kapnek Collection was made by Caroline Eliza Sayre in 1835 in Newark, New Jersey. It features a young man with a bird perched on his hand and a young lady presenting a long garland of linked flowers, and is published as figure 114 in A Gallery of American Samplers: The Theodore H. Kapnek Collection, by Glee Krueger (E.P. Dutton, 1978). We offer a sampler made by Lydia Wood, age 11 and also of Newark, “Newjersey”, a young lady who must have attended the same school as Caroline. Working just one year later, Lydia also depicted the same unusual, stylishly dressed couple and included two dogs, fruiting trees, a central basket with a pyramid of fruit and leaves, and two large butterflies. Various alphabets and an excellent border finish Lydia’s delightful sampler. We are pleased to have discovered a sampler with such a close relationship with one from the Kapnek Collection and hope that this may lead to further research into the school that both Caroline and Lydia attended. The sampler was worked in silk on linen and is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted into a mahogany frame with a black bead. Sampler size: 17¼” x 16¾”
Frame size: 21” x 20½”
Price: $5800.
William Rodolphus Storms, Sandwich, Massachusetts, 1826 Samplers made by boys are extremely rare and those very few samplers indeed made by boys tend to be English in origin. We are very pleased to have acquired this large and fine, wonderfully documented American example, worked by William Rodolphus Storms in Sandwich, Massachusetts. The inscription reads, “Written by William Rodolphus Storms at Sandwich July 21st AD 1826 aged 9 years.” (continued on the next page)
William Rodolphus Storms, Sandwich, Massachusetts, 1826 (cont.) William was born on March 5, 1817, the third of the eight children of a ship captain, Peter Storms, who was born in Belgium, and Susan Collins of Dennis, Massachusetts. Capt. Storms came to New York in 1802 where he prospered, spending much time in Venezuela, as he was running cargo between New York and Venezuela. This success enabled him to purchase 300 acres of land in Massachusetts at the mouth of the Back River. While in Venezuela, Capt. Storms fathered a son, Simon Peña Storms (named for his friend, Simon Bolivar), in 1830. The family accepted this foreign-born son and in 1840 William, or one of his American brothers, went to Venezuela to bring Simon to Massachusetts to be raised by his sister Mary Ann Ellis. Simon lead an interesting life, heading west with the gold rush in 1849 and settling in Mendocino, California where he established a Native American settlement called “Storms Ranch;” he also worked for the US Government as an “Indian Agent.” He and his older brother William remained close. Back in Sandwich, samplermaker, William, married Margaret A. Pease in Edgartown, and they had two children, Anna and Lizzie, in Boston. William enjoyed success as a dry goods merchant. After the death of Margaret, William married Lucretia A. Robbins, a widow, in 1867. William died in New York in 1882. With such a worldly family steeped in adventure and culture, it is no wonder that William had many talents, and it is evident that needlework was one of them. Alphabets, verse and inscription fill the sampler, within a framework of decorative elements. A procession of fourlegged animals creates a bottom border, while a young man in a top hat actively feeds little chickens in the corner. Classic overstuffed baskets and birds frame the work from the top, and budding vines enclose the composition from each side. Along with a complete and fascinating file of family information and research, the sampler is also accompanied by a handsome daguerreotype of William from the 1850s that descended with it. Worked in silk on linen, Master Storms’ sampler remains in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted into a molded mahogany frame. Sampler size: 21” x 22”
Frame size: 23” x 24”
Price: $6800.
19
20
Mary Ambler, Silk Embroidery of Birds on a Flowering Tree, Gwynedd Monthly Meeting, Montgomery Co., Pennsylvania, 1798 Mary Ambler, an eleven year old from an early Quaker family living just north of Philadelphia, created this splendid portrayal of two large birds perched on a branch of a flowering tree. Its free-form and folky nature indicates a relationship to other excellent 18th century examples from Philadelphia and nearby counties. Mary was clearly an accomplished needleworker as indicated by her deft handling of the birds, flowers and leaves, as well as the little thorny plants and the strawberry plant along the base of the tree. In pen and ink she signed her work, directly on the silk, “Mary Ambler 11 MO 1798,” with calligraphic flourishes. The Ambler Family of Pennsylvania, by Mary Grace Ambler (Jenkintown, PA, 1968) publishes much information about Mary’s family. The progenitor was Joseph Ambler who “first appears in 1683 when Philadelphia had eighty houses and a population of five hundred persons.” Joseph was approximately 23 years old, a cordwainer (one who works in leather boots and shoes), who received land in the form of a “City Lott” on Chestnut Street near Fifth Street. His great-granddaughter was our needleworker, who was born on November 5, 1787. Her parents were Joseph and Sarah (Meredith) Ambler who were married in 1780 at the Gwynedd Monthly Meeting, nearby where they resided in Montgomery County. The Ambler family publication informs us that Joseph was a landowner and farmer and that the family lived on Horsham Road. Also noted is that fact that a great granddaughter owns a piece of needlework, most likely this precise piece, made by Mary in 1798. Mary attended Westtown School in Chester County, as did many sons and daughters of Quakers. She entered that school in 1814 and many of the letters that she wrote or received while there are excerpted in the aforementioned book. In 1825 Mary married Alexander Forman, also of Gwynedd Meeting, and a photocopy of their Quaker wedding certificate is in the file that accompanies the sampler. Mary and Alexander had two children, Sarah and Jane, who were born in 1828 and 1832. Mary died in 1878. Worked in silk and ink on silk, the silk embroidery is in very good condition with minor loss to the silk near the bottom. It is in an early 19th century gold leaf frame. Size of the needlework: 13” x 9¾”
Frame size: 17¾” x 13½”
Price: $8200.
Elizabeth Lettitia Campbell, New Boston, New Hampshire, 1825 Delicately stitched and presenting a lovely aesthetic, this sampler is signed, “Wrought by Elizabeth Lettitia Campbell in the tenth year of her age at M.G.C.’s school Newboston Sept 18th 1825.” New Boston is just west of Manchester, New Hampshire. The land was granted, in 1736, to inhabitants of Boston, Massachusetts and was named thusly. History of New Boston, New Hampshire by Elliott C. Cogswell (Boston, 1864) publishes information about the Campbell family and the parents of Elizabeth Lettitia Campbell, Thomas and Ann (Clark) Campbell: “Mr. Campbell was an excellent citizen, and exemplary in various walks of life, while his wife was an energetic, industrious, highminded Christian lady, adorning the domestic life by many virtues, and amid her cares, not forgetting her obligations to God. The largest hospitality in her house was always enjoyed, and the sick and needy ever found in her a friend and helper.” Elizabeth was their 5th child, born on April 13, 1816. This sampler was worked when Elizabeth was only nine years old yet it exhibits a high level of competence in the needle arts. Several alphabets and the inscription are surrounded by an inner stepped border and the wide outer border is a graceful vine with leaves and flower buds. The palette is teal blue and off-white with some pale pinks. Elizabeth attended M.G.C.’s school and while we don’t know the name of the schoolteacher, a further study of New Boston samplers may reveal specifics. In 1845 Elizabeth married Luther McCutchin and they resided in New London, New Hampshire. Luther is said to have been one of the stalwart citizens of the state, whose countenance, “bore the stamp of honest independence and earnest purpose, he was a man whose very bearing was an index of uprightness of heart and mind that dominated his life,” according to A History of the Town of New London, Merrimack, County New Hampshire 1779 – 1899 (Concord, 1899). Further information about this family is included, as Luther was a greatly respected citizen who served his community, town and state and country, and Elizabeth was highly thought of as well. They became the parents of two children and Elizabeth died in 1888. Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition with some very slight loss near the edges. It has been conservation mounted and is in a molded and painted frame. Sampler size: 16¾” x 17½”
Frame size: 18¾” x 19½”
Price: $2850.
21
22
Rachel Passmore, Westtown School Darning Sampler, Chester County, Pennsylvania, 1819 Provenance: Collection of Betty Ring
Darning samplers made at the Westtown School, the highlyregarded Quaker boarding school established in 1799 in Chester County, Pennsylvania, are among the most interesting schoolroom products made there. The great majority are white-on-white, with several variations of square darning patterns, the center one is often knitted. Rachel Passmore’s sampler is a classic example with the added appeal that it was, for many years, in the collection of Betty Ring. Betty also owned a sampler made by Rachel’s sister Beulah. The Passmore family in America began with William Passmore who emigrated in 1715, a Friend seeking religious freedom. The family remained in the Quaker church and, generations later, Richard and Deborah (Griscom) Passmore joined the Goshen Monthly Meeting in Chester County in 1781. The Griscom family was from New Jersey and there is a connection that we would be remiss not to note: Deborah Griscom’s great grandfather, Tobias Griscom (1686-1719) was the grandfather of the renowned Betsy Ross (Elizabeth Griscom Ross). Richard and Deborah lived in nearby Edgemont, Delaware County and had nine children between 1787 and 1801; Rachel was their youngest child. She entered Westtown School in December of 1818 at age 17, as student #1644, and remained there until July of 1820. Interestingly, the collection of samplers and needlework owned by Westtown School includes a very rare group project darning sampler, made circa 1819, signed by seven female students, each of whom darned a squared and stitched her name next to it. One of these seven was our Rachel Passmore. Rachel remained single and lived with her sister Beulah in Philadelphia, where both were active and committed Friends, supportive of causes that were important to many Quakers. In December of 1833, Rachel became one of the founding members of the Philadelphia Female Anti Slavery Society. This group has long been noted for the fact that it was racially integrated, with free African Americans holding leadership positions along with white, mostly Quaker, women. In 1844, a volume entitled Some Reflections in Prose and Poetry, written by Rachel and Beulah, was published. Peripherally, their niece (daughter of a brother, Everett), Deborah Griscom Passmore (1840-1911), became a nationally known botanical artist and illustrator. Rachel died in 1840 and is buried at the Sassafras Meeting in Philadelphia along with her sister Beulah. The sampler was worked in wool and silk on linen and is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted into a 19th century veneer frame. Sampler size: 10” x 11½”
Frame size: 12” x 13½”
Price: $7600.
Sarah E. Ballade, Niagara, New York, circa 1840 Provenance: Collection of Betty Ring
We are pleased to offer this praiseworthy sampler which was in the collection of Betty Ring, the legendary scholar and needlework collector and a dear friend of ours. Sarah E. Ballade worked this highly engaging sampler, featuring a fine, classically inspired scene, a special interest of Betty’s. A young lady wearing an empire gown and a lustrous blue silk shawl over one shoulder stands on the large grassy hill and seems to gesture in greeting. A stand of Greek columns, perhaps the remains of a temple, and several carefully worked trees finish the scene. Two large, feathery birds carry a beautiful flower garland in their beaks, forming the surround to the fine inscription and two-line verse. The alphabets include one that is particularly large and crisply defined, worked in the four-sided stitch, and many elements are worked in the queen’s-stitch. Sarah noted on her sampler that she was from Niagara, a town in Porter County, New York, at the entrance into Lake Ontario. The town was destroyed by the British in December of 1813, but was rebuilt in a better style than previously, according to an 1823 geographic gazetteer, published in Boston. The two-line verse that Sarah worked as a part of her inscription was published as early as 1796 in London in The Works of Mrs. Elizabeth Rowe in Four Volumes, in a section entitled Devout Exercises of the Heart. Sarah E. Ballade was born in New York State circa 1828 and the sampler would have been made when she was approximately 12 years old. Census records tell us that by 1849 Sarah married Ira S. Bush. In 1862, Sarah’s husband signed on to serve in the Civil War in the 124th New York Volunteer Infantry, and became a captain of Company F in the highly regarded Orange Blossom Company of Orange County. In 1870 Sarah and Ira were living with their six children in Deerpark, Orange County, New York, along with her mother, Eliza Ballade. The sampler was worked in silk and pen and ink on linen and is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in its original mahogany frame. Sampler size: 20” x 17¼”
Frame size: 23¾” x 21”
Price: $9000.
23
24
Maria Margaretha Breidenstein, Berks County, Pennsylvania, 1805
Samplers made by Pennsylvania German girls in the late 18th and early 19th centuries are generally distinctive in nature and unlike other American samplers of the same period. We are pleased to have acquired Maria Margaretha Breidenstein’s sampler, dated 1805, a fine and interesting sampler that exhibits excellent Pennsylvania German composition and motifs centered on a wonderful red bird, along with a lengthy inscription stitched in German. This translates to read, “Maria Margaretha Breidenstein born the 16th of June 1787 after the gracious birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Made by MB the 17th of May 1805.” Christian Breidenstein (1744-1824) was a native of Hanover, Germany and came to Pennsylvania prior to the Revolutionary War, settling in southern Berks County, near the Lancaster County line. He married Anna Rosina Messner and the family settled on 360 acres of land. Seven children were born to them; the youngest was Maria, the maker of this sampler. In 1806, Maria married Christian Bixler (1783-1852) at Forest Church, the Lutheran church in Plowville where she had been baptized, as well. They remained in the area where Christian was a farmer and operated a saw mill, and they had three children, Isaac, Sallie and Hannah. Maria died in 1861 and is buried at the churchyard cemetery. The sampler is worked in silk and linen on linen and is in excellent condition, conservation mounted into a figured maple frame with black beads. Sampler size: 11½” x 11”
Frame size: 15” x 14½”
Price: $5400.
Maria F. Ridgway, Keene, New Hampshire, 1818 The daughter of James and Faith (Stowell) Ridgway, Maria Fiducia Ridgway was born on April 19, 1809, in Groton, Massachusetts, the 4th of their 8 children. At age 9, in 1818, Maria worked this fine sampler with a splendid scene of free-form flowers spring from a lattice worked basket, flanked by folky trees. The three-sided border of large-blossomed flowers and grape bunches is excellent, as well. James and Faith were married in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1802. Faith’s father was Abel Stowell of Worcester, who was well known as a clock maker, with examples of his work in the State House and other public buildings. James Ridgway was a silversmith and jeweler and the family removed to Keene, New Hampshire by 1818; this is most likely where Maria worked her sampler. Information from the family bible tells us that Maria died at age 27, on September 27, 1836. The sampler was given to Maria’s sister, Harriet Antoinette who was born the year the sampler was made. Harriet’s husband was a jeweler and inventor who invented the first disappearing cannon in 1862, his model for which is at MIT, as stated in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 66 (Boston, 1912). Maria’s sampler descended within the family for many further generations. The moralistic verse worked by Maria holds great appeal; it extols learning, pointing the way to heaven. Interestingly the needlework forming the alphabets was worked in tan color, as indicated by a photo of the reverse, which accompanies the sampler. The scene and wonderful border provided Maria with the opportunity to use stronger colors. Worked in silk on linen, it is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a fine beveled maple frame with an outer bead. Sampler size: 17” x 12¾”
Frame size: 20¾” x 16½”
Price: $4600.
25
26
Nancy Chamberlin, Hull, Quebec, Canada, circa 1843
A large and handsome sampler with many wonderful pictorial elements, this is signed, “The Property of Nancy Chamberlin” and was made in Hull, Quebec, Canada, as identified by the inscription on the tomb in the lower right. A branch of the Chamberlin family left Vermont for Canada and settled in Hull in the early 19th century. Nancy Chamberlin was born there circa 1819, the daughter of Nathanial and Lydia Chamberlin. Her older brother, Benjamin had married Elizabeth Chase, and it was her death that Nancy memorialized on her sampler: “To the m’ry of E Chamberlin who died June 26 AD 1843 Hull Ag’d 44.” Prominently featured are a stately mansion with splendid architectural detail and the Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom, with a folky English lion and unicorn supporting the royal shield. A great assortment of other sampler motifs were used as well, including the heralding angles with a biblical quotation, stylized fruit plants, a gazebo with bird and butterfly and a delightful little horse and rider next to the house. Documented Canadian samplers are rare and we were pleased to be able to offer this very appealing example. Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in a beveled maple frame. Sampler size: 17½” x 21¾”
Frame size: 21” x 25”
Price: $4250.
Edith Spencer, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 1798 The refined delicacy of this sampler places if firmly in the body of excellent needlework that was taught to young ladies throughout the second half of the 18th century in Philadelphia and its environs. Edith Spencer, born on December 16, 1785, was from a prominent Quaker family living in Montgomery County, just north of the city. Her parents, John Spencer (1756-1799) and Lydia Foulke (b.1756) were married at Gwynedd Meeting in 1783, and Edith was the second of their nine children. She may have attended a school in Philadelphia, perhaps while she stayed with her relatives in town, or certainly a talented instructress may have been teaching in Moreland, near the Spencer family homestead. Edith worked a sampler with a compelling and direct nature. The Lord’s Prayer was carefully stitched above the inscription which is contained within a freeform vine and berry enclosure. A four-sided border of various, stylized large flowers on a rhythmic vine frames the sampler well and leaves no doubt as to Edith’s aptitude as a needleworker. This border echoes the very fine bands and borders found on Philadelphia samplers from earlier in the 18th century. Quaker records, published genealogies and other family papers provide further information about the Spencer family, which traces its presence in America to Samuel Spencer (1672-1705), a merchant from Ireland who bought land north of Philadelphia. The Foulke family was equally deeply rooted in the area, beginning with Edith’s great-great grandfather, Edward Foulke, a Welshman, who came to Pennsylvania in 1698 with his wife and children. He purchased a tract of 700 acres outside of Philadelphia and by 1700 had joined the newly established Friends Meeting, becoming an active leader and supporter. Edith remained single and in 1857 transferred her membership to the Abington Monthly Meeting, also in Montgomery County, which recorded her death in 1865. The sampler descended in the family for many generations. Worked in silk on fine linen gauze, the sampler is in excellent condition, with very slight loss to the outer geometric edging. It has been conservation mounted and is in a painted frame with a black bead. Sampler size: 15¾” x 14”
Frame size: 19½” x 17¾”
Price: $8000.
27
28
Beadwork Trifold Purse, European, circa 1830 This sweet and tactile little purse is fully worked in tiny glass beads, which retain their saturated and rich color. It was made to fold into thirds when closed. A long panel showing a repeating pattern of four geometric, striped, handled baskets with a central contrasting flower and pendulant buds was created then wrapped from the outside around to create an interior pocket. This bottom basket, as the interior pocket, is flanked by a pair of tall pink flowers and a second interior pocket was formed with the same motif in a slight variation of colors. A border in fat diagonal stripes of green, gold, pink and red surrounds the purse fully, again with the second pocket having a variation in color. The pockets are lined in the original fabric and it is in excellent condition; when open it measures 7¼” x 4”. Price: $1100.
Needlework on Paper, American or English, late 18th century Occasionally needleworkers in the late 18th and very early 19th centuries stitched pictures onto paper, and we are pleased to offer this excellent example. Paper is an unforgiving ground, as it allows for no missteps; a hole made by a needle must be incorporated into the work. The paper used by this anonymous needleworker is laid paper, identifiable by its slightly ribbed texture, which was used throughout the 18th century and phased out as the manufactory of wove paper gained in popularity. The depiction of a delicate, shimmering cornucopia containing several flowers on leafy stems is a classic image from the 18th century. Subtle but lustrous shading and graceful lines add further appeal to this fine piece. It was worked in silk on paper and is in excellent condition. Most remarkably, it remains in its exemplary original 18th century black painted frame with its fine gold-leaf carved and sanded liner, in original finish. Sight size: 11” x 9¼”
Frame size: 15¼” x 13¾”
Price: $2600.
Elisabeth Turner, England, 1779 As she so notes on her finely worked little sampler, “Elisabeth Turner Finish’d this sampler October ye 15 1779.” A very sweet display of skillful stitches create flowers and trees, yellow birds and spotted deer, decorative bands and a framework border, and a verse we haven’t previously seen on a sampler. The couplet reads: “Let all the foreign Tongues alone Till you can read and spell your own.” This most appealing verse was written by Isaac Watts and appears on the cover of his The Art of Reading and Writing English: of, The Chief Principles and Rules of Pronouncing our MotherTongue, both in Prose and Verse; with a Variety of Instructions for True Spelling (London, 1722). Worked in silk on wool the sampler is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted into a molded gold frame. Sampler size: 8” x 5¾” Frame size: 9¾” x 7½” Price: $2400.
Miniature Marking and House Sampler, American, circa 1820 This diminutive sampler descended in a Salem County, New Jersey family and was likely worked by a very young girl, perhaps while attending what was known as a “dame’s school.” These small schools existed for the instruction of children up to six years of age and, “offered elementary lessons in small, simple crossstitched marking or alphabet samplers,” according to Mary Jaene Edmonds in Samplers and Samplermakers: An American Schoolgirl Art 1700-1850. The simplicity of design, the specific working of some of the stitches, and the fact that the sampler is not signed or dated would support the likelihood that this was an early, practice piece. It is also interesting to note that the building seems to have a trade sign nearby, rarely seen on samplers of any type. Worked in silk on linen, this is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a late 19th century veneer frame. Sampler size: 9¾” x 6” Frame size: 11¼” x 7½” Price: $1800.
29
30
(detail of sampler by Caroline Lamb, page 2)
(detail of sampler by Maria F. Ridgway, page 25)
(detail of sampler by Lydia Wood, page 18)
31
(detail of sampler by Lydia Ann Griffith, page 7)
(detail of sampler by Margaret Roome, page 5)
SELECTED NEEDLEWORK BIBLIOGRAPHY . Washington, DC: DAR
Allen, Gloria Seaman. Museum, 1989.
, 1738-1860, Maryland Historical Society, 2007.
Bolton, Ethel Stanwood and Coe, Eve Johnston. Boston: The Massachusetts Society of the Colonial Dames of America, 1921. .
Browne, Clare and Jennifer Wearden. London: V&A Publications, 1999.
.
Edmonds, Mary Jaene. New York: Rizzoli, 1991. Herr, Patricia T.
. The Heritage Center Museum of Lancaster County, Pa, 1996. .
Hersh, Tandy and Charles. Birdsboro, PA: Pennsylvania German Society, 1991. Humphrey, Carol. . Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
. Needleprint & Ackworth School Estates Limited, 2006.
.
Ivey, Kimberly Smith. Colonial Williamsburg and Curious Works Press, 1997. .
Krueger, Glee F. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1978.
. Sturbridge, Massachusetts: Old Sturbridge Village, 1978.
Parmal, Pamela A. Ring, Betty.
. Boston, Massachusetts: MFA Publications, 2000. . New York: E.P. Dutton, 1987. . Knopf, 1993. .
Providence: The Rhode Island Historical Society, 1983. . New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1968.
Schiffer, Margaret B.
Schoelwer, Susan P. Connecticut: The Connecticut Historical Society, 2010.
. Hartford,
Studebaker, Sue. Ohio Samplers: Schoolgirl Embroideries 1803-1850. Warren County Historical Society, 1988. . Ohio: Ohio University Press, 2002. Swan, Susan B. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1977.
(detail of sampler by Amelia Conway, page 12)
.
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. q
Carefully clean the piece using our special vacuum process.
q
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.
q
Re-fit 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.
q
Supply a reverse painted black glass mat, if appropriate, done in correct antique manner.
q
When necessary, install TruVue Conservation Clear glass which blocks 97% of the harmful ultraviolet light.
q
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.
(detail of sampler by Sarah Matthews, page 15)
(detail of sampler by Elisabeth Turner, page 13)
(detail of sampler by Anna Sarjeant, page 8)