Nancy Abbet, Instructress Susan Grout, Grafton, Massachusetts, 1803
Price: $14,500, Sampler size: 15½" x 17"

We offer this splendid sampler which was made by Nancy Abbet of Grafton, Massachusetts, a small town southwest of Boston, under the instruction of Susan Grout. This combination of a 23 year old teacher and a 10 year old student created a highly folky and appealing sampler, which features a composition of free-form flowers springing from a basket, flowers tied with bow-knots and sprightly blossoms and buds decorating the border. This sampler remained unframed for over 200 years and this accounts for its remarkably fresh color.

The inscription reads, "Nancy Abbet born May 25th 1793 & wrought this work in 1803 By the instruction of Susan Grout." Recent research has revealed much about both student and teacher; interestingly no other samplers made under this teacher are known to scholars, collectors or curators. Nancy was the eldest child of a blacksmith, Abner Abbet, and his wife, Phebe Peplow Abbet, who resided in Grafton. Abner Abbet (Abbot/Abbott) was a sixth generation descendant of George Abbott who came to Massachusetts in 1642 and was one of the first settlers of the town of Rowley. Nancy Abbet did not marry and resided in Grafton until at least 1830.

The instructress, Susan Grout, was born in 1780, the daughter of Jonathan and Hannah (Merriam) Grout of Grafton. In 1804 she married a widower, John Warren, and we know from this sampler that she was teaching prior to her marriage. Susan and her husband became the parents of 14 children; one of their sons, Samuel Dennis Warren (1817-1888), became a highly successful mill paper owner in Cumberland Mills, Maine and a biographical tribute was published upon his death. Notably his mother, the teacher of Nancy Abbet, was acknowledged as "a woman of rare wisdom and force of character." She was his guide and counselor; again to quote this publication (a copy of which accompanies this sampler), "…it was his mother's purpose that he should acquire a college education." Education was paramount to Susan Grout Warren.

This sampler is wonderfully appealing in its own right and also serves to document the instruction of a highly talented and previously unknown teacher. Worked in silk on linen, it is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted. It is now in a fine 19th century gold leaf frame.