The subject matter of this unusual and beautifully worked silk embroidered picture is most appealing: two zebras, one just a view of his head, recline next to a thatched roof structure amidst lush and exotic foliage. The small thatch-roofed building with its gothic windows and doorway and a gazebo of similar architecture affirms the unusual character of the piece. The embroidery was worked in tiny, tight stitches and the painted sky is particularly effective.

Worked in silk and chenille with paint on silk, this piece is in excellent condition in a gold frame.

Kennebunk is one of Maine’s most historic and charming small towns. Samplermaker, Susan M. Walker, was born there in 1794, the daughter of Andrew and Susannah (Merrill) Walker. Early family and area histories publish much about the Merrill family, specifically John Merrill, Susan’s maternal grandfather. He was the principal surveyor in the area, a “public-spirited and patriotic man,” holding many civic positions. “Mr. Merrill was a man of judgment and moral worth; he was an ardent lover of books and collected a large library at a time when books were both costly and difficult to obtain. It is said that he bought the first Cyclopedia owned in the District of Maine.” 

The following most wonderful account about Susan’s parents was published in History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine by George Augustus Wheeler and Henry Warren Wheeler (Alfred Mudge & Son, Printer, Boston, 1878):

“He was an indulgent father, and it is related that on one occasion, when his daughter Susannah was only seventeen years of age, he yielded to her solicitations and allowed her to make a visit to Boston. She accomplished the journey, riding the whole way on horseback, under the escort of different male carriers on the route. The site of a beautiful and graceful, as well as daring young damsel, galloping along with her red cloak fluttering behind her, created a sensation in all the settlements and towns through which she passed, and one ardent swain was so smitten by her attractions at the time that he did not rest until he made her acquaintance. He at once proposed and was accepted and the next spring they were married.”

The family lived in and nearby Arundel, 4 miles from Kennebunk. Susan married Ralph Curtis (1785-1855) and they had at least seven children. Susan died in 1877 and is buried in the Unitarian Churchyard Cemetery in Kennebunk. 

The sampler was worked in a subtle palette on tan linen, as a photo of the reverse taken prior to mounting indicates. The little pairs of birds and small stylized plants provide delightful embellishment to Susan’s alphabets and inscription. The border is further enhanced by a fine drawn-work edging. 

Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in a fine early 19th century gold leaf frame. 
 

photo of reverse

We are very pleased to offer this great rarity - an extremely early sampler made by a sixteen-year-old Quaker girl in Chester County, Pennsylvania, just west of Philadelphia. Signed, “Hannah Townsend made this sampler in 1734,” she also stitched the names of her parents, Joseph Townsend and Martha Townsend, as well as family initials - WT, MT, IT, IT MT and RT. The Townsend family history mirrors that of many of the early settlers of Pennsylvania. Joseph (1684-1766) was born in Berkshire, England, the grandson of one of England’s early Friends, Richard Townsend (1602-1697), who was repeatedly imprisoned for his religious beliefs. The family remained steadfast in their Quaker faith and two generations later, in 1712, Joseph, his wife, Marth Wooderson, and their one-year-old son emigrated to Pennsylvania, settling initially in Philadelphia. 

Friends Meeting records show that by 1715, they were members of Chester County’s Concord Monthly Meeting and sequentially, members of East Bradford Monthly Meeting and Birmingham Monthly Meeting. Both Joseph and Martha served as Overseers of Birmingham Preparative Meeting. Joseph was noted for having a remarkable library with books imported from England and many history volumes. 

Joseph was a weaver and farmer, and he and Martha had several children: William, Mary, Joseph, John, Hannah (our samplermaker), Martha, Richard, and Esther. The initials of many appear on this sampler. Hannah was born on August 9, 1718. In 1741, she married Nathan Sharpless (1715-1755), and, after his death, Charles Ryant. She died in 1790. 

A notable family member was Hannah’s nephew, Joseph Townsend, whose published observations (Some Account of the British army, under the command of Gen. Howe, and of the battle of Brandywine, September 11, 1777, and of the adventures of that day, which came to the knowledge and observation of Joseph Townsend Proceedings of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania No. 7 June 23, 1846) of the Gen. Howe’s attack on Gen. Washington’s right flank on September 11, 1777 and subsequent battles of the Revolutionary War became highly regarded accounts, providing significant historical information. 

The sampler features several lines of verse reading, 

Scorn earthly toys / & worldly pomp desires / 

Upon celestial objects / fix thine eyes” and, “The love of truth / Beautifies youth /
Tis comly to behold / 

Ye bles’t are they / make it their stay / And prize it more than gold.” 

A numerical progression was worked in the box at right and a fine border surrounds the composition on four sides. 

A photo taken of the reverse of the sampler prior to mounting indicates that the sampler retains much of its original color. Worked in silk on linen, it has been conservation mounted and is in an 18th century frame. 

photo of reverse

This sampler was made by Mary Tate of Louth, as she stitched on her delightful and skillfully worked sampler. She featured an upbeat religious verse nestled into an excellent three-sided border of flowers on a graceful, leafy vine, tied together at the bottom with a beautiful pink and red ribbon bowknot. A lovely pink and blue geometric band marches across the top of the sampler and Mary stitched the word, “King,” acknowledging George III, in the bottom border. 

Mary was born circa 1801, in Louth, Lancashire, a small town 75 miles east of Sheffield. Her parents were Bryan Tate, a noted gunsmith, and his wife, Mary (Dales) Tate. A flintlock pistol made by Bryan Tate is in the National Trust Collections in England. Research turned up various, interesting records for him, including an 1803 record when Bryan, a master whitesmith, took on an apprentice. Mary married Edward Pagdin, Jr., of Yorkshire and they lived in Rotherham.

The sampler was worked in silk in linen and is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted into a maple frame with a gilt liner. 

Double barrelled flintlock carriage pistol by Tate, c1780, held by National Trust Collections

One of the more unusual and delightful sampler genres is the acrostic – in which a specific poem was composed using the samplermaker’s name as the first letter of each line. Ede Tapley’s name can be read in this way on this excellent sampler which was worked on linsey-woolsey. Additionally, she provided the name of her town, signing it, “Ede Tapley wrought this in the 13th year of her age 1808” and “Danvers September 23rd 1808.” The fact that she used a lovely green linsey-woolsey is also to the great advantage of her sampler. 

Genealogy of the Tapley Family, compiled by Harriet Silvester Tapley (Danvers, Massachusetts, 1900) provides much information about the samplermaker and the history of the family. Gilbert Tapley (1634-1714) and his wife, Thomasine, were in Massachusetts by 1676, when he was a seaman and fisherman in Beverly. By 1680, they were living in Salem, where Gilbert became constable and a juryman, earning a living as a tavern owner and innkeeper. The very interesting inventory of his estate from 1714 along with other family deeds of that period are published in this book; photocopies are included in the file that accompanies the sampler. 

Ede was born six generations later, on August 17, 1796, 10th of 11 children of Amos Tapley (1748-1835) and Hannah Putnam Preston (1754-1825) in Danvers. Amos served as sergeant in the Lexington Alarm and remained in service until 1778. He was very active in the affairs of the town, serving as highway selectman and assessor, tax collector and tythingman. Interestingly, he was, “identified with schools from their establishment in the town.” Notations from town records dating from 1783 to 1813 indicate his contributions to the education of the children of Danvers. He also owned shares in the Danvers Social Library. 

Ede married Dr. David Augustus Grosvenor in 1839, in Reading, Massachusetts, and died one year later, in 1840. She is buried in Riverside Cemetery in North Reading. 

The sampler was worked in silk on linsey-woolsey and is in excellent condition, with some very minor stabilizing to the fabric. There was a slight color shift in the original weaving of the fabric, noticeable along the left side. It has been conservation mounted and is in a beveled, maple frame. 

A very good, small sampler, this is signed, “Olive Rundlett’s Sampler Ag / ed 10 Years Exeter August 13.” The aphorism that she included, “Plant Virtue and content’s the Fruit,” is particularly appealing and one not commonly found on samplers. A fine, fully worked band fills the top of the sampler and little strawberry plants embellish the bottom, with a numerical progression nestled into the same. 

Olive was born on April 27, 1782, in Exeter, Rockingham, County, New Hampshire to James and Dorothy (Stephens) Rundlett. A Rundlett – Randlett Genealogy Mainly Descendants of Charles Runlett of Exeter, NH, 1652 – 1709, by Joseph Milton Odiorne (Knowlton & McLeary Co, 1976) reveals much about this family. James and Dorothy were married in Exeter in 1767 and they had ten children. James served as a drummer in Capt. Simon Marston’s Company, Col. Gilman’s Regiment in the Revolutionary War. Olive married Samuel Rowe (1780-1828) and they remained in Exeter where they had three children. She died in 1866, age 84 and is buried at Winter Street Burial Ground in Exeter. 

A likeness of Olive as an older woman, probably an ambrotype, posted online at Findagrave.com, is included here:

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

photo of reverse

There is a small group of wonderful samplers known to have been made in the Channel Islands off the coast of Normandy, where much of the population was of French origins. These samplers share highly distinctive characteristics - the salient features are the wonderful large pyramids of fruit in baskets, tall evergreen trees, large star formations, hearts, grape bunches on vines and clamshell designs in the borders. Large butterflies can be found on these samplers as well. We recently acquired this one and it seems to have been made by a boy, which is quite unusual, of course.

Records from that area are spotty so we can’t be certain, however, the maker seems to Philipe Roussel, age 13 in 1808. His parents may have been Mary and Robert, named on the sampler. The Roussel family name appears in many census records from the town of St. Peter Port on the island of Guernsey. 

Worked in silk on linen the sampler is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in it fine, original rosewood frame with a gilt liner. 

The samplers of Norfolk, England form, as a group, one of the most cohesive and visually appealing types of English sampler. Imitation and Improvement: The Norfolk Sampler Tradition by Joanne Martin Lukacher (In the Company of Friends, Redmond, WA, 2013) is an excellent book that is both scholarly and greatly interesting. Included are many groups within the overall, illustrating approximately 115 samplers. Our favorite Norwich category is that of the darning sampler and they are described by Ms. Lukacher as follows, “Darning samplers, which became popular in England in the second half of the 18th century, make use of needle weaving techniques to achieve engaging patterns, complex in appearance.”

These samplers can evidence a wonderful delicacy, organized around typical and very handsome floral compositions.

We are pleased to present this praiseworthy Norfolk darning sampler, a recent discovery and addition to this group – quite unusually, this is a round sampler.
The border is a composed of narrow circles and a handsome leafy vine. 

Worked in silk on linen, this in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into it excellent, original molded and black painted frame. 
 

photo of reverse

English needleworkers were capable of producing samplers with a great number of exquisitely worked motifs organized with a fine sense of order and balance. This highly appealing sampler, which epitomizes this English sensibility, was made by Ann Ringrose who was 14 years old in 1802. The verse that Ann stitched includes the phrase, “Isfield Is My Dwelling Place,” informing us of her residence, which was a little village located on the River Ouse, approximately 44 miles south of London. She ended her inscription with the classic phrase,

“When This You Se Remem
Ber Me So I May Not Be Quite For Gotten.”       

Many animals, birds, architectural renditions of Solomon’s Temple, potted plants, pine trees, little hearts, crowned lions and Adam and Eve under the apple tree are amongst the great assortment of subjects that embellish this splendid sampler. Worked in silk on linen, it is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a tiger maple frame.

We are pleased to offer this interesting sampler, which was made at an early Catholic school in Ohio. The school was documented in Ohio Is My Dwelling Place Schoolgirl Embroideries 1800-1850 by Sue Studebaker (Ohio University Press, 2002) but this is the first sampler known to have been made at the school. The inscription line, second from the bottom and worked in tan silk floss, reads,

“Caroline Agness Postlewait St. Mary’s School Dec 28th AD 1847.”

Additionally, the place name, “Somerset Ohio” appears at the right near the middle of the sampler. 

While the sampler doesn’t offer strong aesthetics, it is finely stitched and, in its own way, an excellent document of early Ohio culture. St. Mary’s was founded in 1830 by a group of four Dominican sisters. It was one of the first Catholic schools in Ohio and educated children of pioneer families of all faiths. The Metropolitan Catholic Almanac and Laity’s Directory for the United States, Canada, and British Provinces 1861, includes a description of the school, stating it was,
 

“situated in a healthy and delightful part of the country … the course of education embraces every useful and ornamental branch suitable for young ladies.” 

Caroline Agness Postlewait was born on March 13, 1834, in Newark, Licking County, Ohio. She was the 8th of 10 children of Joseph and Margaret (Glisson) Postlewait, who were married in Virginia in 1816. Joseph was a well-to-do farmer and the family lived about 20 miles from Somerset, where Caroline attended school. She was likely a boarding student. In 1856, Caroline married Claudius Tardivelle (1829-1896), a native of France and a widower. They removed to Atchison County, Missouri and had at least five children between 1860 and 1872. 

An Atchison County, Missouri published history (St. Joseph, Mo.: National Historical Company, 1882) indicates that Claudius arrived in the United States in 1848, living initially in Kentucky where he earned the trade of house carpentry, removing later to Atchison County, Missouri. “He built a beautiful residence, and now has a fine orchard and a large vineyard of all varieties of grapes, etc. Mr. T. has become a thorough English scholar and enjoys reading the current literature of the day. He is one of the representative men of the township and a leading man in the county.” 

The sampler was worked in silk on linen and in overall good condition; the needlework is in excellent condition. It was likely unframed and folded for many years as the horizontal fold line caused fibers to become weak. Conservation mounting has stabilized this area. It is in a molded, mahogany frame. 

photo of reverse