#7049
 Scottish House Sampler

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13 " x 16 ".   15 1/2" x 18 1/2 " including a modern frame.   This lovely Scottish house sampler features a beautiful country manor house with an absolutely fabulous shaggy front lawn.  These shaggy front lawns were only ever found on Scottish samplers, and they are as rare as they are wonderful. The depth and dimension that it gives the piece is truly spectacular.  There are also two inviting white benches as well as birds, baskets of fruit, crowns, flowers and two won- derfully colorful butterflies. The manor house features sixteen multi-paned windows and four chimneys, so we know that this is indeed a wealthy estate.

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The sampler is circa 1820. Sadly, it is impossible to read the name of the little girl who stitched this beautiful sampler. The name and the date have worn away over time. But just so that she is not a complete mystery, the first two lines of letters on the sampler are filled with many family initials. 



                                                                                                                                    

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                        There is a water stain at the bottom of the piece, and there are a couple of holes in the linen in the upper border area. But they are actually outside of the stitched work, so they are not very noticable. As mentioned above, the signature and date have faded over time. But other than that, the condition issues don't actually impact the stitching at all.  The colors are vibrant and strong and the threads show very little loss.   It has been mounted on acid-free board.                                                                                  $1950      

 #7048
 Helen McBeth Sampler

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11 3/4 " x 18 ".   15 1/4" x 21 1/2 " including a 19th century bird's eye maple frame.  While Helen's name is very faded and therefore difficult to read, I feel con- fident that  the name signed to this lovely sampler is Helen McBeth. The top of Helen's sampler pictures a graceful and elegant tree surrounded by a delicate garland of fruit and foliage.  Below that she stitched the wonderful manor house and garden that Scottish house samplers are known for.  The house features four chimneys and several multi-paned windows. There are trees, family initials topped with crowns, dogs, rabbits and a strutting peacock. All of this is surrounded by a honeysuckle vine border. The sampler is circa 1820, or perhaps a bit earlier.

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While the verse has somewhat faded away, I was able to read enough of the verse to find the quote online and fill in the missing words.
 
Her verse reads:

Few are thy days and full of woe
O man of woman born
Thy doom is written  dust thou art
And shalt to dust return"
                                                                                                                                    

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                        Helen's sampler is showing a fair amount of thread loss, particularly in the verse and the house areas. Other than the verse, you can still see everything that was there, but the thread loss is noticable.  There is a hole next to the bottom right branch on the large tree, and another one in the bottom right of the tree to the left of the house.  The bottom left corner of the sampler is also showing some loss to the fabric. I would have to say that the overall condition is fair. It has been mounted on acid-free board.                                                                                                                   $1175      

 #7017
 Jane Skinner Sampler

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17" x 17 1/2 ".    21" x 21 1/2 " including an old painted wood frame.  Jane's lovely sampler has many of the things that we look for in a wonderful Scottish house sampler. She stitched a beautiful house with four multi-paned (32 panes each!) windows. The house has two chimneys and an arched door with eight more tiny window panes at the top. The front garden features birds, dogs and rabbits and is surrounded with an apple tree and a pine tree. 

As is typical with Scottish samplers, she stitched many of her family' member's initials including CM, AM, JMS, MS, CS, and her parents initials, PAS, CS and TS (probably a mother and a step-mother.

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We were able to find the record of Jane's christening. She was christened on Sept. 9, 1841 at St. Nicholas Parish, in Aberdeen, Scotland.  Her father's name was Peter Skinner.

She signed her sampler " Jane B. Skinner  Aberdeen 1850 MS".                                                                                          
                                                

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Jane's sampler does have a bit of thread loss, mostly in the alphabet area and in the garden fence area.  But there are no holes in the fabric and the colors of the sampler are still vibrant. The sampler has been mounted on acid-free board.                                                                                                                                               $2095      

                                                                             #7013                                                                                                        Perpetual Calender            
 

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15 1/2 " x 19 ".   18 " x 22 1/4 " including a modern frame.  I have truly never seen anything like this clever perpetual calender. The twelve months of the year are stitched on approximately 3 inch diameter circle discs, which of course can be switched around as the months pass. The days of the week are there as well as the year.  Sixteen more numbers and four more blank squares are attached to the back of the piece. The calender is edged in lace.

 
                                          

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                                                                                                       Surprisingly, the discs are attached with glue rather than tacked on with stitches. I would have expected them to be stitched on. Because of the extra numbers attached to the back of the piece, it has been framed with glass on both sides of the calender. I would estimate this calender to be late 19th century or early 20th century. The current year attached to the calender is 1866, but I doubt that it is quite that old.  The stitching is not hand work.                            

                                                                                

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The condition of this unusual piece is very good.  It appears that all of the moving pieces are still there and the calender is showing no losses that I can see.  There are a couple of small stains, but nothing that detracts very much from the look of the piece. I cannot see any sign that the gluing has caused any deterioration. While this calender is not very old, it is quite charming and very, very unique.                                                                                                      $675