sampler

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House And Trees Within A Border
Betsy Adams’s sampler is part of a large group of related examples worked from about 1790 until at least 1805 in Boston or nearby towns in Middlesex County. Typical characteristics of these samplers are deeply arcaded borders surrounding a central panel comprising an alphabet, verse, and pictorial elements within a saw-tooth border. The pictorial elements...
Nearly square sampler embroidered in soft shades of browns, blues, greens, and yellow on a natural linen ground. The field contains three alphabets, a set of numerals, a verse and inscription. At the bottom, a view delicately rendered in embroidery and watercolor of the Charlestown Neck House. On three sides, a deep border of rose garlands caught up with bows of blue ribbon at the upper corners.
Sampler by Lucy D. Stickney
Lucy Drury Stickney was the daughter of William Stickney (1783-1868) and Margaret Nowell (1792-1840). Born in 1818, she was named for her father’s first wife, Lucy Drury (1787-1812), with whom he had had two sons. Margaret bore him six daughters and two sons, one of whom died in infancy. William Stickney began his career as...
Practical Sewing
Decorative embroidered samplers were made by daughters of the well-to-do for display in their homes, and were symbols of gentility as much as of skill. For daughters of the poor, instruction in needlework, while equally important, often had a more practical purpose: to prepare them for work as domestic servants. Going into service for a...
At the Edges
This spot sampler is one of a genre of 17th century samplers that truly embodied the name. Most samplers of the period had a structure, pleasant in appearance, which incorporated pattern bands, phrases, and information about the maker such as her name and the date she completed the work. However, spot samplers like this one...
Sampler is divided into compartments with vases, birds, and flowers. Those compartments with text are composed in the form of a rebus or pictogram. Sampler is edged with tatting. Contains the following text in Spanish
Love Unites Us
  a sampler might say “noli timere” be not afraid. but this sampler says “love unites us” in the end, we are all alone. but somewhere we also learn the elusive truth that there is love. love of life and beauty, knowledge and kindness. love unites us is not a bad thing to read on...
A Hartford sampler
Family register samplers, like this example by Sarah A. Chalker, were a way of documenting and preserving family histories. They were frequently worked by schoolgirls as part of the later phase of their needlework education. The information in this sampler is organized in rows and framed by a scrolled arch and classical columns, revealing a...
The Progress of Refinement
Ellen Maria Odiorne (1812-1845) stitched this sampler, with its meandering border of grape vines, at the age of ten. Born in Malden, Massachusetts, she was the daughter of poet-turned-wealthy-industrialist Thomas Odiorne (1769-1851). His 1792 poem, “The Progress of Refinement,” which explores man’s relationship with nature, is considered a precursor to the Romantic Movement. After apparently...