Ann Kitching,
Ackworth School, England,
1822

Sampler size:
9" x 12¾"

Price: $3200

Enlarged and Printer Version

This handsome marking sampler was made at the Ackworth School in Yorkshire, the legendary Quaker boarding school that was established in 1779 and educated many generations of Quaker schoolchildren. In her comprehensive and excellent book, Quaker School Girl Samplers from Ackworth, Carol Humphrey of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, states that Ackworth samplers "stand witness to the founding principles of the school. They illustrate that utility, simplicity or plainness, and literacy were set out as the cornerstones for education and way of life of scholars." The simple yet elegant samplers worked at Ackworth are sought after by collectors for obvious reasons.

A great deal is known about this samplermaker, Ann Kitching. She was born in 1808, a daughter of George and Hannah (Jackson) Kitching of the town of Hull, also in Yorkshire. George Kitching (c.1764-1846) was a grocer and flax dresser and a committed Friend and Elder of the Quaker church. Ann was admitted to Ackworth in March of 1821 and remained there until April 1823. Her older sister Phebe Kitching had also attended the Ackworth School from 1805 to 1807 and the fine sampler that Phebe made there in 1807 is owned by the school and published on page 107 of Mrs. Humphrey's book.

This handsome sampler, worked by Ann in 1822, closely resembles others worked between 1806 and 1842 also in the collection of the school and illustrated on pages 108 to 110. Ann's sampler is a centered composition of classic Quaker style alphabets and numerical progressions, with little punctuation marks and ampersands.

In 1842, Ann Kitching married Henry Smith of Sheffield, an ivory cutter and brass founder, and she died in 1892. Photocopies of the minutes of Yorkshire Quarterly Meeting Minutes that record the Kitching family information are included in the file that accompanies the file.

The sampler was worked in linen on wool and is in very good condition with slight weakness to the wool. It has been conservation mounted and is in a beveled mahogany period frame.

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