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Keziah A. Hilliard, Burlington County, New Jersey, 1836
The house and lawn samplers of Burlington County, New Jersey are very well known to collectors, curators and scholars in this field. These samplers feature large, architecturally detailed houses, bold trees, folky birds and animals, along with motifs that bear strong influence from the many fine Quaker schools in the area. Overall these samplers are amongst the most inventive and appealing of American samplers. This is an excellent and newly discovered example, signed, "Keziah A. Hilliard's work in the 12 year of her age 1836." A house in three-quarter view has vines growing up one side and a wonderful large bird on its roof. The lawn that forms the border along the bottom is dominated by a large handled urn of flowers and queen-stitched strawberries flanked by little curly-tailed dogs and, further downhill, a pair of birds. The inscription is contained by a narrow edging that was designed to conveniently accommodate the uppermost leaf of the flower arrangement. Born in 1825, Keziah was the daughter of a farmer, Samuel and Mary (Atkinson) Hilliard who lived in Northampton Township, Burlington County where the families had been for generations. Keziah married Mark Conrow, who owned a successful hotel in the area and by 1850 they had three sons, John, Samuel and Mark. Mark, Sr. died shortly after that and a copy of his will accompanies the sampler. Further research is being conducted and it's likely that we will be able to provide further information. The sampler is worked in silk on linen and is in excellent condition with one very minor bit of loss to the lawn. It has been conservation mounted and is in a maple and cherry cornerblock frame. |
