Sampler

Maker Mary Wadsworth

Period1824

MediumPlied silk thread on linen

DimensionsSight: 17 × 15.75 in. (43.2 × 40 cm)

SignedThe sampler is signed and dated "Mary Wadsworth Work 1824."

ClassificationsNeedlework

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Julia Hartshorne Trask, 1946

Object number2084.15

DescriptionA square sampler on open weave brown linen, worked in cross stitch and a single eyelet stitch. The embroidery is done with plied silk thread in black, dark green, medium green, light green, medium blue, bright blue, pale blue, scarlet, ochre, golden brown, and off white. At the top of the sampler is a verse reading "Lord Jesus who shall give me Wings / Of faith and perfect Love / That I may mount from earthly Things / And Rest with thee Above." Several small motifs flank either side of the verse, including a pine tree, a pair of birds, and small panel elements. A wide variety of motifs are scattered about the middle portion of the sampler, including a naturalistic floral spray with a ribbon bow at left, a feather star above a pair of pigeons, a stylized floral blossom in a formal urn, a pair of small butterflies, and two crowns. The lower third of the sampler includes a pictorial scene, with a large tree in which a partridge or similar bird perches. On either side of the tree, two elegantly dressed little men, with top hats, coattails and walking sticks, stand near a pair of dogs tied to stylized floral shrubs. Dark green silk is worked as a grassy band beneath the scene. A stylized floral vine repeat band forms a border around all four sides of the sampler.
Curatorial RemarksMary Wadsworth chose an interesting verse for her sampler. Part of a larger hymn, the verse is attributed to Blessed Nicholas Postgate (1596/7 - 1679). Postgate was born in Yorkshire and was ordained a Catholic priest in 1628. During a period of anti-Catholic sentiment in England, eighty-two-year-old Postgate was arrested, imprisoned, and finally put to death in York in 1679. Postgate's story, along with the full hymn, appeared in Henry Foley's Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus (London: Burns and Oates, 1879) 760 - 761. Whether this choice of verse hints at Mary Wadsworth's own faith is not known. In contrast to a verse with such a solemn origin, the rest of Mary's sampler is populated with a variety of figures and flowers. Beneath the enormous bird perched in the center tree, two tiny well-dressed men stand, their top hats and walking sticks clearly visible. The two crowns worked below Mary's name seem to indicate the sampler's English origin.

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