Rare Needlework Sampler, Anonymous, Boxford, Massachusetts, Circa 1804

Worked in silk threads and crinkled silk floss on linen in eyelet, chain, outline and cross-stitches. Inscribed: Each pleasing art lends softness to the mind/And with our studies are our lives refin'd/Those polished arts have humaniz'd mankin[d]/Soften'd the rude and calm'd the boistrou[s] mind. Some threads missing on extreme left and right. 17 1/2  by 14 1/2  inches. (22 threads to the inch).

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. 54, fig. 14

This sampler is a superb example of a highly sophisticated design embraced by schoolmistresses in the vicinity of Essex County, Massachusetts, during the later decades of the eighteenth century. As can be seen here, the traditional colonial sampler slowly evolved into a highly decorative needlework exercise, emphasizing the fringe of the sampler by the addition of a wide, lavish border. Samplers belonging to this group exhibit a distinctive vine motif in the border, which is embellished with intricate multicolored flower and leaf patterns outlined with threads of a contrasting hue. This unusual pattern is found on numerous Essex samplers and adds an appealing element to the design.¹ The somewhat timid green, cross-stitched garden visible on Elizabeth Cheever's 1736 sampler (fig. 1) has emerged into a fully developed landscape occupying a wide band across the base of the embroidery. The solidly worked hills are topped by distinctive pine trees. An unrelated vase has· been worked into this handsome design. Decorated with a dainty gold-on-gold-toned geometric pattern edged with delicate loops of blue and white silk threads, the vase closely resembles the highly prized porcelain vases of the period and suggests a relationship with samplers worked during the same period in Canterbury, New Hampshire (fig. 8), as many of these feature a similar vase. The unembroidered linen of the border of this sampler has been entirely worked in row upon row of white crinkled silk satin stitches, a technique that greatly enhances the character of the sampler, emphasizing the luster and sheen of the textile. This technique of covering entire portions of the exposed linen also appears on schoolgirl samplers worked in and around Salem as early as the 1750s. It is not surprising, therefore, that a sampler worked by Lucy Symonds in Boxford, 1796, described in American Samplers,² and the recently discovered sampler signed by Betsey Gould, inscribed "Boxford, 1804," identical in format, present tangible evidence of an as yet unidentified school for girls in the vicinity. We may assume that this anonymous embroidery was worked in the same academy and completed within the same time frame as the Gould sampler. ³ Although the samplermaker did not sign her work, she has inscribed it with groups of unrelated alphabet letters. Initials of this kind are often found on samplers influenced by Quaker instruction; this might include members of her family or schoolmates. 

 

1. Krueger, New England Samplers, figs. 16, 18, 19. The recent appearance of a sampler worked by Abigail Brown, 1816, inscribed "Plymouth" (location unknown), has brought together a group of samplers stitched in a similar manner. Identified by the zigzag vine in the border, these samplers were further embellished with distinctive geometric motifs. Other related embroideries include pieces worked by Hannah Cutter (collection, Cooper Hewitt Museum of Design, Smithsonian Institution, New York, NY), Susanna Child of Watertown, MA (private collection, brought to my attention by Sheila Rideout), Lucy Lee Fessenden (location unknown; see Antiques and Arts Weekly, September 30, 1983, advertisement), and Lucy Barrett (collection, Concord Antiquarian Museum, MA). The introduction of this unusual border motif appears to have attracted schoolmistresses in surrounding towns, causing the cross-stitched, cubed vine pattern to become a characteristically regional pattern. 

2. The location of Lucy Symond's sampler is unknown; see See Bolton and Coe, American Samplers, 78. 

3. The location of Betsey Gould's sampler is unknown; see East Side House Settlement, New York, catalogue, 1986 Winter Antiques Show (New York, NY: East Side House Settlement, 1986), advertisement of Marguerite Riordan, Stonington, CT.