We occasionally come across 18th century English samplers worked fully in French and find these to be highly appealing; the samplermakers were indicating that they were highly skilled in two areas – needlework and French language. Remarkably, this exemplary sampler was made by a very young student, as indicated by her inscription, "Fait par Magdeleine Prathernon age de 7 ans & deux mois acheve le 24 Sept. 1741" – she was 7 years and 10 months old. 

Some English instructresses taught their students to finish the back of their samplers as neatly as the front and as is the case with this sampler. We have a photo of the reverse of the sampler taken prior to mounting. 

The lengthy wording is the Nicene Creed is a statement of the orthodox faith of the early Christian church In its present form this creed goes back partially to the Council of Nicea (A.D. 325) with additions by the Council of Constantinople (A.D. 381).

Research indicates that Magdeleine married Daniel Billon on November 10, 1783, at St. Anne Church, in London. Her parents may have been Thomas and Jane (Viller) Prathernon.  

The sampler was worked in silk on tan linen. It is in very good condition and has been conservation mounted in a molded and black painted frame. 

We occasionally see pincushions that were made as gifts or tributes and were delighted to find this very fine and rare example which presents as two miniature samplers. One side reads, “A Trifle For Me Grandmother” and the other, “Watch therefore for ye know not what hour your Lord doth cometh.” A paper label along one side indicates that 80 to 90 years after it was made it was owned by Mrs. Turner of Wrawby, a village in North Lincolnshire, England, about 50 miles east and north of Sheffield. 

Worked in silk on wool, it retains its original narrow yellow silk ribbon edging. The needlework is in excellent condition, there are several very small holes to the ground fabric.

inscription on side

We admire samplers for many different reasons and occasionally come across one that presents a verse, quote or prose that sets it apart from others. This sampler, made by 10-year-old Mary Martin in 1832, features an extraordinary paragraph that we have never seen before on a sampler. It reads,

“There is certainly, no greater felicity, than to be able to look back on a life usefully and virtuously employed to trace our own progress in existence, by such tokens as excite neither shame nor sorrow. It ought therefore to be the care of those who wish to pass the last hours with comfort, to lay up such a treasure of pleasing ides as shall support the expenses of that time which is to depend wholly upon the fund already acquired.” 

The first sentence was written by Dr. Samuel Johnson and published in The Rambler, between 1750 and 1752. Significantly, we found quotation in its entity published in the highly regarded Quaker publication, Friends Intelligencer, in 1854. The specific font, stitched with letter-perfect precision by Mary, was taught to girls who attended Quaker schools and this quotation must have been circulated for many years. 

The two stylized motifs near the upper corners, the portion of a Greek key band and the honeysuckle pattern border all add to the aesthetics of the sampler. It was worked in silk on linen and is in excellent condition, conservation mounted and in a molded and black painted frame. 

Many praiseworthy  samplers were made in southern New Hampshire and they tend to exhibit an appealing, free-form folk quality. Martha March’s sampler was most likely made in Sanbornton, where the March family lived. Many of the finest New Hampshire samplers were made in this specific region and while Martha’s sampler doesn't share the salient characteristics with the highly significant Bird and Basket Samplers of Canterbury, there are some elements that seem to be influenced by those samplers.

Along with alphabets, the sampler reads, “This needle work of mine doth show / What by Industry I can do / By my parents I was taught / Not to spend my time in naught” and signed, “Martha G March’s sampler wrought in June 1818,” the wording is divided onto the ends of the four lines of the verse. 

Born in 1806 to Jacob March (1760-1819) and his wife Hannah (Gerrish) March (1774-1855), Martha was the third of their four children. History of Sanbornton New Hampshire by Rev M. T. Runnels (Boston, Massachusetts, 1881), provided much information about the March family, which began with Hugh March (1620-1693), who settled in Newbury, Massachusetts. Martha’s grandfather, Joshua March, removed to Sanbornton, where the family remained for generations. 

In 1823, Martha married Jesse Sanborn (1794-1843); the town was named for a member of this distinguished family.  The same town history book describes Jesse as a man who, “combined a high degree of intelligence with a most retentive memory and a marked ability, and disposition to communicate even to his latest days.” Among other positions that he served, the book states that he was said to be an excellent schoolteacher. They had four daughters and Martha died in 1891. She is buried in Lane Cemetery with many family members. 

Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in a fine figured maple frame. 

verso

We are delighted to offer this exceptional and highly appealing sampler with its great many whimsical depictions. Foremost among these is that of a mermaid, very rarely seen on samplers of any origin. The oversized lady and gentleman, cat on the roof of the house, many birds, rooster, little owl, angels, and spiraling starfish all further the highly imaginative character of the sampler. Details such as the articulated fingers on the figures, including the mermaid and angel, and the long legs and claws of the birds add to the appeal while providing visual interest. The samplermaker’s attention to detail continued onto the clothing of the figures, the birds’ feathers and even the scales of the mermaid.

The border is notable as well; three sides present large flowers on circular curling vines very much in keeping with the exuberant composition of the sampler. The lower border is a very impressive technical display of 24 queen’s-stitch diamonds, large and small, providing a strong visual base for the scene of the house and figures.

Delicate blue stitches form the inscription, which reads,

“Mary hughes is my name and with my needle i work the same and this my frends you may have when i am dead and in my grave made in the yea of her age 1825.”

Mary’s specific identity is hard to pinpoint but we are grateful for the extraordinary and highly original sampler that she left for us to enjoy. 

Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in a maple and mahogany corner-block frame. 

Signed, “Ann Hope 11 Yr / Year 1811 / Runningburn,” this is a beautifully made Scottish sampler. She lived or attended school in Runningburn which is near the village of Stichill, just north of Kelso. 

Ann included a depiction of a charming and unusual stepped-roof cottage flanked by oversized potted flowers and a fine pair of roosters. Crowns, hearts and other pots of flowers are among the many other motifs that decorate the sampler – Ann filled just about all of her space. 

The verse that she stitched is highly unusual and, with much assistance from the Scottish sampler scholars at antiquesmplers.org, we what we are certain that the verse that Ann intended, with some corrected spelling, is as follows;

When Boreas' storms and Neptune's wave have drove us to and fro In spite of both by God's good care we harbour here below And here we lay in anchor safe With many of our fleet In hope once more to set sail our Admiral Christ to meet. 

A search for the source of this revealed a very similar version carved into a 1752 gravestone of a Scottish mariner and, again, we are grateful for the assistance on this.

Ann signed the sampler in pale silk floss inside the enclosure at the left, just below the many alphabets and sets of initials. The enclosure on the right reads, “Isabella Davidson 1811 Ann Hope 1811.” While it’s difficult to know with certainty, this might be the name of her teacher along with a repeat of her name. There is record of an Ann Hope who was born in nearby Kelso in 1801, the daughter of Robert and Jean Hope. Perhaps further research will provide more information. 

The sampler was worked in silk on wool and is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in its original mahogany frame. 

A true treasure – this small, very delicate Quaker sampler was made in Chester County, Pennsylvania by Sarah Garrett Hoopes in 1817. The provenance is highly significant as it was in the personal collection of the late Susan B. Swan, the revered, long-time Curator of Textiles at Winterthur Museum. The sampler has remained in the collection of one of her sons and is now available for sale.  

The sampler has a particularly refined quality to it. The Extract verse is surrounded by an exceptional leafy enclosure worked in teal blue with red and white flower  buds. The element at the center of the top is a variation of the bell-flower motif that often appears on Quaker samplers. The verse offered particular appeal and is found on other samplers; it was often published in the period. 

Sarah was the daughter of Imlah and Edith (Garrett) Hoopes. They were members of the Goshen Monthly Meeting of Chester County when this sampler was made. The roots of the Hoopes and Garrett families extend back for generations in this area. 

Sarah married Joseph Cloud (1815-1880) and they had four children. Joseph was a farmer and they lived in Chester County and, for a period, in New Castle County, Delaware. Sarah died in 1880. 

Along with records from the Friends Historic Library, sources for this information include The Hoopes Family Record, A Genealogical Record Of The Hoopes Family, Descendants Of Daniel Hoopes Of Westtown, Chester County, Pennsylvania, Volume I, the first six generations compiled and edited by Gerald R. Fuller, D.V.M. 1979 and Historic Homes And Institutions And Genealogical And Personal Memoirs Of Chester And Delaware Counties, Pennsylvania, Gilbert Cope (The Lewis Publishing Company, 1904). Photocopies are included in the file that accompanies this sampler. 

The sampler was worked in silk on fine linen gauze. It is in excellent condition with some very slight light foxing to the linen. It has been conservation mounted and is in its original molded frame. 

Here are others from Susan Swan's collection:  Mary Ann Clark, Anna Reed, Folwell Silk Embroidery

Many fine silk embroideries were made by young ladies attending the Folwell School in Philadelphia, which was established in the last few years of the 18th century and run by Samuel and Elizabeth Folwell. The subject matters on these works include memorials, religious and allegorical stories, family scenes and illustrations from popular novels. They share identifiable characteristics, and the faces were painted by either Samuel Folwell, or, after his death in 1813, their son Godfrey. 

In Girlhood Embroidery (vol II, page 378), Betty Ring writes about the Folwell School, as follows:

“Pictorial embroidery on silk was popular in Philadelphia from the 1730s until the post-Revolutionary period, so it is not surprising that there was an early transition from the rococo style to neo-classicism in this largest of American cities with its keen interest in fashions from abroad. Yet it was not the newly arrived French or English drawing masters or embroiderers who initiated the style for lustrous urns and temples.  Instead it was a native-born craftsman who managed to fan the flames of fashion and promote his patterns and his wife’s embroidery school until their output became the largest body of neoclassical silk embroidery to survive from Federal America.”

This is an excellent Folwell School memorial, “In Memory of an Affectionate Brother” and initialed, MLL.. The eglomise mat and frame are original. 

The provenance of this silk embroidery is significant as it was in the personal collection of the late Susan B. Swan, the revered, long-time Curator of Textiles at Winterthur Museum. It has remained in the collection of one of her sons and is now available for sale.  

Here are others from Susan Swan's collection:  Mary Ann Clark, Sarah G. Hoopes, Anna Reed

Many excellent samplers were made by Pennsylvania German girls of Berks County in the 1830s and 40s. Using merino wool and Berlin work patterns, the samplers exhibit the exuberance found in the best of Pennsylvania German arts. This sampler was made by Lucinda Esser and finished on March 25th, 1840. She stated on it, “I was 12 years of age.” An outstanding floral bouquet dominates the center with little birds, flower baskets, arrangements of fruit corner elements, a wreath and various other motifs adding greatly to the composition. 

Lucinda was from one of the prominent early Pennsylvania German families of Kutztown, which is located about 22 miles west and south of Allentown. She was the daughter of Samuel Esser (1794-1865) and Hannah (Oberbeck) Esser (1798-1845). Her grandfather, Jacob Beiber Esser (1758-1845), was a Revolutionary War veteran and a cabinetmaker. 

Notably, an outstanding sampler was made by Lucinda's younger sister, Jane Catherine Esser (1833-1897), in 1841, while attending the school of Mrs. Elizabeth Mason in Kutztown. This was in the Betty Ring collection and was exhibited and published as such. 

Many generations of the Esser family owned and operated the Kutztown Journal and Patriot newspapers. Sadly, Lucinda died in October, 1849. Her parents named their next child Lucinda, as a namesake.

The sampler was worked in wool and silk on linen and is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in its fine, original mahogany frame. 
 

A fine pair of Turkish Ottoman panels, these are hand embroidered with silk floss and flat metallic tape. A matching pair of geometric patterns form striking compositions with appealing graphic quality, each centered on a star with a metallic center.

These are in excellent condition, now conservation mounted into an oak frame without glass.