#8070                                                                                                      Anne Price Sampler              

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13" x 17 1/2". 17 1/2 " x 22 " including a modern burled  frame. Anne's artistically stitched sampler is quite unusual. The focal point is one large stem of flower buds and foliage.  It is stunning!  The workmanship on this sampler is absolutely magni- fiscent! The two butterflies are the most beautiful I have ever seen anywhere. Their coloring is wonderful and they are amazingly realistic. The rosebuds are detailed and delicate.  And the open blooms on the right have wonderfully textured beautiful centers. The border is delicate and airy. I occaisional- ly say that a sampler maker is an artist with a needle, but Anne's needlework is truly exceptional. Be sure to click on the picture enlargements to see the detail of this lovely piece of art.

  

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Her verse reads:

"The eyes of the LORD are in every place
beholding the evil and the good."

She signed her sampler,  " Anne Price  Aged 15   Newport A. D. 1832".

It is fairly unusual for a girl to spell the name Anne with an "e" on the end in 1832, so I think that's also a bit special.

                                                                                    

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The condition of Anne's splendid sampler is quite good.  There are no holes in the fabric and only a tiny bit of thread loss on the vines in the border. There is still quite a bit of sheen to the silks which adds to the beauty of the workman- ship.  There is a little overall darkening to the sampler. The sampler has been mounted on acid-free board.                                                                                                                                                                                 $1845

                                                                             #8069                                                                                                      Biblical Motif Sampler              

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13 3/4" x 13 3/4". 16 1/2 " x 16 3/4 " including an old painted frame. This lovely motif sampler is filled with stories from the bible. In the bottom left corner there is a depiction of Abraham sacrificing his son, Isaac.  You see Isaac laying on the sacrificial altar and Abraham raising his sword over him.  The angel of God is pictured in the corner and the ram is laying next to Abraham waiting to be sacrificed instead of Isaac. In the bottom left corner we see Adam and Eve with the serpent in the Garden of Eden.  Above Abraham, we see the Spies of Canaan. 

  

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But my favorite motif of all is the small dove holding the olive branch in the center of the sampler. The olive branch is probably three times the size of the dove and it has a clever depiction of two olives on the branch. That is so charming. There is also a beautiful house with eight multi-paned win- dows and a fenced front garden.

The sampler is not signed, but it is dated, "Anno  1841".

                                                                                    

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The condition of this lovely motif sampler is good.  There are no holes in the fabric and no losses to the threads. There is a stain in the bottom left corner of the sampler and some fading to the colors. The sampler has been mounted on acid-free board.                                                                                                                                         SOLD

                                                                             #8072                                                                                                      Mourning Embroidery               

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16" x 12 3/4". 20 1/2 " x 17 " including the original gilt frame with old, wavy glass.  While this is definitely not my usual offer- ing of a needlework sampler, I believe this starkly beautiful em- broidery is absolutely stunning. It depicts the ruins of a temple in a cemetary and its realism is amazing.  It is worked with silks and wool on linen.

      

 

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The inherant beauty and grace of the temple is still very much present in its ruins. The pillars and arches still show their grandeur. The delicate trees seem to be blowing in the breeze.  But the most haunting feature is the human figure seen in the bottom left of the needlework on a tombstone.  It sets the mood for the piece and clearly tells the story the stitcher was trying to convey. This is a mourning piece and it is quite moving. I often see art in needlework, but never more so than in this lovely piece. It is fairly rare in its style and therefore quite special.

                                                                                    

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The condition of this lovely embroidery is actually quite good.  There is a water stain in the top left corner and there are a few loose threads in the silks in the grassy area below the temple.  The fabric is darkened around the temple but I believe that may have been done deliberately at the time it was stitched.  It does add atmosphere to the design.   There are no holes.  The gilt frame is showing its age.  There is quite a bit of missing beading and the expected dings and scratches. The embroidery has been mounted on acid-free board.                                                                                                                                                     $925

                                                                             #8076                                                                                                      Whitework Sampler               

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9" x 26" or 11" x 28 1/2 " including a modern frame. This beautiful piece of needlework history is circa 1680. It is definitely the type of work that was not done after the 17th century. There is band after band of stunning whitework seper- ated by band after band of stunning cutwork. The effect is  ele- gant, delicate and lacy.

This is an advanced piece that would probably have been done by an older girl or a young woman. The diamond shaped patterns are worked in four-sided stitch and then filled in with intricate patterns of satin stitch.  I cannot emphasize enough how truly lovely these satin stitch patterns are. 

The lacy looking cutwork bands are a study in how to make lace out of fabric.  These patterns and techniques are more advanced than the satin stitch patterns.

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In the 17th century they did not have pattern books to store the designs for their needlework.  So if they wanted to re- member the patterns for future use, they had to stitch them onto fabric or onto a sampler. The sampler was then rolled up and stored in her sewing basket to be pulled out when a specific pattern or stitch was required. So, the purpose of a sampler was twofold. A young girl would be taught the stitches and techniques as she was stitching them, and then she would keep her work as a sample of what she had learned to draw from for the rest of her life. This piece is a lovely example those methods. 

                                                                                    

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The condition of this very early sampler is fair to good.  Actualy, considering it's extreme age, the condition is quite good.  There is some noticable damage mostly to the cutwork areas and some fading to the second to the last band.  But otherwise the stitching is all still intact. The sampler has been cut along the bottom edge of the fabric.  Most likely, some amount of blank unfinished fabric was cut off at some point. Someone probably felt that the sampler would be easier to frame without the additional blank fabric.  It is framed on acid-free board.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     $1950

                                                                             #8074                                                                                        Mary Booth Sampler              

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11 1/2" x 14 1/2". 15 " x 18 " including a 19th century bird's eye maple frame with a gilt liner. Mary's lovely Scottish sampler features several little extras that we don't always see on sam- plers. She signed and dated her sampler but she also gave us her town name of Aberdeen, and she added "Mrs. MC" which was probably a nickname for her teacher. In her depiction of Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden, the serpent wound around the tree is actually holding an apple in his mouth as he reaches toward Eve.  And Eve of course, is reaching for the apple. The shaggy grass below their feet is both rare and wonderful.  When you add in the impressive rosebud garland above the tree you have a very special Adam & Eve sampler.   

  

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Her verse reads:

"Jesus Permit Thy Gracious Name to Stand
As the first Efforts of an Infant's Hand
And While Her fingers O'er the Canvass Move
Engage Her Tender Heart to Seek Thy Love
With Thy Own Children Let Her Share a Part
And Write Thy Gracious Name Upon Her Heart".

She signed her sampler,  " Mary Booth  Aged ten Years
1821 Aberdeen ".  She added her parents initials, "GB & MB"  as well as other family initials, "MM, IB,WB, GB and
AMC (or possibly AMG).

                                                                                    

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There are some losses to the stitching, mostly in the verse area.  The bottom border shows two fairly large holes in the fabric, one in the left corner and the other about 6 inches to the right of that. There is one other smaller hole just below the shaggy grass on the right. The sampler has been mounted on acid-free board.                                                                                                                                                                                                            $2850

                                                                             #8064                                                                                                      Elizabeth Jackson Sampler               

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15 1/2 " x 13 1/2".  20 " x 18 " including the original wood frame with old wavy glass and a gilt liner.  Featuring many fairly elaborate birds and flowers, Elizabeth's lovely sampler has a dramatic look to it. Each flower and each bird is completely different from the other birds and flowers.  It's as if she was doing a nature study while she was stitching.  She added the Spies of Canaan motif surrounded by a charming verse as well:  "A Land of Corn and wine   And oil favord With God's Peculiar smile   Rivers of milk And Honey  And all the Fruits of Paradise". She even gave us the names of the two Spies of Canaan - Caleb and Joshua.

                                          

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Her second verse reads:

"Make the extended skies your tomb
Let stars record your worth
Yet know vain mortals all must die
As nature's sickliest birth
In thy fair book of life divine
My God inscribe my name
There let it fill some humble place
Beneath the slaughtered lamb".

She signed her sampler " Elizabeth Jackson  Aged 12 1834".

                                                                                    

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The condition of Elizabeth's impressive sampler is good. There is a bit of overall darkening to the fabric, but there are no holes or losses to the stitching. The colors are all still vibrant.   It has been mounted on acid-free board.                                                                                                                                                                         $1995