Ann Wright, England, 1840
Price: $3850, Sampler size: 16½" x 12¾"

English samplers offer fine and tight needlework with beautifully executed motifs and lettering in a balanced format. Ann Wright's sampler, completed June 2 1840, is a classic example, which features an unusual and detailed rendition of a church with a clock tower. Miss Wright worked such detail into the architectural structure as the mullions in the windows and the numbers on the clock face. The lengthy inscription is verse taken from the Old Testament, Psalms, and speaks of the Lord's love of Zion. It is presented in a grand way with a raised curtain above, tassels hanging down, revealing a dove and cherubs with their bows drawn. Ann's inscription is modest, but centered, above a stylized tree with many perched birds, which is flanked by substantial pillars, again with perched birds.

The sampler was worked in silk on wool and is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted into a black molded and painted frame.