Teaching Sampler

Period1800 - 1830

MediumPlied silk thread and linen thread on linen

Dimensions16 × 18.38 in. (40.6 × 46.7 cm)

ClassificationsNeedlework

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Julia Hartshorne Trask, 1946

Object number2084.47

DescriptionA large square sampler on closely-woven medium-weight linen with a selvedge along the bottom edge and narrow hemmed left, top, and right edges, worked in plied silk thread in dark green, grass green, olive green, rose, pale pink, dark brown, medium brown, pale peach, pale yellow, pale turquoise blue, tan, and off white. Virtually all embroidery is done in cross stitch, with a few instances of satin stitch. Forty-three separate motifs are embroidered on this linen panel, including nine border fragments, three houses, seven types of birds including a tiny brown owl, three floral baskets and two small empty basket examples, and a large variety of floral sprays, sprigs, and single blossoms. On the far left edge of the sampler is one-half of a large floral spray. Only two animals are depicted, including a large brown stag near the center of the linen panel, and a tiny lion embroidered in the extreme lower right corner. The grassy bands below two of the houses are worked in rows of satin stitch. The door on the building at the far right appears to be embroidered using unplied fibrous linen thread, done in satin stitch.
Curatorial RemarksThis sampler, by an unknown maker who was probably a Quaker, may actually be a rare panel produced by a needlework instructress for her students to examine as illustrative examples of specfic motifs. Given its array of design elements, the panel relates to Quaker samplers from southeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey, many of which contain spot motifs and repeat bands of this sort. For comparisons, see Betty Ring, Girlhood Embroidery: American Samplers & Pictorial Needlework, 1650 - 1850 (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993), vol. 2, 284 - 294, and 476 - 485. See also Mary Uhl Brooks, Threads of Useful Learning: Westtown School Samplers (West Chester: Westtown School, 2015), 149 - 159. The panel appears to be the work of a mature and practiced hand, with its carefully chosen and well-spaced motifs arranged in a pleasing fashion and with a generous amount of space around each element. Among the numerous design elements are samples of nine different types of repeat bands or borders. While the majority of the motifs appear to have been created at the same time, some elements seem to have been added later using different silk embroidery threads. A floral spray is one such ornament. It has been squeezed into the space in the lower right section of the linen between the floral spray in the checkered vase and the little grape bunch with tendrils. So little is known today about late eighteenth and early nineteenth century needlework instructresses. Many questions remain regarding how such teachers were hired by educational institutions or how they demonstrated their prowess with the embroidery needle. It is certainly likely that a good teacher would keep a record of her favorite motifs to share with her students, and to copy appealing designs shared by other instructors.

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