Sampler

Maker Sarah A. Vanderveer

Period1833

MediumPlied silk thread on linen

Dimensions17 × 17.5 in. (43.2 × 44.5 cm)

Signed"Sarah A Vanderveer / her work / 1833" worked at the bottom of the sampler.

ClassificationsNeedlework

Credit LineBequest of Miss Elizabeth Ellis Bowne, 1945

Object number2061.2

DescriptionAn alphabet and family record sampler on natural linen, worked in plied silk thread in shades of dark green, light green, medium blue, sky blue, pale yellow, cream white, dark brown, golden brown, and tan. The sampler includes a variety of sitches including cross, long-arm cross, square, Algerian eyelet, chain, blanket, and queen. Across the top of the sampler runs a feathered diamond chain, with a variety of patterns filling each shape. Below are four alphabets worked on six lines, beginning with a cursive upper case alphabet, a one-inch upper case alphabet from A to Y, a half-inch upper case alphabet, and a half-inch lower case alphabet from a to z and ending with numerals 1 through 12. Below the last alphabet line runs a zigzag band. Worked in the lower half of the sampler is a clipped corner rectangle containing the family register reading "Joseph I. Vanderveer born Jan 9 1790 / Jane Smock born Nov 10 1791 / were married Dec 6 1809 / Their children are as follows / John Henry born Dec 27 1810 / Aaron March 7 1815 / Sarah Ann Nov 25 1821 / Jane Elizabeth May 13 1829." Below the register is the signature and date reading "Sarah A Vanderveer / her work / 1833." To the left and right of the register panel are two elaborate floral urns with roses and peonies. Below each urn are small motifs including pine trees, shrubs, and perching birds. A narrow herringbone stitch border runs along all four edges of the sampler.
Curatorial RemarksSarah Ann Vanderveer's sampler includes design elements that are virtually identical to those in the family record sampler of Eleanor J. Taylor (1826 - 1889), also owned by the Association (see accession number 1985.525). Both girls included two ornamental urns filled with roses and peonies worked in identical sitch patterns. Eleanor Taylor was thirteen when she completed her sampler in 1839, six years after Sarah Ann finished hers. Both girls lived in the Freehold area and their samplers indicate that they may have received instruction from the same unidentified needlework teacher.NotesSarah Ann Vanderveer of Marlboro Township, Monmouth County, was twelve when she put the last stitches into her sampler. She was born on 25 November 1821 to Joseph I. Vanderveer (1790 - 1878) and Jane Smock (1791 - 1871), who were married on 6 December 1809. Sarah's three siblings appear on her family list: John Henry (1810 - 1896), Aaron (1815 - 1887), and little sister Jane Elizabeth (1829 - 1909). Sarah Ann married William C. Bowne (1818 - 1905), a prosperous farmer, on 28 November 1844. The couple lived in Manalapan and raised three children: Elizabeth (1846 - ? ), Charles (1847 - ? ), and Mary E. Bowne (1849 - ? ). Sarah and her husband William were both interred at Old Brick Reformed Church in Marlboro. The Association owns a small marking sampler worked by Sarah Ann's mother Jane Smock Vanderveer (1791 - 1871), accession number 2061.1, a very large religious Berlin wool work embroidered picture by her daughter Elizabeth V. Bowne Ellis (1845 - 1920), accession number 1987, and a family record sampler done by Sarah Ann's second cousin, Hannah Vanderveer, accession number 1416, which is in a later family record needlework style that was completed in 1843.

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