Rare Needlework Sampler, Nabby Goss (1783-1842), Salem, Massachusetts, Dated 1796

Worked with twisted silk threads and crinkled silk floss in eyelet, satin and cross-stitches on linen.  Inscribed: Salem/Massachusetts State County of Essex 1796/Nabby Goss Salem Inscribed on back panel in pencil and ink: Sa Gossa of Spain/Nabby Goss Salem 1796/C. Priscilla Low Cutts/Annie Cutts Newhall/Abby Lee Newhall/Sa Goss/Louis A. Wentworth/1932/1796/136 years/Property of Abby Newhall Wentworth/Great, great, Grandmother to Louis and Edwin Wentworth.  14 by 21 1/2  inches. (24 threads to the inch).

See catalogue note at sothebys.com

Blanche Moss, from a private collection, Los Angeles, California, November, 1988

Somewhat darkened and with some fading.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Exhibited and Literature: LACMA, p. 35, fig. 5

Unlike other schoolgirl embroideries attributed to Essex County, Massachusetts, this unbordered sampler represents a style not previously known to needlework historians.  Inscribed on the sampler linen and the backboard is solid evidence, however, that the sampler was worked in Salem, although the teacher who designed the format still remains a mystery. As was the custom at the time, crinkled silk floss is the predominant embroidery thread of this sampler. Federal-style draperies with fat cross-stitched tassels dip in measured swags across the linen, but the ornate, naturalistic border fashionable at the time (see figs. 3, 4) is conspicuously absent. A layered format has been integrated into the design, allowing unrelated patterns to be introduced. Shallow, footed urns decorated with geometric patterns form an atrium cluttered with greenery and birds. The center vase motif creates a platform for the improbable figure of a lion with a splendidly regal crown, reminiscent of animal designs in early lace pattern books. ^l In the wide, lower band, a forest of tree and leaf shapes surrounds two elegantly costumed women, who face each other and together hold a branched, floral spray. Although these figures bear a faint resemblance to those worked by Naby Dane (fig. 4), they are the only design element within the Goss sampler that can be compared to those found in other known Essex County embroideries.  Perhaps the discovery of similar samplers will eventually reveal the identity of this schoolmistress.² Nabby (Abigail) Goss was probably the daughter of Thomas Goss (La Gossa of Spain) and his wife, Abigail.³ It is likely that Nabby was born in Spain in 1783 and was thus about thirteen when she worked her sampler.⁴ She married Thomas Low in 1808.⁵ They had one daughter, Priscilla L. Cutts.⁶ Abigail Goss Low died in 1842, when she was fifty-nine. ⁷       

 

1. Federico Vinciolo, Renaissance Patterns for Lace and Embroidery, 1587 (reprint, New York, NY:  Dover, 1971), 83.  

2. Krueger, New England Samplers, 177, 178, 179.  There are countless schoolmistresses known to have taught embroidery in Salem around the time this sampler was worked, and many more still to be documented. For the present, the most obvious selection would be the school kept by Susanna Babbidge and her daughter, Lydia. Further evidence must be uncovered, however, before any attribution may be made. No genealogical information has surfaced that would suggest a relationship between Nabby and a teacher in Salem.   

3. Vital Records of Salem, vol. 5: 289. See also Federal Census, Salem, ,Massachusetts, 1820.   

4. Francis, Nabby Goss's brother, is recorded as being the son of Thomas Goss, a Spaniard and a mariner. Records also state that he was brought to Salem as a young child. See Essex Institute, Historical Collections, yol. 19 (Salem, MA: Essex Institute, 1882), 98.  Presumably, Thomas Goss arrived in Salem around 1790, for he was "warned out" of town for unknown reasons in 1791, although he did not leave. See Essex Institute, Historical Collections, vol.  43: 346.   

5. Marriage Records, Salem,, Massachusetts, vol. 4: 157.   

6. Backboard of the sampler. Research verifies the genealogical inscription on the sampler.   

7. Vital Records of Salem, vol. 5: 408.