Sarah Parker, Depiction of the Massachusetts State House,
Pepperell, Massachusetts,
1811

Sampler size:
18¼" x 16¾"

Price: $14,000

Enlarged and Printer Version

Public buildings were occasionally used as the subject on schoolgirl needlework, but the Massachusetts State House, found on this remarkable sampler, is not known to have been depicted on any other sampler or silk embroidery. It was a magnificent domed building in the neo-classical style, designed by Charles Bulfinch, and built on the summit of Beacon Hill. In April of 1795, the Columbian Centinel, a Boston newspaper, announced the following: "Mr. Bulfinch, we are told, has executed an elegant plan of the intended New State-House, which unites elegance with convenience; and is calculated to be one of the first ornaments of this town, as well as do honor to Massachusetts." The cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1795 by Gov. Samuel Adams with the help of Paul Revere, and the Governor delivered an eloquent oration. Two and a half years later the building was ready for use, and for years remained one of the most prominent buildings in the United States.

The portrayal shown on this sampler is the southern view, from Beacon Hill, with the large clock in its pediment. Artistic license was used throughout, as the columns on this side of the State House were replaced by windows and the samplermaker cleverly inserted the year that she made the sampler, 1811, onto the two small roof caps of the side wings. It sits on a lustrous teal blue lawn and a pair of stylized, out of proportion trees flank the building. Creamy yellow silk stitches were used to create the muted gold sheen of the dome. A sawtooth inner border frames it well and is itself surrounded by a wide outer border, found on other Massachusetts samplers.

The samplermaker was 15-year-old Sarah Parker, of Pepperell, a small town in Massachusetts near the New Hampshire border. The top half of Sarah's sampler features alphabets and a Family Record which registers the births within her family between 1771 and 1813. Sarah was the first born of Nathaniel and Sarah (Adams) Parker who, according to Pepperell town records, were married there in 1796; Sarah Adams was from Groton, Massachusetts. Sarah was their eldest child, born in 1796; she married in 1817 and stitched this information onto her sampler. Perhaps further research will reveal information regarding her marriage and later life.

Worked in silk on linen with silk fabric used for the clock face, the sampler is in very good condition with slight weakness to the linen. It has been conservation mounted and is in a 19th century gold leaf frame.

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