Samplermakers continued to work their craft for many years beyond the 19th century and this is a very large, wonderful example. It translates to read in English, “Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world, take pity on us.” The initials of the maker are PEVDV. Along with the central depiction of Agnes Dei, the Lamb of God, there is a large grape bunch, cherry sprig, cross and chalice.

Worked in silk on linen, it is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in a black painted frame. 

The 18th century samplers made by Quakers in Philadelphia and surrounding areas can feature strong regional characteristics and excellent needlework; we’re pleased to offer this praiseworthy sampler made by Jane Humphreys in 1790. The row of pine trees and the finely worked bands with a great number of outstanding queen’s stitched flowers and strawberries on Jane’s sampler are indicators of both the regional traits and the high standards set by instructresses of the area. 

The Humphreys family was prominent in Philadelphia and Chester County, and some samplers made within this family have been published and well-documented by scholars in the field for a century at this point: American Samplers by Bolton and Coe, 1921, illustrates a highly significant white-work 1771 sampler worked by a young lady named Jane Humphreys, plate XXXVI. She was born in 1759, the daughter of Joshua and Sarah (Williams) Humphreys. Along with another family sampler, made by Jane’s niece, Ann, in 1796, this was donated to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1914. Jane’s white-work sampler, considered one of the treasures of the museum’s textile collection, is illustrated as plate 153 in The Fine Art of Textiles Philadelphia Museum of Art, by Dilys Blum. 

The sampler that we offer now was most assuredly worked within the same family and was very likely made by precisely the same talented Jane Humphreys, who remained unmarried and died in 1838. It is sometimes difficult to know the identity of a samplermaker with absolute certainty, but this strong attribution is more than appropriate. The uncommon verse that Jane worked on this, her 1790 sampler, was also documented in the Bolton and Coe book, where it is stated that it was written by Hannah Hollingsworth. As a further enticing clue, the donor of the Humphreys samplers at the Philadelphia Museum was from the Hollingsworth and Humphreys families. 

Worked in silk on linen, the sampler remains in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a mahogany beveled frame with an outer bead.

This splendid sampler offers a handsome composition accomplished in very fine needlework. We especially admire the striped cornucopias, filled with flowers and grape bunches, each ending up with a wonderful, tightly scrolled tip. A delicate leafy vine forms a three-sided framework for the verse and four little baskets of fruit anchor the inside corners of the sampler nicely. The border, resembling a pole that has been tightly wrapped with flower buds and paired leaves, is interesting as it was used by many New York City samplermakers and serves as an identifying characteristic of samplers made there. Overall, the needlework is extremely precise; the verse, from Proverbs 31, and the inscription are carefully placed and are letter-perfect in their execution. 

Wonderfully signed, “Caroline Harris Her Work done in Her eleventh Year New York Feby 4 1820,” the sampler descended within the family until just recently. It was passed down to a daughter named Caroline in each generation. Some genealogical information about the samplermaker was provided, including that of her early death just five years after she made the sampler. 

Worked in silk on linen, it is in excellent condition and conservation mounted into a molded and black painted frame. 

A fine, little sampler, this is signed, “Annah Dyer aged 10,” and it remains partially unfinished as she must have intended to add information to the line beneath that. The combination of Annah’s unusual spelling of her given name and the excellent border of queen’s-stitch strawberries forming the fine border on her sampler allowed for her identification. Samplermakers in Portland, Maine and nearby towns favored the use of beautiful queen’s stitched strawberries on vines for the borders on their samplers. Notably, Annah also worked her initials into spaces in the bottom border.

She was born on March 11, 1798 to Deacon Lemuel and Sarah (Leach) Dyer of Cape Elizabeth, a beautiful coastal village, south of Portland. The 1810 census and other records show the family there. In 1818, Annah married Col. Zebulon Waterhouse (1794-1879) and they had seven children. Annah died at age 35, likely after the birth of their last child. She is buried in Fitz Cemetery, in Auburn County, Maine.  

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

A praiseworthy sampler with a strong folk quality, this is signed, “Mary Donnoghue Is My Name And With My Kneedle I Worked This Same / That Every One May Pleanly See The Care My Parents Took Of Me finished / November The 6 1827.” Large baskets of flowers, potted plants, large birds and an architectural whimsy are joined by two couples in excellent period attire and an outstanding depiction of a coach, coachman and horses, all very finely stitched. 

The sampler descended in a family and while they couldn’t pinpoint Mary Donnoghue, they’re certain that she lived in Boston, according to family history. An article in New England Historical and Genealogical Register entitled The Irish in New England is highly informative about the early population in Boston and other towns.  By 1830 the Irish-Catholic population was approximately 8000, having doubled in five years. Mary Donnoghue’s family was most likely part of the wave of immigrants in the 1820s. 

The sampler was worked in silk on linen and is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in a beveled and figured maple frame with a cherry bead.

An excellent Pennsylvania German sampler with outstanding pictorial composition, motifs, and strong color, this features a fine house, a large pair of parrots and a pair of angles flanking a cartouche, among many other motifs. The maker, Catharine Brenneman, named her parents on the sampler and the fact that she was in her 12th year. The initials above the house, JB, may be those of her teacher. Quite fortunately, the sampler retains its original green silk ribbon and corner rosettes. 

Catharine was born on August 22, 1824, in Stumptown, Lancaster County, to Mennonites, Henry and Fanny (Weyland) Brenneman. Her emigrant ancestor was Melchior Brenneman (1665-1737) who was born in Switzerland. When she was fourteen years old, two years after she made this sampler, Catharine and her parents removed to Perry County, Indiana. Commemorative Biographical Record of Prominent and Representative Men of Indianapolis and Vicinity: Containing Biographical Sketches of Business and Professional Men and of Many of the Early Settled Families (J. H. Beers, Chicago, 1908) published much information about the Brenneman family, stating, “they were among the early settlers who braved terrors of the wilderness in order to build up the great commonwealth as it now stands.”

In 1848, Catherine married Eli Heiny (1822-1918), about whom much was written in the above book as well. He was, “one of the prosperous and highly respected residents of Perry Township, Marion County, Ind.” In 1889, he was elected to the Indiana Legislature and served in other public positions. Catharine and Eli had seven children, all sons. Catharine died in 1903 at age 78 and is buried in Round Hill Cemetery, along with family members. 

The sampler was worked in silk in linen, with silk ribbon and rosettes. It is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into its fine, original beveled frame.

Samplers made at the Quaker schools of New York City share overall characteristics of composition and stitching, and this carefully worked sampler by Anna Bowne is a fine example. These samplers have their roots in the Female Association Schools which were first established by members of Friends Meetings in New York City in 1801 and remained in operation until 1845; the schools were in New York and Flushing. Characteristics include a central verse, often with a title, and a balanced composition with small motifs that are also found on Quaker samplers made in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Anna included the vertical band that resembles a rod that has been wrapped with ribbon, a motif that is unique to the New York samplers. The lettering on all of these samplers is worked in black and the font is exclusively a crisp, Roman block font, again, a Quaker characteristic. Anna included two aphorisms: “Love The Lord,” and “Be kind to all,” each worked within wreaths of buds on vines. 

The Bowne family in America began with Thomas Bowne (1595-1677) who emigrated from England to Boston, Massachusetts, arriving with his wife, Mary, and their son and daughter, circa 1649. Within a few years they removed to Flushing, Long Island, New York, establishing a settlement of Friends there. His son, John Bowne (1627-1695), built what is now known as the Bowne House (https://www.bownehouse.org/), circa 1661, a New York Landmarks Conservancy Sacred Site. Quoting from this site, “Over the course of 300 years, the family left its mark on American culture, participating in events of both regional and national significance -starting with John Bowne’s courageous defense of religious freedom in 1662, an act which inspired the principles later codified in the Bill of Rights - and continuing with subsequent generations’ abolitionist activities and participation in the Underground Railroad.”

Several generations later, in 1822, Anna was born to John and Eliza (Howland) Bowne, members of the New York Monthly Meeting. Anna was the seventh of their nine children. Quaker records and Bowne Family of Flushing, Long Island, (New York, 1948) provide much information about the family. Anna remained single and lived with her sisters, Mary, Elizabeth and Sarah, in New York City. She died in 1897.

Notably, several women from the Bowne family were involved in the founding and administration of the Female Association Schools. 

The sampler is worked in silk on linen. The needlework is in excellent condition; there are three small areas of the linen near the edges of the sampler that have been secured and darned. It has been conservation mounted and is in a molded and black painted frame, with UV filter glass.

This large, very fine sampler includes a family register along with many alphabets and a small pictorial scene of a house and flowering plants; it is signed, “Wrought by Elmina Barnes under the instruction of Miss M. Street at the age of 11 years July 18, 1825.”  Elmina listed much family information, documenting her birth along with those of her parents and siblings, and the marriage of her parents. She was the daughter of Thomas and Orilla (Hotchkiss) Barnes, born March 12, 1814 and in 1833, she married Elijah Bradley. The Barnes family in America began with Thomas Barnes who settled in Connecticut and signed the Colony Constitution in 1644.

There are two other samplers known to have been made at the same school. Elizabeth L. Smith's sampler made the same year, 1825, is in The Metropolitan Museum and another, by Esther Tyler dated 1828, is in the collection of the Connecticut Historical Society. These three samplers are large and share similar composition and workmanship, each with the same notched corner inner border and related houses. They include family register information worked in very small-scale lettering.

The samplermakers were taught by Miss Maria M. Street, and much is known about her as well. Maria Melcher Street was born on January 17, 1807, to Justin Washington Street and Anne (Whidden) Street in New Haven. In 1827, she married Lucius Hotchkiss, a distant relative of Elmina, and they had three children. Sadly, Maria died when she was just 26 years old in 1833. The Street Genealogy, by Henry A. Street (Exeter, NH, 1895) tracks this family as far back as the late 16th century.

Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition, with some very tiny areas of loss or weakness to the linen. It has been conservation mounted and is in its outstanding original painted and stenciled corner-block frame.

We find it especially appealing when it turns out a samplermaker spent her adult life as a needleworker! Orpah Alger was ten years old when she made this sampler which features six finely worked surface darned squares, an indication of her early aptitude. Orpah was born on April 4, 1814, in Great Coggeshall, Essex, England, the daughter of John and Phoebe (Smith) Alger.

We turned to the website of the Coggeshall Museum and learned that beginning around 1812, a Belgian family, Monsieur Drago and his daughters, came to the town and introduced a certain form of highly skilled needlework – Tambour Lace. Coggeshall, also known as Great Coggeshall, became the center of tambour lace making, and this lasted throughout the 19th century. Tambour Lace, which also became known as Coggeshall Lace. We find examples of tambour stitching incorporated into samplers in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

The Great Coggeshall tambour workers were hired by designers and dealers and their product was highly sought-after, incorporated into clothing sold in London and throughout the world. By 1841 there were 247 tambour makers living and working around Coggeshall.

Orpah was one of these, as stated in the 1841 census. Orpah along with both of her parents and several siblings were lace manufacturers; she remained a professional in this field for at least 20 years. The 1863 Great Coggeshall City Directory lists John Alger as a Lace Worker on Church Street, the center of this industry. At age 47, Orpah married William Joyce and after his death in 1870 she married Robert Prior. Together they worked as upholsterers, a related occupation. She died in 1884. 

Her sampler is a fine and classic one, with alphabets, a verse, a basket of fruit and sprigs of flowering plants. The surface darning squares set it apart, and a photo of the back of the sampler, taken prior to mounting, are an indication of the skill that this technique requires. 

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

Image of reverse

This small, fascinating needlework picture depicts two birds in a natural setting in a layered landscape. It was worked fully in an excellent technique - surface darning - creating an excellent composition of varied patterns and textures. The sampler is part of a significant group of samplers made in Norfolk, England, circa 1790. All of the work is accomplished in this technique - the surface darning stitch - which was used almost exclusively by samplermakers in Norfolk.

A photo of the reverse, taken prior to conservation mounting, allows for an interesting study in surface darning. The sampler was worked in silk on wool and is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and in its very fine, original gold leaf frame. 

Image of reverse