Three Needlework Samplers, New England, 18th and 19th Century

The first, anonymous, probably Warren, Rhode Island, 18th century, worked in silk on a linen ground, a large house at center, smaller blue house lower right, a couple and their dog. 15 by 6 3/4  inches; the second, by Fanny Drowne (b. 1796), probably  Rhode Island, dated 1797, worked with silk threads on linen in eyelet and cross-stitches. Inscribed: Fanny Drowne work this/samplar in the year of our/Lord 1797 aged 12 Labour for Learing before/thou art old/For Learing is better then/Silver and gold/For silver and gold will vanish/away/but Learing is a jewel that will never decay. 24 1/2  by 7 3/4  inches. (14 threads to the inch); the third, by Ann Eliza Goddard, probably Massachusetts, c. 1829, worked with silk threads on linen with cross-stitches with hem-stitching. Inscribed on paper insert: Dear Ann Eliza let this be/A token of my love to thee A E Goddard/April 14th 1834/Aged 12 1/2 years. 10 1/2  by 10 1/2  inches.

Fanny Drowne- Adams House Antiques, Tuscon Arizona, October, 1986
Eliza Anne Goddard- Estelle Horowitz, Needlework Treasures, California, December, 1980

The first sampler is somewhat darkened. All samplers with some fading.
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Exhibited and Literature: LACMA, Fanny Drowne, p. 49, fig. 12; Ann Eliza Goddard, p. 70, fig. 25

This sampler worked by Fanny Drowne is reminiscent of a style prevalent in North America during the colonial period.  Simple in design, the long, thin embroidery has been edged with a border so unobtrusive as to be unnoticeable.  Fanny Drowne's schoolmistress may have been a recent arrival from England, for this sampler follows a traditional English pattern.  The 1790s were a time of great experimentation in classrooms of post-Revolutionary America, particularly New England.  Samplers appeared with wide flowery borders, fancy vases filled with colorful, exotic blossoms, and stylish figures parading across yards of embroidered linen. Yet this teacher appeared to have remained unaffected, steeped in the seventeenth century and aloof to the whims of fashion. Thus, the young Fanny was obliged to stitch her long, narrow embroidery in a manner that was distinctly unfashionable and definitely out-of-step.  Although she has not yet been identified in any records, Fanny Drowne probably lived in Bristol County, Rhode Island, where several "Drown" families are recorded.¹    

 

1. Federal Census, Rhode Island, 1800. Girls around Fanny’s age have been found in the families of Benjamin, Daniel, and Jonathan Drown.    

 

Ann Eliza Goddard died on April 14, 1834, at the age of twelve. Sometime after that date, a lock of her hair and her threaded needle were placed inside the frame of her unfinished marking sampler, along with her black and ivory silk brocade needle case and a card, carefully inscribed in her memory. Ann was probably the daughter of Benjamin Goddard and Dolly Tyler of Webster, Worcester County, Massachusetts.¹ 

 

1. Family Record Archives, Family History Library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Salt Lake City, UT.