Mary Pearse, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 1810
Price: $4200, Sampler size: 16¼" x 8¾"

The samplers of Portsmouth, New Hampshire have been well document by Rita F. Conant and John F. LaBranch in their book, In Female Worth and Elegance: Sampler and Needlework Students and Teachers in Portsmouth, New Hampshire 1741-1840. A full description of an 1810 sampler by Mary Pearse appears on page 79 – 80 and we offer this excellent sampler. In classic Portsmouth fashion, it features strawberry plants on hillocks and a large basket filled with fruit. The poem worked onto six lines is one that appears on many American samplers of the early 19th century; additionally, "Honour father and mother Love sister and brother" were stitched below the inscription. Mary states that she was 8 years old when she completed this on July 22, 1810 and her aptitude with needle and thread is apparent. Another sampler worked by Mary two years later is also recorded in this book.

Born in 1801, Mary was the daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Henderson) Pearse who were both from prominent Portsmouth families. Mary died at age 17 in 1818. Her sampler was later in one of the best known American collections of the early 20th century, that of Mrs. Thomas A. Lawton, who lent her 187 samplers to an exhibition presented by the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiques in 1913. American Samplers by Bolton and Coe recorded Mary's sampler in its groundbreaking survey of samplers (page 205).

The sampler was worked in silk on linen and is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in a molded mahogany frame.