Fanny Pratt

This sampler features our favorite phrasing of its inscription and a delightful pictorial lower register. It’s signed, “Fanny Pratt is my name England is my nation Dighton is my dwelling place and Christ is my salvation.” Along the right side at the end of the second alphabet it reads, “year 1804.” A blue house with a matching picket fence is flanked by stylized trees with enormous blue birds with a starry sky between them. Two couples, each lady wearing a fashionably wide skirt, are featured as well. The color palette is overall soft; a photo of the reverse of the sampler taken prior to mounting (see below) indicates that this is close to the original color rather than an issue of fade.  

Fanny was born on December 5, 1790, the youngest of seven children of Jabez Pratt and his wife, the wonderfully-name Hopestill (Eddy) Pratt. They lived in Dighton, a small town in Bristol County, about 7 miles southwest of Taunton. 

In 1814, Fanny married Benjamin Gregg and they removed to Bristol, Ontario County, New York. They had at least six children born between 1814 and 1830. Fanny died in 1866 and is buried along with family members in Evergreen Cemetery in Bristol. 

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. 

photo of reverse