Margaret Rodenboh worked this praiseworthy sampler in 1827 when she was twelve years old (one is twelve years old when in one's thirteen year), and it serves as a fine testimony to her aptitude in the needle arts. The top half is taken up with several alphabets and one set of numbers accomplished in cross and eyelet stitch, the smallest being only one quarter of an inch high. Narrow lines of decorative stitch separate the rows and provide further embellishment, most notably the fine row of satin-stitch sawtooth above the smallest alphabet.

The bottom half of the sampler is filled with an excellent assortment of pictorial images and motifs. The balanced composition includes some of the Quaker motifs - specifically the charming little bird on a curving leafy frond and the striped vase holding a carnation that was very popular in southeastern Pennsylvania in the early 19th century. Margaret used the queen's-stitch to accomplish the strawberry and the diamond shaped motif at the upper right. The queen's-stitch is more often found on earlier samplers as it requires a great deal of patience and talent. By the 19th century many schoolmistresses were teaching less rigorous stitches and techniques.

The family originated in Germany and the spelling of the surname includes many variations such as Rodenbaugh, Ridenbough and Rodabough. 

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

A wonderfully charming little silk embroidered picture, this depicts a young lady in an Empire gown walking across a stone footbridge. The drawing of her face and hair is especially sensitive and she holds a delicate bouquet of flowers - this seems to us as if it was likely a self-portrait. 

The large tree in the foreground and the low ground-covering foliage were worked in chenille, in varying shades of green. We love the way two of the tree branches extend outside of the drawn oval border. The trees and landscape in the background are nicely painted in shades of gray and blue. A tiny bit of a village scene is visible between the trees at the left.

Worked in silk and watercolor on silk, this is in excellent condition with a very minor area of loss to the chenille at the left of the footbridge.  The cherry frame is original, the black mat is replaced and the glass is UV Filter. There are some slight scratches to the surface of the frame.

A praiseworthy silk embroidered picture, this depicts a fine two-handled blue and white Delft vase with a wonderful assortment of highly detailed flowers springing from it. This vase, along with a pair of flowering plants, are grounded on hillocks worked in varying shades of green with strawberry plants with fat seeded berries sprouting from it. A little flying moth or butterfly finishes the picture. Overall, the composition and execution are highly appealing. 

This was worked in silk on silk and is in excellent condition with some very slight abrasion to the upper right area. It has been conservation mounted into a 19th century gold leaf frame.

Scottish samplers can be wonderfully pictorial, especially when they include depictions of houses. Another characteristic of Scottish samplers that we find delightful is the curlicue lettering and this sampler, made by Robertina Aitken of Glasgow includes both a house and this particular font. Many rows of alphabets and decorative bands are included and the final row begins with the initials of Robertina’s parents, Robert and Jean Aitkin and proceeds to her siblings, Alexander, Elizabeth, Jean and John. The final initials are those of her maternal grandparents, Jean and Jane Shanks.  

In 1849, Robertina married Robert Cuthbert and they had at least one child, a daughter, Jane Alice Robertina Cuthbert, born in 1850. Robertina died in 1910. 

The sampler was worked in silk on linen and is in excellent condition. It is conservation mounted in the original frame that retained a Glasgow framer’s label. 

An interesting form, these fire screens are made with Berlin pattern pictorial scenes worked onto sturdy metal scrims – a young girl playing with her dog inside an excellent border of oak leaves and acorns and a chicken pecking at feed while a rooster looks on. The fans are nicely shaped and edged with metal. The handles are original and made of very finely turned rosewood, with some gold-leaf highlights. 

This is a beautifully made sampler with an unusual and delightful subject matter – a young boy riding a large dog flanked by wonderfully graceful mirror-image leafy trees. Details such as the smile on the dog’s face, the boy’s jauntily raised hat, the fine pair of swans, the little birds perched in the trees and the excellent row of pine trees, flower baskets and little animals across the top add to the greatly appeal of this sampler. It’s signed, “Mary Rickards Fin / ished This March 18th / 1824 Aged 13 Years,” in a wonderfully complex decorative blackletter Gothic font with ornate capitals. 

The provenance of this sampler is significant; it was in a prominent collection in England and published as figure F182, a full page in Micheal & Elizabeth Feller The Needlework Collection: 2 by Elizabeth Feller (Needleprint Publications, 2012). 

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

We occasionally come across extraordinarily fine silk embroideries made by northern European needleworkers that feature a great assortment of wonderful pictorial elements accomplished in the finest needlework. This is a very aesthetically appealing example of this form. 

Included are a great assortment of highly detailed flowers and wonderfully whimsical vignettes - a dog pulling a cart filled with flowers, small scene of a fine house on a hill and a squirrel and a bird. The striped animal on a hillock with a berry tree is a young wild boar ("frischling" in German). The largest image, an outstanding latticework basket of flowers set on a plinth, is filled with beautiful flowers. All of the silk embroidery shows the great skill of the needleworker as she worked the lustrous silk with variegated shading and details. The rhythmic garlands of flowers on delicate leafy vines along the bottom also offer great appeal.

This closely resembles other German examples published in Patterns and Motifs by Anne Wanner-Jean Richard of the St. Gallen Textile Museum in Switzerland (1996), specifically catalogue #184 and #185. These “seidenmuster”, or “silk patterns” are said to come from the pattern books of Johann Friedrich Netto (German, active 1795–1809).

Worked in silk on fine glazed cotton, this is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is a period maple veneer frame. 

A delightful little piece, this was worked in silk and chenille and has a highly appealing texture – the raised bowl, flowers, large bird and dog were created with very tight silk chenille stitches. The composition sits on a variegated green lawn and the entire background was worked in beige silk cross-stitches. A moth, worked in subtle colors, flies in the space upper left. A lineup of little motifs worked with metallic beads embellishes the top of the picture, adding to it nicely. 

Worked in silk and chenille and metallic beads on linen, it is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a 19th century gold leaf frame.

A very good sampler with an appealing Quaker aesthetic, this was made by Elizabeth Gibbs in Burlington County, New Jersey when she was 12 years old. She was born February 22, 1797, to Joshua and Mary (Gaskill) Gibbs who were members of the Chesterfield Monthly Meeting. In 1814 she married Peter Sayre, also of New Jersey. They had one child, a daughter born in 1826. Elizabeth died in 1851. The file that accompanies the sampler includes copies of Quaker meeting records.

The sampler was very nicely made with alphabets carefully stitched in black silk. The lower register includes motifs that are shared by other fine samplers made in this area - a pine tree, a basket of fruit, and a beautiful flower on a branch. Additionally, there is a wonderful bird worked in a solidly stitched rectangle.

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

Signed, “Wrought by Miss Hannah E. White in the 13th year of her age, Southampton, May AD 1807,” this is a very fine sampler, indicating great skill on the part of Miss White with the extensive use of the queen’s-stitch. The two corner blocks along the bottom and the entire zigzag border were worked in this stitch, which is both demanding and time-consuming.

We also love and agree with the couplet that she included, “When books and work engage our early days  / Our feet will seldom stray from wisdom’s ways.”

Hannah was most likely from Southampton, Suffolk County, Long Island, New York and perhaps the daughter of Ephraim (1762-1838) and Hannah (Sayre) White (1764-1857). The Early History of Southampton, L.I., New York, With Genealogies by George Rogers Howell (New York, 1866) documents the White family that came to Southampton circa 1644. Hannah‘s sampler resembles one that we had owned years ago from this same area.

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