Rare Needlework Sampler, Lucy Wadsworth (1817-1881), Plymouth, Massachusetts, Dated 1831

Worked in silk threads and crinkled silk floss on linen with satin, long and short, and cross-stitches. Inscribed: In youth improve the tender mind/Let virtue be with learning joined Wrought by Lucy Wadsworth/aged 13 years. Plymouth/June 24th 1831. 17 x 16 1/2 inches. (24 threads to the inch).

See catalogue note at sothebys.com

Just Us on Court Ave., Tuscon, Arizona, August, 1979

Somewhat darkened and with small holes to lower edge and loss to lower right corner.
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, pp. 63-64, fig. 20

The sampler worked by Lucy Wadsworth displays many of the characteristics of the fine pictorial samplers known to have been worked in Plymouth. The basic design of the octagonal center panel seen in the sampler worked by Elizabeth Drew (fig. 19) has been retained, but it is far less sophisticated. Similar satin-stitched blossoms adorn each border corner, and thin rows of flowers remain from the pattern considered fashionable a decade before. Betsey Ellis Hutchinson worked a sampler similar to Lucy's the same year.¹ Both have inscriptions that include the words "wrought by," making it probable that they attended the same boarding school. Neither of these embroideries, however, is embellished with an elegantly painted landscape-the trademark of Elizabeth Drew's teacher. Another school and schoolmistress may have been responsible for these two samplers, although it is clear that certain elements had become regionally popular. After the death of his first wife, Dura Wadsworth, housewright, married Nabby Cushman in Duxbury, Massachusetts. Wadsworth, a Universalist, was known as a man of character who "paid bills 100 cents on the dollar." The first of their eight children was Lucy Abigail Wadsworth, born September 25, 1817.² Lucy, or Abigail, as she came to be known, remained single throughout her life, living with her wealthy parents. She became a dressmaker and lived in Duxbury until her death on February 12, 1881.³ 

 

 

1. The Hutchinson sampler is in the collection of the Pilgrim Hall Museum, Plymouth, MA; see Davidson, Plimoth Colony Samplers, 47. 

2. Vital Records of Duxbury, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1850 (Boston, MA: New England Historical Genealogical Society, 1911), 182,324. See also Horace Andrew Wadsworth, Two Hundred and Fifty Years of the Wadswotth Family in America (Lawrence, MA: Eagle Steam, 1883), 170. 

3. Death Records, Duxbury, Massachusetts, 1880,305. See also Federal Census, Duxbury, Massachusetts, 1880.