#8150                                                                                                          Margaret Bowie Sampler               

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13" x 17" or 19 1/4" x 23 1/4 including a lovely 19th century frame with a gilt slip and old wavy glass. Margaret's lovely Scottish house sampler features a stunning four pillared house with six multi-paned windows and four chimneys. There is a fenced in front yard and two graceful swaying trees filled with birds. She stitched a beautiful thistle surrounded with the words "I have power to defend Thy son and others". There are also florals, crowns, 2 verses, a peacock and a delicate undulating border.  She added a series of family initials including " JB, RB, JB, WB, RB, AR and JR".  Just below the first verse she stitched the name Jean Bowie.  I believe that to be her mother's name.  I would have expected her father's name to be next to it, but it is not there. It may have faded away. 

 

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Her 1st verse reads:

The wondering would Inquire to know
why I do love my Savior so
But if all the world my Savior know
Shure all the world would love him to"

The second verse has mostly faded away but if you tilt the sampler at just the right angle you can clearly see that it was the very well known "Jesus permit thy gracious name to stand" verse.  She signed her sampler  Margaret Bowie. The date appears to have been picked out but I believe the sampler to be circa 1820.

                                                                        

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The condition of Margaret's classic Scottish house sampler is still pretty good. However, there is an overall darkening to the fabric and a fair amount of thread loss. The thread loss is mostly in the 2nd verse area and the area to the left of the first verse. There is also a hole just under the thistle and the bottom edge of the fabric is showing some wear. The sampler has been mounted on acid-free board.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               $1375

                                                                             #8151a                                                                                                           Eliza Lacy Sampler               

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13" x 17 1/2" or 17 1/2" x 21 1/2 including the beautiful origin- al black frame with corner spandels and old wavy glass.  This sampler and the one that follows were stitched by sisters Eliza and Caroline Lacy. It is rare to find samplers worked by sisters, especially two such stunning pieces as these.  

She stitched a lovely and realistic floral border surrounding a  spectacular country estate and pastoral scene. The workman- ship is exquisite! The trees have so much dimension that they almost leap off the fabric.  There is a bull and a cow (both quite unusual), five sheep, a dog and a shepherd overlooking it all. The house is beyond gorgeous surrounded by those wonderful trees. Eliza's sampler is simply a work of art.

 

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Her verse reads:

Through all the Windings of my Heart,
My Search let heavenly Wisdom guide,
And still its radiant Beams impart,
Tis all be search'd and purify'd."

She signed her sampler,  "Eliza Lacy". Eliza was born on
July 14, 1810 in Dorset, England. Her parents were
Thomas Lacy and Sarah Cobb Lacy.


                                                                        

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The condition of Eliza's sampler is quite good.  The silks are still showing quite a bit of sheen and the satin stitching is per- fect and flat. The colors are absolutely vibrant.  There are a few very small holes on the edges of the fabric and to the salmon pink ribbon that the sampler was originally edged with. And there is just a bit of thread loss to the second bird flying over the house.  The sampler has been mounted on on a second piece of linen and that has been mounted to acid-free board.                                                                                                                                                                                                                               SOLD

                                                                             #8151b                                                                                                           Caroline Lacy Sampler              

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13" x 17 1/2" or 17 1/2" x 21 1/2 including the beautiful origin- al black frame with corner spandels and old wavy glass.  This sampler and the previous one were stitched by sisters Eliza and Caroline Lacy of Dorset, England.  The two samplers make a gorgeous pair and hung side by side they are absolutely stun- ning. 

They are strikingly similar and yet also very different. The border, the signature and the verse areas are similar, but the vignette at the bottom of Caroline's sampler is quite different from Eliza's sampler.  Caroline's sampler shows a country scene with two houses and a charming clock tower in the distance as well as a stream running under a wonderful stone bridge.  She used one thread on top of the satin stitching to outline the bricks and the stones, which is a technique we don't often see on antique pieces.                                                                                             

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                                                                                                        Her verse reads:

Jesus permit thy gracious Name to stand,
As the first Efforts of an Infant's Hand.
And as her Fingers on the Sampler move,
Engage her tender Heart to seek thy Love.
With thy dear Children may she have a part,
And write thy Name thyself upon her Heart."

She signed her sampler,  "Caroline Lacy" Caroline was born in 1811 in Dorset, England.  Her parents were Thomas Lacy and Sarah Cobb Lacy.
"                                                                         

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The condition of Eliza's sampler is for the most part, quite good.  There is sheen to the silks and the colors are still vibrant. The stitching is all perfectly intact. There is a tiny bit of darkening in the verse area but the only real issue to the condition is that there are some good size holes in the fabric. There are two large, and three smaller holes to the right of the verse, and another one in each of the top right and the bottom right corners of the sampler.  To the left of the verse you will see a few tan colored vertical threads.  These are covering a few missing threads of the fabric. The holes barely show because the underneath piece of linen camouflages them.  The sampler has been mounted on on a second piece of linen and that has been mounted to acid-free board.                                                                                                         SOLD