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Mary Winney, Scottish or American, 1804
Mary Winney completed her strong and simple band sampler in 1804 at the age of eleven. Although she notes the specifics of her birth in 1792, we have been unable to find Mary through our research. And while we find many band samplers in Scotland and England from this time period, some aspects of this sampler seem to be American; use of linen, rather than wool, the large scale of the lettering and motifs, and the unusual color palette, especially the deep, bright orange. While this sampler is likely Scottish, we should note that a great misconception regarding samplers is in the use of the crown as a motif. Kim Smith Ivey, scholar and curator at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, writes "The crown motif … a symbol of royalty and power, is often erroneously associated with only English or colonial American samplers," ("American Schoolgirl Needlework: Records of Virtue," Samplers & Antique Needlework Quarterly, Winter 2007, p. 37). The crown was a motif widely incorporated into the sampler vocabulary and is found on samplers from many countries, such as Holland and Germany, as well as later American pieces, especially Pennsylvania German samplers. We keep this in mind when determining an origin of a sampler and try not to reach conclusion based solely on one characteristic. The work itself is quite handsome. A wide array of decorative bands is interspersed with alphabets, and Miss Winney certainly practiced her eyelet stitch with perfection. The orange silk has been used throughout and contrasts nicely with the teal greens and pale blues. Worked in silk on linen, Mary's sampler is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in a mahogany frame with a gold liner. |
