#6708                                                                                                      Lidya Corker Sampler
                                                

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10 1/2" x 11 3/4".   13" x 14 1/2 " including a vintage frame.    I have to admit that I purchased this sampler partly because I loved Lidya's name.  Her sweet sampler features lots of very nice florals, butterflies, a bird, a sawtooth satin stitch border and a charming verse entitled  " Of Improvement".  Of particular interest are the two florals in the upper corners of the sampler.  They are worked entirely in a very delicate satin stitch.  Other than the border, the rest of Lidya's lovely sampler is worked in cross stitch.  It is very balanced and very well thought out, so the sampler is a nice example of what might be called a typical 19th century sampler.  She signed her work  " Lidya Corker  1803".

    

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Lidya's verse reads:   " Of Improvement"

"Learn by the Bee from each event to find
Some hint of use or profit to your mind
Nothing so small but you may draw from thence
Improvement for your Virtue or your Sense
Honey like this life's evils will assuage
And yield you sweets in your declining age".
                                                                                                                                                                                            

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Lidya's sampler is in good condition.  There is some noticeable overall darkening in the center of the sampler, as well as some loss to the silk.   There are also several holes, but only one of them is large enough to notice.  It is located to the left of the word  "Some" in the verse area.   The other holes are really very small.                                                                                                                                                                                                               $1285.00

                                                                         #6378                                                                                                      Mary Bradshaw Sampler
                                                

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16 1/4" x 18 1/2".   22 1/2" x 24 1/2 " including a period  frame.   This is perhaps one of the most charming samplers that I have ever been able to offer.  In the bottom corners of the sampler, Mary has stitched and labeled a "Swiss Boy" and a  "Swiss Girl".  They both wear hats with feathers and are costumed in a very interesting manner.   The boy looks like a pirate while the girl is wearing a turbin.   But what is particularly charming is that it is the girl who is smoking a pipe!   So at the age of 11 in 1844 maybe Mary was the world's first woman's libber!

Mary's sampler also features lots of other wonderfully realistic motifs including birds, florals, baskets of fruit, two really nice seated dogs and two truly beautiful angels. 

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Mary also added a lovely verse which reads:

" Boast not thyself of to-morrow
for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth".

She signed her beautiful sampler " Mary Bradshaw's Work Aged 11 Years  1844".                                                                                                                                                         

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There is an overall darkening to Mary's sampler.   But there are no holes in the fabric and no losses to the silk.  The colors are still quite vibrant in spite of the darkening to the fabric.  So the sampler is still in good condition.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           $1465.00

                                                                         #6644                                                                                                      Margaret Hodgson Sampler
                                                

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15 1/2" x 16 1/4".   17 1/4" x 17 3/4 " including a modern  frame.   Margaret's sampler is a very visually appealing piece of needlework.  Everything is balanced, well designed and beauti- fully executed.  She starts her sampler with an alphabet followed by a series of family initials.  She then follows with a series of vignettes featuring trees, crowns, cherubs, eight-pointed stars, florals, birds, and two very unusual large baskets.  And each vignette is seperated with lovely dividing bands of different decorative stitches.   The garden scene at the bottom is particu- larly lovely.  Finally, she surrounds her beautiful sampler with a very pretty strawberry border.   In spite of the fact that there are crowns on this piece, I think it has a definite American look to it.  

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Margaret's verse reads:

" be thou faithfull unto death
and I will give thee a crown of life".

She signs her sampler, " Margaret Hodgson's Work 
Aged 9 Yrs."                                                                                                                                                          

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Margaret's sampler is in excellent condition.  There is only one very tiny hole just to the left of the trunk of the large fruit tree in the middle of the sampler.   The colors are vibrant and there are no losses to the threads.  There is a bit of darkening in two vertical areas on either side of the sampler, but it is not very detracting.                                                                                                                               $1825.00

                                                                         #6642                                                                                                    Frances Batchelor Sampler
                                                

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12 1/2" x 16 1/2".   16 1/2" x 21 " including the original wood frame mounted inside a modern metal frame.   This is without a doubt one of the finest English samplers that I have ever been able to offer.   Frances was born on Nov. 16, 1783 in the parish of St. Mary's in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England.  She married William Dorrell in Wendover, England on Dec. 17, 1807  and lived there until her death in 1849.  

Her sampler is a work of art.  The top features five people in period dress sitting on a hillside.  Below that she stitched a graceful theatre-type fringed and tasseled drape surrounding her verse.   The bottom of her sampler includes a lovely brick house with a family of four  in the garden.  She also added wonderful trees, birds, butterflies and baskets of fruit.  The incredible detail on the clothing is particularly wonderful. The gentlemen wear hats, the ladies have bonnets and lace collars.  The men have vests and jackets and even buckles on their shoes.   She surrounded her stunning sampler with a border of lovely, delicate florals. 

The verse reads:                        

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" Next unto God dear Parents I address.....
Myself to you in humble thankfulness.....
For all your Care and Charge on me bestow d.....
The means of Learning unto me allow d.....
Go on I pray and let me still pursue.....
Those golden Arts the Vulgar never knew....."

She signed her sampler " Frances Batchelor in the 11th Year of her Age  1794".                                                                                                                                                            

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As would be expected of a sampler with this kind of age, there are some losses to the fabric.   The wear is in the four corners and along the bottom edge of the linen.  But there are no other holes in the fabric, so the stitching is not affected.  There is an overall darkening, but the silks are still quite vibrant.   As the original frame has been enclosed in another frame to protect it, I believe that the sampler has probably been conserved on acid-free board as well.                                                                                                                                                                                       $4850.00