Sampler

Maker Sarah Purslow

Period1825

MediumPlied silk thread on wool

Dimensions18 × 13.75 in. (45.7 × 34.9 cm)

SignedThe sampler is signed and dated "Sarah Purslow Marked this in the 12 year of her age 1825."

ClassificationsNeedlework

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Julia Hartshorne Trask, 1946

Object number2084.18

DescriptionA rectangular sampler on a fine light weight, off-white wool ground. The sampler is worked entirely in tiny cross stitch with plied silk thread in dark green, olive green, dark brown, medium brown, russet, brick red, peach, soft orange, tan, and oyster white. Two of the small motifs are worked in a mixed silk thread of blue and pale golden yellow. The sampler's spaces are divided roughly into four sections. Centered at the top of the sampler is the verse "Death and judgment / Heaven has confirmed the great decree / That adams race must die / One general ruin sweeps them down / And low in dust they lie," with zig zag bands following the third, fourth and fifth lines as spacers. On either side of the verse, worked in mirror image, is a hovering angel, a bird, and a two-handled basket with flowers. Below the verse is a small scene depicting Adam and Eve on either side of a central fruit tree, with a snake twining around the trunk. A pair of angels hovers above the figures, sharing the air with a pair of butterflies. Three different stylized floral motifs are worked in mirror image in a row on either side of Adam and Eve. A tiny flying bird appears above the central floral motif. The third section of the sampler includes a small three-story house in the center, flanked in mirror image by flowers, a butterfly, a tiny bird, a a floral spray with a perching pair of birds, a tiny stag, and what appears to be a dog worked in mixed blue and pale yellow silk thread. In the upper left corner of this section is a small square motif, with no matching square in the right corner. The large bottom section of the sampler includes a broad central floral motif, with three blossoms above outstretched leaves, rising from a detailed formal urn. Nine separate motifs are worked in mirror image on either side of the urn, including a small flower spray and urn, a tulip, three flying birds of varying sizes, a bird on a hanging perch, a hovering angel, and a butterfly. Flanking the central urn is worked a horned cow. Beneath the bottom section runs the signature line "Sarah Purslow Marked this in the 12 year of her age 1825." A precise and angular strawberry vine is worked along all four edges. The sampler retains its original mounting. A sturdy half-inch woven linen tape has been sewn along all four edges of the wool panel, then sandwiched with a tissue-thin paper and a tightly woven light cotton lining, all three layers then tacked with small iron brads to a thin pine strainer assembly.The brads run along the narrow edges of the pine strainers.
Curatorial RemarksAlthough Sarah Purslow, the British maker of this charming and lovely sampler, is not yet identified, the verse she included on her needlework provides a clue as to her family's religious affiliation. "Heaven has confirmed the great decree / That adams race must die / One general ruin sweeps them down / And low in dust they lie" are four lines from a hymn written by Philip Doddridge (1702 - 1751). Doddridge, born in London and the youngest of twenty children, rejected the tenets of the Anglican Church and became an independent Non-Conformist or Puritan minister. He was well-recognized in his day as a prolific hymnist (composing more than 400), religious writer, and educator. He died in Lisbon, Portugual, after well-meaning friends and patrons sent him abroad hoping the country's warm air would help his tuberculosis. It may well be that Sarah Purslow's family, and likely her needlework instructress, were Non-Conformists. Sarah's sampler is worked on exceptionally fine-woven soft wool fabric, including precisely embroidered mirror image motifs. Sarah paid great attention to detail, including even to the udders of the tiny cows flanking the large central urn.

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