Rare Needlework Sampler, Barbara A. Baner (b.1793), Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Dated 1812

Worked in silk threads and crinkled silk floss, hair and paint on sheer linen, edged with satin ribbon, overlaid with gilt and gold metallic gimp in long, short, split, filling, buttonhole, satin, outline and cross-stitches with French knots. Inscribed: Barbara A Baner a Daughter of Joseph/and Esther Baner was Born in york M/arch the 20 in the year of our Lord 1793/and made this Sampler in Harrisburgh in/Mrs Leah Meguier School A.D. 1812/And must this body die this mortal frame/decay and must those active limbs of/mine lie mouldring in the clay. And there/for to remain until Christ doth please to/come Schoolmistress: Leah Bratton Galligher Meguier. Some minor losses and minor discoloration. 17 by 15 1/2  inches. (60 threads to the inch).

A sale at Sotheby's, Theodore H. Kapnek Sale, 4531 Y, lot 3, January 31, 1981

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, pp. 97-100, fig. 42

Barbara Baner's extravagant pictorial sampler (see page 2) is one of a group of important embroideries worked at Leah Meguier's school in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Samplers created under the instruction of Pennsylvania schoolmistresses in the Susquehanna Valley are considered to be among the most exquisite schoolgirl embroideries executed in the newly independent republic. Freedom of expression-encouraged by the prosperity of increasing westward migration and the patriotic fervor sweeping the land-found its way into the most common form of needlework, the sampler. F or a time a series of academies for the education of young girls stretched throughout the towns bordering the wide Susquehanna, from Harrisburg to Lancaster. Many of the samplers from this area are inscribed with the names of the towns in which they were worked and the names of the schoolmistresses: Mary Walker, Mrs. Armstrong, Catherine Welchans, Mrs. Buchanan, Mary Reed-and Leah Galligher .Meguier, whose exceptional academy in Harrisburg was school to many daughters of the local gentry.^l There are many similarities within this Pennsylvania group of samplers. Elements such as textile or background fabric-in this instance a sheer linen or muslin-types of silk thread, stitches and the placement of stitches, repetition of motifs, and a comparable format are all recognizable as being related to the region. Yet it is clear that no one instructress was entirely responsible for the development of the basic design, although this honor is often attributed to Leah Galligher of Lancaster (who later became Leah Galligher Meguier).² Leah Galligher conducted her school for the young women of Lancaster, at the north end of Queen Street, for at least five years from 1797 to 1802,³ at which time she moved to Harrisburg, where her needlework instruction continued uninterrupted for at least another twenty-five years. The earliest sampler yet to be identified with her school is one worked by Anna Haverstick in 1798.⁴ The format of Anna's sampler was borrowed from patterns well established in southeastern Pennsylvania and Delaware by the middle of the eighteenth century, in which samplers displayed measured blocks of closely inscribed lettering.⁵ Mary Webb of York, Pennsylvania, for example, worked a sampler in 1760 with a wide surrounding border, the center rectangle divided into nine squared units of alphabet forms, biblical inscriptions, the maker's name, date, and schoo1.⁶ Thirty years later, the sampler inscribed by Sarah Holsworth in Leah Galligher's Lancaster school mirrors this earlier style.⁷ Distinguished by their wide, compartmented borders composed of flower motifs, birds and baskets, and figures in miniature settings, Leah Galligher Meguier's designs fall roughly into two classifications. The earlier samplers are characterized by a center panel filled with minute, cross-stitched inscriptions. In later compositions, inscriptions are placed along the bottom of the panel, which has become highly pictorial and exceedingly ornamental. In both instances, samplers worked under her supervision have been skillfully stitched, the embroidery flawlessly executed. Long, uncouched satin and split stitches of silk floss have been worked directionally in a carefully controlled manner, following the shape of a garment, or the curve of a tree trunk, attaining a trompe l'oeil effect. As a result, figures and forms appear to be endowed with volume and shape, elements that are frequently absent from schoolgirl samplers, which tend to be flat and one-dimensiona1.⁸ It has been suggested that Barbara Baner's needlework is a mourning sampler. Mourning samplers, as opposed to silk mourning pictures, were generally worked on muslin or linen and are considered by collectors to be uncommon. Recognized by their conspicuous designs, they generally emphasize monuments with minutely inscribed epitaphs dedicated to the deceased, such as the samplers worked by Elizabeth Drew in 1823 (fig. 19) and Elizabeth Blyden in 1829 (fig. 65).⁹ Barbara Baner's needlework technique is impeccable. The central subject is a seated woman in an ivory-colored, Empire style dress, holding a long, feathery fan, considered fashionable before parasols and umbrellas came into vogue: "Spreading like the train of a peacock, [it] was carried to keep off the sun as well as vivify the air."¹⁰ In her lap rests a cylindrical object with a domed lid and finial, which might represent a covered urn, although some have thought this object to be a birdcage, since there is an owl on the lawn at the tip of her blue silk slipper.¹¹ Of far greater interest are two unusual and extraordinary motifs. Cutting across the lawn like a blade lies a long brown rifle with a curved wood stock. Also prominently placed is a silky, fur tailed cap, worked in shades of fawn and black. The meaning of these uncommon but typically American objects is unknown. Do they symbolize the sweetheart of the maker? Possibly a lover who died in battle? Or are they purely decorative, lacking any symbolism? We must also consider that some needlework patterns may have had a highly personal meaning, known only to the needle worker and to her preceptress. It is important to recognize that schoolmistresses traditionally relied on engravings and prints to supplement their needlework pattern repertoire. Memorial prints and neoclassical engravings, which placed great emphasis on allegorical figures in romantic settings, were readily available throughout the new republic. Other sources for needlework patterns were found in wallpaper designs and printed handkerchiefs, which were immensely popular during the federal period. Unquestionably, Leah Meguier modeled the design for Barbara's sampler on an engraving, although the exact one has yet to be discovered. Meguier's highly developed form of pictorial sampler, with its wide, partitioned border, has been cleverly enhanced by an additional narrower border of twisting stems and flowers. This device serves to draw the viewer's eye directly into the pictorial panel, a masterful technique often employed by painters. Perhaps these exemplary samplers represent Meguier's interpretation of the more pictorial and demanding art of the fragile silk-on-silk embroideries and silk mourning pictures that were considered the height of fashion during the federal period. Samplers worked under Meguier's instruction were lavishly embellished with ornamental stitches, sequins, and people with painted faces and real hair. They were often completed by the addition of a colorful, wide, glossy satin ribbon. Barbara's sampler is edged with a green silk ribbon, which has been embellished with a narrow band of woven gold and metallic gimp. It is not surprising that Leah Galligher's exceptional sampler patterns set the style for those whose primary concern was to be fashionable. The inscription on Barbara Baner's sampler reveals that she was born on March 20, 1793, the daughter of Joseph and Esther Baner, possibly in Newbury Township, York County, at the ancestral home of John Bener, or Baner, and his wife, Barbara. Barbara Baner was one of four children. ¹² In 1794 brothers Joseph and Jacob Bener were members of the Pennsylvania militia. Between 1802 and 1805, Joseph, a "victualler," lived at 215 Second Street in Harrisburg-not far from schoolmistress Leah Meguier, who lived for a time on Second Street near State, where she kept her school for girls. The Bener family remained on the Harrisburg tax lists until 1809.¹³ Little else is known of Barbara Baner, who worked her beautiful sampler in Harrisburg at the age of nineteen. The verse, by Reverend Isaac Watts, so conspicuously lettered in black silk thread, expresses concern for her own mortality; we are left wondering about the mysterious Pennsylvania flintlock and the fur skin cap of the frontiersman, so skillfully worked upon the muslin ground. 

 

LEAH GALLIGHER MEGUIER 

Leah and Rachel Bratton were twin daughters born to George and Sarah Bratton on May 23, 1764, near Wilmington, Delaware. Leah married Francis Galligher in 1791 ¹⁴ and opened her classroom for the first time in May of 1797, soon after an advertisement in the Lancaster Journal on April 2 informed the public that she intended to teach "plain sewing, knitting and working of lace if required." Spelling and reading were also to be included in her curriculum. By 1802, Leah Galligher's marriage to Francis was dissolved, and in March of that year she moved to Harrisburg.¹⁵ The recent appearance of a sampler worked by Mary Snodgrass dated 1802, "in Harrisburg,"¹⁶ attributed to Leah Galligher's instruction, makes it increasingly certain that she established a school for girls soon after her arrival. Leah Galligher married Isaac Meguier (also, apparently, spelled Meguire, Maguire, and M'Guire), a shoemaker, sometime before 1807, for the sampler worked by Elizabeth Finney bears the inscription: " ... made this sampler in Harrisburg in Mrs. Leah Meguier's School in the year of our Lord 1807."¹⁷ On May 22, 1813, the following advertisement appeared in the Lancaster Journal: 

Isaac Maguire, Boot & Shoemaker, respectfully acquaints his friends and customers, that he has removed to the new house of Mr. John Close, Locust Street, near to Doebler's Tavern Harrisburgh, where he will be happy to receive the commands and continued custom of his friends and others in his line. Mrs. Maguire will likewise continue her school as usual, in teaching all kinds of needle-work, music and the first rudiments of common education. She has room for a few more pupils. 

If we are to consider the range of samplers worked at Leah Meguier's fashionable school for young women, the period of greatest achievement would seem to span the years after her move to Harrisburg, beginning in 1802 through 1812, when Barbara Baner and Catherine Boas¹⁸ worked their exquisite samplers. High standards continued, however, for at least another thirteen years, as evidenced by the work of students Cassandanna Hetzell in 1823 and Ann E. Kelly in 1826,¹⁹ Leah Bratton Galligher Meguier died on February 1, 1830.²⁰              

 

 

1. These schoolmistresses have given researchers a difficult puzzle to solve. "Mary Walker's School" is inscribed on Elizabeth Sansmich's sampler of 1803 (Hornor, The Story of Samplers, fig. 32); Fanny Rines's sampler of 1808 reveals that she attended "Mrs. Armstrong's School" (Bolton and Coe, American Samplers, opp. 268; see also Ring, American Needlework Treasures, 47); the name of Miss Welchans (who became Mrs. James Galbraith Buchanan) appears on samplers such as that worked by Mary Hamilton of Maytown in 1812 (Bolton and Coe, American Samplers, opp. 133; see also Ring, American Needlework Treasures, 46, 47). Mrs. Buchanan, formerly Miss Welchans, kept a school for young ladies in Marietta, Lancaster County, from at least 1823, when Ann Osborn worked her sampler (Sotheby's, 5156, January 27, 1984, lot 476), and Elizabeth Blanchard worked hers (Antiques and the Arts Weekly, March 6, 1987: 137), until 1826, the date inscribed on Mary Ann Lucy Gries's pictorial sampler (Ring, American Needlework Treasures, 46, 47). "Mary Reed's School" is inscribed on a sampler worked by Sophia Meyun in 1824 ( Ring, American Needlework Treasures, 47). 

2. The date of the opening of Leah Galligher's school is inscribed in the central panel of Sarah Holsworth's 1799 sampler. Included in this lengthy inscription is the date of birth of Rachel and Leah Bratton, twins; their baptismal date; their marriage dates; and their parents' birth dates. Research may document that Rachel Bratton Armstrong is the schoolmistress, Mrs. Armstrong (Margaret B. Schiffer, Historical Needlework of Pennsylvania, New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1968: 41; see also Susan Burrows Swan, A Winterthur Guide to American Needlework, New York, NY: Crown, 1976: 16). 

3. Franklin Ellis and Samuel Evans, History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, P A, 1883), 404. "The first day of May 1797" is inscribed on Sarah Holsworth's sampler (Swan, Winterthur Guide, 16). 

4. Anna Haverstick's sampler, in a private collection, was exhibited in "Decorative Arts of Lan caster County" in Lancaster, P A, at the Heritage Center; see Antiques and Arts Weekly (November 1, 1985): 84. 

5. Schiffer, Historical Needlework of Pennsylvania, opp. 16. 

6. The Webb sampler is in a private collection; see Bolton and Coe, American Samplers, opp. 55. 

7. The Holsworth sampler is in a private collection; see Schiffer, Historical Needlework of Pennsylvania, 41. 

8. There is a small, seemingly ordinary sampler worked by Susy A. Crider in 1801, which appears to 100 PEN N S Y L V A N I A employ the same exquisite sewing technique, giving shape and form to the delicate figure. Later, this same method was used to depict the figures on samplers of pictorial significance worked in Leah Galligher Meguier's school. While unidentified, apart from a Lancaster County attribution, this body of needlework may well have been a product of Meguier's instruction and served as a working model for those marvelous masterpieces that were to be executed later in Harrisburg. See Krueger, Gallery of American Samplers, 38. 

9. Robert Bishop, consultant, Quilts, Coverlets, Rugs and Samplers: Knopf Collector's Guides to American Antiques (New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1982), 339. 

10. Caulkins, History of Norwich, Connecticut (Chester, CT: Pequot Press, Society of the Founders of Norwich, CT, Inc., 1976),335. 

11. Elisabeth Donaghy Garrett, "The Theodore H. Kapnek Collection of American Samplers," Antiques (September 1978): 551. 

12. J1emorandum, Will Book, York County, vol. 227. See also Inventory, York County Court House, York, PA. See also Edwin Jaquett Sellers, Genealogy of the Jaquett Family (Philadelphia, PA, 1907), 157, 158. See also The Pennsylvania J1agazine of History and Biography, vol. 13 (1889): 278. John Bener was probably a descendant of the Swedish baron, Isaac Baner, who came to Pennsylvania around 1695 from New Castle, Delaware. Baron Isaac Baner died in November 1713, leaving his wife .i\Iaria and three children destitute. They are presumed to have returned to Sweden around 1727; however, the boys may have remained in Lancaster County, where they were apprenticed to a trade at an early age (Sellers, Genealogy of the Jaquett Family, 108). The Bener family appears to have presented a problem to the scriveners of Pennsylvania. John Bener's 1774 inventory, for example, recorded in York County, is sprinkled with a seemingly casual and inconsistent spelling of the Bener name. In this same document, the often repeated Bener becomes Benner and then Beaner. 

13. Records of the Pennsylvania Militia, Cumberland County, Fourth Battalion, 1790-1800 (Family History Library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Salt Lake City, UT, microfilm), 844, 565. See also Federal Census, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 1800 and 1810. See also Grantee Index, Land Records, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, vol. N, no. 1: 520, dated April 14, 1802, recorded October 5, 1804. The property is described as a lot of ground bounded by Second Street on the East, Mary's Alley on the South, River's Alley on the West, and lot number 214 on the North, to become the new lot number 215. Land Records, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, vol. 0, no. 1: 239-242. See also Tax Lists, Harrisburg, 1792-1813 . Harrisburg City Directory, 1839, places Isaac Meguier's residence at Second Street, Mulberry and Locust. 

14. Sarah Holsworth's sampler inscription; see n. 2. See also Grantor Index, Deed Book, New Castle County, Delaware, vols. D, L, and M, nos. 3, 8. See also Schiffer, Historical Needlework of Pennsylvania, 41. The Federal Census, 1790 and 1810, shows Leah's father, George, Sr., and George Bratton, Jr., in Watertown, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. 

15. On March 8, 1802, a most peculiar document was recorded in the Deed Book, Lancaster County, vol. 1, no. 3: 40-44. This tripartite "Indenture," between Leah Galligher, Francis Galligher, and George Bratton, her brother, covers four closely inscribed pages. It represents a separation agreement which appears to have "dissolved the bands of Matrimony." This action brought about a notice in the March 10, 1802, Intelligencer by Francis Galligher: "Caution ... whereas my wife Leah Galligher, alias Bratton, has absconded from my bed and board .... " The March 17 issue brought a response by George Bratton warning Francis GalIigher to leave Leah alone or "his base and unmanly CHARACTER" will be made public. This, to all intents and purposes, appears to have ended the marriage of Francis and Leah Galligher. This article was brought to my attention by Susan Burrows Swan, to whom I am indebted. 

16. The Snodgrass sampler is in the collection of Betty Ring; see Ring, American Needlework Treasures, 46. 

17. Isaac M'Guire is on the tax list for Harrisburg 1806/1807 as a married man, while prior to this time he is recorded as being single. The Finney sampler is in a private collection; see Schiffer, Historical Needlework of Pennsylvania, opp. 48. See also Krueger, Gallery of American Samplers, 91, n. 64. 

18. The Boas sampler is in a private collection; see Sotheby's, New York, catalogue, Important Americana, 5810, January 26-29, 1989, lot 1101. The sampler worked by Catherine Boas makes use of the oval device and pictorial setting central to these exquisite samplers designed by their schoolmistress, Mrs. Meguier. 

19. The Kelly and Hetzell samplers are in the collection of the Museum of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Washington, D.G; see Garrett, Arts of Independence, 81. 

20. Ktueger, Gallery of American Samplers, 91, n. 64.