VOLUME XXIX
A SELECTED OFFERING OF ANTIQUE SAMPLERS AND NEEDLEWORK
est. 1947
M. Finkel ~ Daughter. AMERICA'S LEADING ANTIQUE SAMPLER & NEEDLEWORK DEALER
936 Pine Street. Philadelphia. Pennsylvania. 19107-6128 215-627-7797.800-598-7432. fax 215-627-8199 www.samplings.com
detail of sampler by Sally Pickman Turner, Marblehead, Mass., 1806 page 15
Copyright Š 2006 by M. Finkel & Daughter, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without the permission in writing from M. Finkel & Daughter, Inc. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Welcome to our Samplings catalogue XXIX ...
We hope that you enjoy this catalogue, which is our 27th issue; we thank all of you for your continued and growing interest in this field. The field of schoolgirl samplers and needlework provides fascinating opportunities to collectors. A sampler acts as a window into the specific history of a young girl, her family, a teacher, a town, a region and a tradition, and as such provides us with unusual insight. It goes without saying that samplers, from a simple marking piece to an elaborate scene, are also extremely visually appealing. They provide graphic needleworked pictures, each with a remarkable texture and individuality. Each of our samplers has been fully researched and documented; it is well-known that we both conduct ourselves and have others engage in intensive genealogical research and often achieve important results. When we describe a sampler or silk embroidery, we frequently refer to a number of fine books that have been written in this field. A selected bibliography is included at the end of the catalogue and is updated regularly. If any of these books prove difficult to procure, let us know and perhaps we can assist in locating them. We also include a description page about our conservation methods and encourage you to call us with any questions in this area. This year marks the 58th anniversary of the founding of our firm. We continue to value our positive relationship with clients, many of whom are now second generation, and strive to maintain our commitment to customer service. Buying antiques should be based in large measure on trust and confidence, and we try to treat each customer as we ourselves like to be treated. We operate by appointment and are at the shop five days a week, except when we are exhibiting at out-of-town antiques shows. Please let us know of your plans to visit us. We suggest that you contact us in a timely fashion if one or more of our samplers is of interest to you. Should your choice be unavailable, we suggest that you discuss your collecting objectives with any one of us. Our inventory is extensive, and we have many items not included in our catalogue. Moreover, through our sources, we may be able to locate the sampler that you are looking for; you will find us knowledgeable and helpful. Payment may be made by check, VISA, Mastercard, or American Express, and we ask for payment with your order. Pennsylvania residents should add 6% sales tax. All items are sold with a five day return privilege. Expert packing is included: shipping and insurance costs are extra. We prefer to ship via UPS second day or Federal Express, insured. We look forward to your phone calls and your interest. Amy Finkel Morris Finkel Jamie Banks
www.samplings.com Please check our website for frequent updates
mailbox@samplings.com 800-598-7 432
Are you interested in selling? We are constantly purchasing antique samplers and needlework, and would like to know what you have for sale. We can purchase outright or act as your agent. Photographs sent to us will receive our prompt attention. Call us for more information.
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A _M _E _RI _ CA: - .s-LEAD -IN_G_AN - TI_Q_U_E _s AM - P-LE_R_AN_D_N_EE_D_LE_w_o_R_K_D_EAL_ER
M. Finkel
~
Daughter. est. /947
ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF CONTENTS Adam & Eve Drawstring Bag, England, circa 1800 ......................................... page 8 Martha Atkinson, England, 1662 ....................................................... page 2 Mary Barnitz, York, Pennsylvania, 1803 .................................................. page 8 Beadwork Picture, England, circa 1830 .................................................. page 29 Catharine G. Briggs, Hyde Park, New York, 1844 .......................................... page 25 Susan Burson, Springtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 1812 .............................. page 26 Luigia Caratelli, Italy, 1815 ........................................................... page 22 Mary A. Clayton, Pennsylvania, circa 1835 ............................................... page 22 Collet Fiche Embroidery, France, late 18th century ........................................ page 17 Lititz Moravian Girls' School Silk Embroidery by Eliza Carolina Dagen of New Windsor, Frederick County, Maryland, 1822 ...................................................... page 20 Phebe Davis, Chester County, Pennsylvania, 1822 ......................................... page 11 Phebe L. Dayton, Baskingridge, New Jersey, 1828 ......................................... page 17 Content Denison, Stonington, Connecticut, 1764 ......................................... page 9 Mercy Dowling, England, 1821 ........................................................ page 13 Dutch Darning Orphanage Sampler, 1771 ................................................ page 14 Elizabeth Ecklee, Mrs. Hill's Academy, Kempsey, England, 1804 .............................. page 6 Sarah Ann Emley, Bennington School, Burlington Co., New Jersey, 1830 ....... .. ..... . ....... page 5 Friesian Sampler, Holland, 1739 ..................................... . ........ . ........ page 10 Gentlefolk in a Pastoral Setting, Silk Embroidery, New England, circa 1800 .................... page 1 Ann Jane Gould, New England, 1819 .......................................... . ........ page 14 Roseanna Hammond, England, 1809 ................................................... page 28 Eliza Hemming, England, 1826 ........................................................ page 29 The Little Cottagers, Silk Embroidery, American, circa 1800 ......................... . ....... page 30 Map of England & Wales, Ann Walley, 1797 .............................................. page 24 Elizabeth Maurer, Mount Joy, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 1826 ..................... . .... page 23 Susan Meader, New Bedford, Massachusetts, 1818 ... .. .................................... page 19 Oodooville Boarding School Sampler, Frances Ann Devereaux, Jaffna, Ceylon, 1863 .............. page 31 Hannah Pennell, Chester County, Pennsylvania, 1809 ...................................... page 18 Mary W. Pittee, Francestown, New Hampshire, 1826 ................................ . ...... page 7 Ruins of Rome, Silk Embroidery, England, circa 1790 ........................... . .......... page 30 Elizabeth Sackett, probably New England, 1815 ........................................... page Abigail Tufts, Medford, Massachusetts, 1790 .............................................. page Sally Pickman Turner, Marblehead, Massachusetts, 1806 ............................ . ....... page Sophia Vanderveer, Somerset County, New Jersey, circa 1835 ................................ page Ann E. Whitaker, Troy, New York, 1814 .................................................. page
tst. /947
M. Finkel e; Daughter.
AMERICA's LEADING ANTIQUE sAMPLER AND
EEDLEWORK DEALER
12 4 15 12 16
1
Gentlefolk in a Pastoral Setting, Silk Embroidery, New England, circa 1800 An exhibition at Winterthur Museum, entitled, "Needles and Haystacks: Pastoral Imagery in American Needlework," explores the same subject through various pieces from their collections and will remain on exhibit through July 23, 2006. Winterthur curator Linda Eaton writes about this theme which played an important role in American needlework throughout the 18th century:
Pastoral themes held particular meaning for many wealthy American colonists. They saw themselves as escaping from the corruption of Europe and starting fresh in an unspoiled New World ... Love and courtship were a mainstay of the pastoral tradition. Married couples living "happily ever after" was the expected ending for plays, poetry, and novels, and the hope of most young women. Our captivating silk embroidered picture is an exceptional example of the folk portrayal of this subject. It depicts a young lady with her sheep and cows and a gentleman seated on a haystack, his spotted dog at his feet. The large willow tree, with a dozen variously colored and animated birds provides the unifying image for the scene and the overall effect is unusually fresh and direct. Much of the needlework was done in a lustrous satin stitch with chain stitch used to outline and provide crisp delineations. Needleworked details allow for patterns such as the flowers throughout the lawn, the striped skirt and the highlights of the tree trunk. A small red-roofed cottage nestles into the composition, implying depth. It was designed and executed by someone with an excellent artistic instinct and ample skill in the needle arts. The majority of silk embroideries were accomplished in paint as well as needlework with faces, hands and landscapes painted onto the silk. The picture owes some of its strong appeal to the fact that it was accomplished entirely in needlework. Its maker created one of the most noteworthy examples of folk art to come out of the American needlework tradition. Worked in silk on silk, it is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a 19th century gold leaf frame. Size of the embroidery: 171/4" x 16"
Price upon request
tJI. 1947
AMERICA's LEADING ANTIQUE sAMPLER AND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
M. Finkel et Daughter.
Martha Atkinson, England, 1662 We turned to scholar and cum toe KaLhleen SLaples, for an undcrsLanding and illuminaLion of this exquisite embroider\'. Excerpts from Ms. SLaples' commentar\'foiiO\r:
This exceptionally fine and beautifully worked example of English girlhood needlework was made by Martha Atkinson in 1662 and it exhibits features that are rare in the genre. Martha personalized her embroidery, recording in stitch that she was ten years old in 1662, the year in which she likely completed the project. She probably com- . menced her sampler work, however, in 1661, with the execution of the two vigorous scenes at the top of the sampler, both stitched in a colorful palette of silk threads. The usual practice, however, was to embroider, in multiple colors, a series of horizontal bands of linear, crenellated, or allover repeat patterns of architectural and floral elements. Thus, the inclusion of pictorial compositions is uncommon for girlhood samplers from this period. The scene at the top of Martha's sampler features a complex of flowers, foliage, and nuts - all growing from a single bower-like vine. Beneath this exuberant tree-of-life arrangement are two male figures and an elegant two-handled vase, stitched to imitate a Chinese or Delft blue-and-white (detail) ceramic. The second scene is religious: Adam and Eve with the serpent and the apple tree. Although this Old Testament story was the focus of seventeenth-century pictorial compositions worked in silk and metallic threads on silk fabric, it is rare to find the subjects of Genesis, chapter three, on a sampler. Martha's densely stitched version includes flowers, stags, butterflies, and caterpillars. After completing these two sections, Martha took up the more technically challenging bands of counted thread, cutwork, and needle lace patterns, worked in gossamer-like strands of white linen thread. Whitework techniques, all of which are rooted a century earlier in the development of needle lace, require a practiced hand. As many as four distinct techniques may be found on a whitework sampler from this period: Martha's sampler exhibits all of them. The oldest of these is counted satin stitch, which Martha used to create the dense geometric repeat patterns and her inscription. The second technique, drawn thread work, consists of removing threads from the ground fabric to form a more open weave. These remaining threads are woven together with needle and thread to form open patterns. Martha used this technique to create the openwork rose and carnation pattern at the center of her sampler. The technique more commonly found on whitework samplers is cutwork, the precursor of true needle lace. Martha first cut away certain warp and weft threads from the ground fabric, leaving other threads to create an open square grid. This square grid served as a foundation on (detail) which she constructed variations of buttonhole stitch patterns and can be seen in Martha's second and third openwork bands. Her patterns are adaptations of designs published in the 1500s in Germany and Italy for lace makers. Martha constructed the fourth openwork band in cutwork as well, creating a lovely starburst, which Italian designers called a rosette, a hearty thistle, and a tree-of-life stalk supporting a honeysuckle, roses, and strawberries and blossoms. Martha completed this band by working an S-scroll.
es/.
1947
M. Finkel e9 Daughter.
AMERICA:s LEADING ANTIQUE sAMPLER AND NEEDLEwoRK DEALER
Martha Atkinson, England, 1662 (cont.)
Martha's tour de force, however, is the lowermost panel, an idyllic scene of a cavalier and his lady, accompanied by a dog and sheep, amid an oak tree and flowers . This exceptional needlework is an example of true needle lace, a form seldom found on girlhood samplers. In contrast to all of the techniques described above, needle lace needs no woven foundation. Instead it is constructed on a foundation of thick threads tacked down along design lines drawn on paper. After Martha completed her needle lace panel, she cut away the tacking stitches to release the paper. he then cut out of her sampler linen a large rectangular hole whose size corresponded to her needle lace panel and attached the panel to the cut edges of the linen . .'<1artha Atkinson's embroidery is an uncommon find. It exhibits a liveliness and richness of design that have few equals in the genre of English seventeenth-century samplers. \\ ¡orJ..:ec/ in si/J..: on linen. iL is in exccllcnL condition cmd has been conscrmLion mounLccl inLo o loLcr .tin me.
ampler size: 32 3/4'' x 8"
Price upon request
est./947
AMERICA:s LEADING ANTIQUE sAMPLER AND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
M. Finkel e9 Daughter.
Abigail Tufts, Medford, Massachusetts, 1790 An important group of 18th century Massachusetts samplers has been of interest to scholars and collectors for many decades. The makers of these samplers were from prominent families from the Middlesex County towns of Cambridge, Waltham, Lexington, Concord and Medford and it is thought that they made their samplers at a boarding school. In vol. I of Girlhood Embroidery Betty Ring states that these are "attractive samplers usually in vertical form with wide, deeply arcaded borders at the top and sides, and with a saw-tooth border which encloses a center section that often includes one alphabet and a verse above a variety of pictorial elements. A house is most common, but there may be figures, trees, flowerpots, or various combinations of motifs. Nevertheless, they can be easily recognized by their typical borders and similar workmanship. Many pieces are undated ... this style emerged about 1790, was worked steadily untill805, and occasionally occurred much later." Some of the public institutions holding samplers from this group are the Baltimore Museum of Art, Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian, and the Concord Antiquarian Society. Abigail Tufts worked this exceptional sampler which represents this group admirably; it is signed, '~bigail Tufts's Work Wrought in the Eighth Year of her age." Abigail was born in Medford, a ship building town located 5 miles NW of Boston. Her parents were Isaac Tufts and Martha Frost Tufts who were married in West Cambridge in 1769, and Abigail was born on March 16, 1782, the last of their seven children. In 1789 or 1790, Abigail would have attended school and worked her sampler; interestingly, the majority of the needlework from this group was made by girls who were older than Abigail. A published family genealogy indicates that she died, unmarried, in 1815. By the early 1920s, Abigail's sampler was in an important collection, that of Mrs. Thomas A. Lawton of Rhode Island. Mrs. Lawton had collected over 200 American samplers and these, including Abigail's, were described in the ground-breaking 1921 publication, American Samplers by Bolton and Coe. Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a black and gold painted frame. Sampler size: 163/4'' x 12"
Price: $18,000.
est. 1947
M. Finke 1 e9 Daughter.
AMERICAs LEADING ANTIQUE sAMPLER AND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
(detail)
Sarah Ann Emley, Bennington School, Burlington Co., NJ, 1830
The pictorial samplers of Burlington County, New Jersey have long been highly regarded for their distinctive and e..xcellent house and garden scenes. In 1830, Sarah Ann Emley, an eleven-year-old Burlington County schoolgirl worked this outstanding sampler which features a handsome double-chimney Federal house set on a stepped-terrace lawn. There is a sampler in the collection of the Burlington County Historical Society which is very similar and was worked in 1824 by Sarah West; the inscription on the West sampler indicates that it was worked at the Bennington School. Samplers worked at this school include a fine satin-stitched lawn with animals and flowers -et within it and a detailed house with vines growing up the sides. The teacher designed an unusual enclosure for the makers' inscription and this appears on both the West and Emley samplers. The Emley family in America began with William Emley (1648-1704), a Quaker who settled in Burlington County, New Jersey in 1679. William Emley was a judge and surveyor who spoke five languages and served as commissioner to the Indians. Subsequent generations settled in Jacobstown, east of the town of Burlington and, arah Ann Emley was born there in 1819, the daughter of a prosperous farmer, Joseph Emley and his wife .\1artha. In 1843 Sarah married John H. Borden and their six children were born between 1845 and 1861. Their fourth child, Joseph Emley Borden played major league baseball in 1875 and 1876, pitching for the Philadelphia White Stockings in 1875. He was the first professional baseball player to pitch a no-hitter. The Bordens removed to Philadelphia where John Borden was a wholesale book merchant. Sarah Ann Emley Borden died in 1888. The sampler was worked in silk on linen and is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted into its fine original mahogany frame. Sampler size: 17W' x 21"
Price: $18,500. tst. /947
AMERICA's LEADING ANTIQUE sAMPLER AND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
M. Finkel eJ Daughter.
Elizabeth Ecklee, Mrs. Hill's Academy, Kempsey, England, 1804 Some English schoolgirls, working under talented and demanding instructresses, created outstanding samplers at young ages. This very appealing example was worked by ten-year-old Elizabeth Ecklee (one is 10 years old when in one's 11th year) while a student at Mrs. Hill's Academy in Kempsey, a small town four miles south of Worcester. The handsome four-storied building, depicted with individual bricks and a checker-board roof, sits on a shaded lawn with a large dog and a pair of deer. Tiny, perfectly executed stitches form the alphabet, inscription and verse, which is a quotation from "Reflections from a Flower Garden," written in 1746 by Rev. James Hervery, a noted English poet. A border of fat strawberries provides a good visual framework for the sampler which is both orderly and quite charming. The sampler was worked in silk on linen and is in excellent condition with very minor weakness to the linen. It has been conservation mounted into its original bird's-eye maple frame with gilt liner. Price: $9200.
es/. 194 7
M. Finkel ~ Daughter.
A _M _E _RI _ CA: - .s-LEAD -rN_G_AN ___ Tr_Q_u _E-=-sAM -= P::-:: LE=R--:AN -:-::=o ::-:: N= EE=o-:LE =w=o=R::-:: K-=-o-:EAL -=-=-=ER
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.Ylary W. Pittee, Francestown, New Hampshire, 1826
:\group of wonderfully exuberant samplers featuring handsome double-chimney houses, stylized trees with sproutin grass and geometric horizontal bands were made by young girls from Hillsboro County, New Hampshire and date fro m the 1820s through the mid 1830s. Mary W. Pittee was born in 1816 and worked this captivating little sampler, a recent discovery and addition to this group of needlework, when she was "aged 10 ys." The History of Francestown, New Hampshire, published in 1895 provides information about the Pittee family, indicating that Mary was the 2nd of 6 children of Ebenezer Pittee, a mill owner and farmer, and his wife Lydia Hall Pittee. In 1838 Mary married a cooper, Francis Peterson of the town of Brookline, and they had one child. Mary m¡ed to be 89 years old, having lived her entire life in Hillsboro County. \\"orked in silk on linen and in excellent condition, this sampler has been conservation mounted and is in a cherry frame. mpler size: 7W' x 91/z"
Price: $6800.
est. 1947
AMERICA:s LEADING ANTIQUE sAMPLER AND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
M. Finkel e9 Daughter.
Adam & Eve Drawstring Bag, England, circa 1800 The image of Adam and Eve under the apple tree with a serpent winding up its trunk is universal in its appeal and can be found on countless English samplers. An anonymous needleworker featured the same on this delicate and charming little drawstring bag, which may have been made as a gift of friendship or a presentation piece. A scalloped border surrounds the scene and a silk ribbon was used both as a binding and for the drawstring. Worked in silk on linen, it is in excellent condition with slight weakness and has been conservation mounted into a fine little corner block frame with original paint and stencil decoration. Size of the bag: 4W' x 4" Framed size: 8" square Price: $3850.
Mary Bamitz, York, Pennsylvania, 1803 York, Pennsylvania was a prosperous city in southeastern Pennsylvania which functioned as the capitol when the Revolutionary War forced Congress to abandon Philadelphia in 1777. Many of the families that populated York had emigrated from Germany early in the 18th century and amongst them was the Barnitz family. Mary Barnitz born in 1793, the daughter of a lawyer and judge, George Barnitz and his wife, Maria Spangler Barnitz, the daughter of a successful silversmith, clockmaker and member of the Pennsylvania senate, Rudolph Spangler. Her sampler indicates an extraordinary level of talent in that it was executed almost exclusively in the queen's-stitch, a technique that requires great skill, time and material. In 1816 Mary married John Schmidt. He was fluent in French and functioned as the interpreter for Gen. Lafayette and his associates when they visited York in 1825. Mary and John remained in York where they raised four children. When Mary died in 1886 her obituary described her as a "constant benefactor of the poor" and stated that she gave thanks that she was in a position to help those less privileged. Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a black and gold frame. Sampler size: 18" x ?J/4''
Price: $8500.
est. / 947
M. Finkel e9 Daughter.
AMERICA's LEADING ANTIQUE sAMPLER AND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
Content Denison, Stonington, Connecticut, 1764
The maker of this rare canvaswork picture was twelve year old Content Denison of Stonington, Connecticut. The -omposition fits squarely into the tradition of mid 18th century American needlework, presenting a handsome epiction of large blossomed flowers and generous curling leaves with strawberries decorating a gentle hillock elow, worked predominantly in worsted crewel wool. Signed "Content Denison 1764," it is a wonderfully documented example of this genre. on tent's emigrant ancestor, George Denison came to America in 1631 as part of the Great Migration of the 1630s, . ¡hen over 13,000 people sailed from England to the colonies. By 1738 Capt. Joseph Denison settled in Stonington . ¡here he married Bridget Noyes Wheeler in 1751 and Content was born in 1752, the eldest of their ten children. In '770 she married John Williams, the son of John and Lydia (Chesebrough) Williams, at the First Congregational hurch and they became the parents of nine children. This was worked in wool and silk onto linen, and it is in very good condition but with some loss to the wool. It has een conservation mounted into an 18th century style frame. ize of the needlework: 17" x 19W'
Price: $11,000.
est. / 947
AMERICA:s LEADING ANTIQUE sAMPLER AND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
M. Finkel ~ Daughter.
Friesian Sampler, Holland, 1739 The province of Friesland is in the north part of the Netherlands and is the origin of many excellent Dutch sampler that share strong regional characteristics. They tend to feature highly ornamented letters, and depictions of everyday objects or people engaged in day-to-day activities. The needlework from this area is tight and fine, and it is clear that the teachers in Friesland held their pupils to a high standard. A new book, written primarily in Dutch, entitled Letter voor Letter, by Gieneke Arnolli and Rosalie Sloof, documents these Friesian "letterdoekens" (letter cloths) and provides wonderful illustrations of many samplers and print sources. Some of the information in this book provides further clues as the identification of these sampler - for example the alphabets on the early samplers, like this one, lack the letters J,Q,U,X,Y,Z and the His distinctive for its cross bar which forms a small V. While English and American samplers from early periods tend to be vertical in shape, Friesian samplers are generally horizontal in format. The tall grass lawn along the bottom of this sampler, another characteristic of samplers from Friesland, contains a particularly fine parade of people, animals and objects. Also notable on this sampler is the small bird and flower motif appearing in the upper left area, below the alphabets. This is a motif which first appeared in the pattern book of Peter Quentels, published in 1536 (see Letter Voor Letter, page 59) and which continued to appear on Dutch samplers for centuries. The sampler is worked in silk on linen and is in excellent condition, conservation mounted into a black and gold carved frame.
(detail) Sampler size: lP/4" x 21 W'
Price: $6800.
M. Finke I e:s Daughter. tsl. 1947
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Phebe Davis, Chester County, Pennsylvania, 1822 !le-ter County sam,ermakers in the 2· - and 1830s _ ·eloped a proclivity ·ar \·orking large, -orne pictorial 53Il1plers and created •:orks that are o ble for both their - e e-ign and exe·on. The strong ·er influence in - · · region accounts ·ar the balanced for· and many of the : cific motifs, as ell as the excellent ity of the stitch. . ln 1 22, Phebe i·. a Chester <> nty schoolgirl eated this sampler hi his an excellent C'Xalllple from this -roup. " r a -trikingly simi~ sampler, one ·· auld refer to the · 23 -ampler by Ann H. Vogdes of Williston, Chester County, which was in the Theodore Kapnek collection and - li-hed in The Gallery of American Samplers by Glee Krueger and Arts and Crafts of Chester Country by . r aret Schiffer. The samplers made by Phebe and Ann share their intricate composition as well as many clas.·- motifs and the same verse worked inside a wonderfully embellished cartouche. Each samplermaker included · me depictions of her own choosing, with the fine little Adam and Eve under the tree at the lower left appearing Phebe's sampler alone. Many members of the Davis family belonged to the Goshen Monthly Meeting and, although Phebe isn't specifically identified, her sampler places her in this area. Worked in silk on linen, it is excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a fine mahogany corner· block frame. Sampler size: 20" x 22 " Price: $11,500. etail)
es/.1947
AMERICA:s LEADING ANTIQUE sAMPLER AND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
M. Finkel ~ Daughter.
Sophia Vanderveer, Somerset Co. N.J., circa 1835 Occasionally samplermakers created fully worked pictures by stitching the entire background linen; these unusual examples offer outstanding color and contrast. Sophia Vanderveer, of Somerset County in northern New Jersey, worked this stunning example which depicts a still life bowl of flowers with squirrels, birds, a butterfly and flowers with sawtooth borders. Sophia was born in 1819 to David and Catherine (DuBois) Vanderveer and married, in 1840, Addison Willard Hobart, a school teacher. They lived in nearby Monmouth County where they raised three sons, one of whom was Garret Addison Hobart (1844-1899). He was a lawyer and senator who became, in 1896, the 24th vice-president of the United States, under William McKinley. Sophia died in 1880 and her handsome needlework descended along with a note that identified her. Worked in silk and crewel wool on linen, it is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a Price: $6800. 19th century gold leaf frame. Sampler size: 9W' x 13W'
Elizabeth Sackett, probably New England, 1815 Elizabeth Sackett's sampler, completed on November 27th 1815, offers excellent color, with assorted classic sampler imagery and a very good format. The bottom row is a handsome arrangement of a strawberry plant, a basket of fruit and a bird on a branch with the initials of the samplermaker playing an important role. Elizabeth seems to have found the layout of her upper case alphabet and the inscription to have been easily accomplished, but we note that the two lines of her lowercase alphabet and numerical progression may have presented her with a greater challenge, which she solved with creative spacing of her numbers. Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a fine 19th century paint decorated frame. Sampler size: 11 W' x 103/ / '
Price: $2600.
esJ. /947
M. Finkel e:J Daughter.
_AM_E_RI_CA:.s-LEAD--IN_G_ANT_I_Q_U_E _sAM-P-L E_R_AN _ D _N-EE-D-LE _w_o_RK _ D_ E AL _ ER
~
lercy Dowling, England, 1821
. :oung English school. . :'-lercy Dowling, ;-orked this very large and itious sampler in : 21. decorating it with a ora of whimsical tii- and folky embell·-.., _ ents. The central
ed \ ithin trailing - e· of buds, leaves and - .:.:om . Mercy Dowling de u e of the tradition-
ination of fine crewel :ool m rked onto tightly en linen adds further - e appeal.
Done xnTho:: J:O ··:te.;..r Of B.o::r .Age .And :::n The Ye~.r Of Our ~... or-d
·- a sampler remarkable for its size and ~ e obvious talents of its maker, who uld have been nine years old ("in the .·ear of her age") when she completed - ~r needlework. Worked in wool on linen, e sampler is in excellent condition with ~ ry ·tight loss. It has been conservation ounted into a beveled mahogany frame . '
., pier size: 32 W' x 33W'
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(detail)
t.II. /947
AMERICA:s LEADING ANTIQUE sAMPLER AND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
M. Finkel e:s Daughter.
Ann Jane Gould, New England, 1819 Ann Jane Gould, ten years old in 1819, worked this fascinating sampler which features a finely worked American flag and, most unusually, a striped warship commissioning pennant flying above it, with the letters "USA" below. Also included is a long and carefully worked verse, an interesting and lyrical poem entitled "The Comparison." This was written by noted English poet William Cowper (1731-1800) and was widely published in the period. These twelve lines of verse were completed with letter perfect precision and Ann employed wonderful little line-end designs to create a cohesive block format to the verse. The inscription reads, "The Performance of Ann Jane Gould Aged ten Years November 28 AD 1819," and it is likely that Miss Gould was living in Newburyport, Massachusetts. We are hopeful that further research will confirm her identity. Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a black molded and painted frame. Sampler size: 17'' x 16"
Price: $6400.
Dutch Darning Orphanage Sampler, 1771 Darning samplers were an important part of the needlework curriculum in the 18th and early 19th centuries in Holland as students were taught to recreate specific weave structures and demonstrated this skill on their samplers. Elaborate darning samplers were created by young ladies from the upper classes while more practical darning samplers were made by students in orphanage schools. This handsome little darning sampler was made at one of the orphanage schools operated by the Dutch Reform Church of Amsterdam. The five darned squares recreate different and equally fine patterns, the center one was actually knitted and then set into the linen of the sampler. Worked in silk on linen, it is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a 19th century frame. Sampler size: 9W' x 9W'
Price: $4200.
est. /947
M. Finkel ~ Daughter.
AMERICA's LEADING ANTIQUE sAMPLER AND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
Sally Pickman Turner, Marblehead, Massachusetts, 1806 c pictorial samplers of _iarblehead, Massachusetts are :i ely acknowledged to be mong t the most exceptional o: all American samplers. Betty - <t. in vol. I of Girlhood Embroidery writes at length t these samplers, stating they "represent American .- · ood embroidery as its - .:: .... (capturing) the spirit of ~ ··mi-m in the new nation as as the climate of their il.- \rithin the overall p from Marblehead are sev·n-ey-woolsey samplers jc between 1804 and 1807, ·tanding and large samplers _::: i ting variations of the same _ u"'ie. orne with sheep and _ • ·eaturing the same verse ' 'ch the maker thanks her ts for making her educapo- ible. Sally Pickman cr'- ampler is a newly disred addition to this imporY of work and is most • - _: related to the 1807 sam:::r -_: Ylary Sparhawk shown - -gure 159 in Girlhood £ roi dery.
- _ nandsome, with lustrous • • 5 c and pale yellow used preinantly and black used • <j : to punctuate. The depiction of the lady and her gentleman friend would have understandably interested ·rteen-year-old samplermaker, who paid particular attention to the posture of each figure as well as their ·trements: the parasol and reticule, the riding crop and top hat. The birds, dog and sheep were all carefully -se as well. Sally worked her initials above the verse as did the other makers of samplers in this group and, c.:: tingly, they each also worked a backwards version of the letter "N." - .larblehead vital records indicate that Sally was born in 1793 to Samuel and Sally (Pickman) Turner, who married there in 1793. In 1817 she married Samuel Stacey Trefry, also of Marblehead and they became the - ::: ·- of 11 children born between 1820 and 1843. Sally died in the same town at age 94. - sampler was worked in silk on Iinsey-woolsey, a fabric woven of linen and wool and generally olive green in r. It i in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a stencil painted frame. cr ·ize: 21W' x 16W'
Price upon request
est. 1947
A.\fERICAs LEADING ANTIQUE sAMPLER AND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
M. Finkel eg Daughter.
Ann E. Whitaker, Troy, New York, 1814 Family record samplers served a purpose not unlike the family bible; they recorded and preserved information regarding the cohesive family unit, which had taken on a heightened importance in the early years of the new Republic. This form of sampler, an American invention, was made in various regions and towns throughout the country. Ann E. Whitaker worked this stunning sampler in Troy, New York. Her parents were Capt. Ephraim Whitaker, who served in the Revolutionary War and his wife, Hannah Stevenson Whitaker. The Whitakers were from Dighton, Massachusetts and removed to Troy by 1810, part of the westward movement. In 1824, Ann married Aaron W. Raymond, a man of many talents and careers, amongst them, steamboat captain, mill owner and a pioneer in the business of drilling for oil. They became the parents of ten children and Ann died in 1887. Ann's sampler presents the chart of family information along with wonderfully neoclassical decorations- a swag of blossoms tied with bowknots and a pair of gold cornucopias filled with flowers. It is a handsome sampler that serves to document the Whitaker family information as well as the fine education received by Ann E. Whitaker at age twelve. Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a fine mahogany frame with inlay. Sampler size: 16W' x 15W'
Price: $7800.
(detail)
est. 1947
M. Finkel e9 Daughter.
AMERI CA's LEADING ANT IQUE sAMPLER AND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
17
Phebe L. Dayton, Baskingridge, New Jersey, 1828 Ba-kingridge is a small Somerset County town, m close proximity to Bernardsville, described in an 1 34 geographical gazetteer as "beautifully situated in a high rich well cultivated and healthy country." Bailey Dayton married Sarah Lewis •here in 1808 and their daughter Phebe Ledell Dayton was born on Aprill, 1818. Precisely on er tenth birthday Phebe finished this sampler, oting that she was, indeed, ''Aged 10 years. " She ter married a successful farmer, William B. ooper and they became the parents of at least 1 children, remaining in the area.
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Her sampler is straightforward and handsome ·ith alphabets, vowels, a numerical listing and ··ttle motifs interspersed within her inscription. lnteresting to note is the fine diamond shaped motif, worked in the time consuming queen's -utch, which appears within the lower right corner of the border. It seems likely that Phebe may ;).3.\'e promised her instructress that she would, at _ later date, work the other three motifs as well. \ ·orked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a black "amted frame. Sampler size: 16W' x 17W' Price: $3800.
Collet Fiche Embroidery, France, late 18th century
1
ize of the paper: 4" x 5"
Price: $2200.
Collet fiche is a fascinating form of needlework that originated in France at the end of the 18th century in the convents of Ursuline nuns. This technique involves fine double-sided embroidery and ink on paper with the reverse finished in the same manner as the front. The subject of these is always religious in nature in keeping with their origin. This splendid little example depicts a wide border of shimmering flower blossoms, buds and leaves surrounding an inner scene of a dove and banner over a flaming heart. The inked inscription, written in Latin, reads: "My husband has come. Bring the song of his voice to my ears. " The reverse is, of course, the identical but opposite image, with no visible knots to the silk floss. Worked in silk on paper, it is in excellent condition and has been framed with glass on both sides.
est. 1947
AMERICAs LEADING ANTIQUE sAMPLER AND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
M. Finkel6i Daughter.
Hannah Pennell, Chester County, Pennsylvania, 1809 Chester County samplers have become known to scholars and collectors for their excellent composition and fine needlework. Hannah Pennell's sampler fits squarely into this group, displaying Quaker motifs, faultless lettering and bands of design showing 18th century influence. It is surrounded by an outstanding border embellished by flowers, birds, pots of flowers, little lions and large basket of fruit. Hannah Pennell was twelve years old when she worked her sampler; she was born November 12, 1797, the daughter of Jacob and Hannah (Pearce) Pennell, members of the Goshen Monthly Meeting. Her marriage to John Cox in 1820 was recorded at the Kennett Monthly Meeting. The sampler was worked in silk on linen and is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted into a figured maple frame. Sampler size: 163/4'' x 16"
Price: $5800.
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est. 1947
M. Finkel e9 Daughter.
AMERICA's LEADING ANTIQU E sAMPLER AND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
Susan Meader, New Bedford, Massachusetts, 1818
e coastal Massachusetts town of New Bedford is nestled into Buzzard's Bay, 50 miles south of Boston and was e of the most important whaling communities of the early 19th century. New Bedford was established in - - 7: prior to this it was a part of the town of Dartmouth. The highly lucrative whaling industry allowed New along with its neighbor Nantucket, to enjoy considerable success. An early geographical gazetteer of . · ·· England indicated that New Bedford was "laid out into beautiful streets, which contain many costly and erb dwelling," and further indicated that "the inhabitants of this town have manifested a commendable liberi _:in providing the means of education." ~diord,
. · ·. Bedford and Nantucket each supported a substantial Quaker population. Within this area lived the family of William Meader and his wife Phebe Brightman Tripp Meader. When still a teenager and living in Nantucket, uliam Meader, in 1765, made a whaleship model which is in the collection of the Nantucket Historical Society ~ acknowledged to be the oldest existing American whaleship model (see The Decorative Arts and Crafts of . ·antucket by Charles H. Carpenter Jr. and Mary Grace Carpenter, pages 216 and 217, figure 207). Capt. William . a.der removed from Nantucket to New Bedford where he married in 1789. - en he was twelve years old, Susan worked this excellent Quaker school sampler, one of a significant group of . · · Bedford samplers worked between 1817 and 1835. Interestingly, these needleworkers generally included in - 1r inscriptions the fact that the samplers were "performed by" their makers. Another strikingly similar New ;ord sampler was made by Martha Rogers in 1819 and is published as figure 24 in American Needlework reasures by Betty Ring. Additionally, three samplers also from this group are published in Images of hildhood, Old Dartmouth Historical Society (figures 86, 87, 89). ~2 7, Susan Meader married Edward Colesworthy Barnard, of Nantucket and they became the parents of two · · ghters. The family removed to Buffalo, where Susan died in 1843. Her sampler was worked in silk on linen i· in excellent condition, conservation mounted into its original mahogany frame.
pier size: 17" x 19W'
Price: $11,000. est. 1947
AM ERICA's LEADINGANTIQUESAMPLERAND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
M. Finkel~ Daughter.
Lititz Moravian Girls' School Silk Embroidery by Eliza Carolina Dagen of New Windsor, Frederick County, Maryland, 1822
The Lititz Moravian Girls' School of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania opened its doors in 1748, and gained a wide reputation for offering its students a strong academic education as well as teaching skills in the needle arts. In 1794, the school decided to open enrollment to nonMoravians, and to accept boarders, allowing it to become one of the most important American schools for girls, attracting students from many different areas. High style silk embroidered pictures were a specialty of the school and mourning pictures were the most popular subject, with outstanding pieces produced between 1815 and the 1830s.
(detail)
We are privileged to offer this important silk embroidery, worked by Eliza Carolina Dagen in 1822, at age 14, while she was a boarding student at the Lititz Moravian Girls' School. Elizawas from New Windsor, Frederick Co., Maryland where her father, John Dagen, was a merchant. The embroidery was worked in the memory of her mother, Elizabeth Myers Dagen, who had died in 1821, and the inscription reads accordingly. The embroidery portrays the maker herself, a young woman alone at her mother's tomb. Many of the characteristics most desired on Lititz school embroideries are included on this piece, such as the trio of angels, the marbleized tomb, the rose blossoms on the lawn and, of course, the wide chenille oval border with spangle appliques. Some of the Lititz embroideries include small watercolor scenes of houses on a lake as is the case with this example, with a wonderful reflection of the house in the water. This embroidery was in the private collection of Patricia Herr, author of the scholarly and definitive book about this school "The Ornamental Branches: Needlework
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and Arts from the Lititz Moravian Girls' School 1800- 1850." Eliza's embroidery is illustrated as figure 24 in this book. The file of genealogy and research that accompanies this embroidery includes copies of Trish Herr's research from the school's archives, indi(detail) eating, in May of 1822, a charge of $2.25 to Eliza Dagen's account. This no doubt related to her embroidered mourning piece and was most probably the payment to the watercolor artist, Peter Grosh, whose work is at its best on this particular piece.
est. 1947
M. Finkel e:J Daughter.
AMERICA's LEADING ANTIQUE sAMPLER AND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
Lititz Moravian Girls' School Silk Embroidery by Eliza Carolina Dagen of New Windsor, Frederick County, Maryland, 1822 (cont.)
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remains in its original stencil-painted original frame, which is likely the work of a local Maryland Worked in silk, chenille, coiled metallic thread and metallic spangles on silk, it is in excellent condition ghout.
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of the oval: 16 1/4'' x 14W'
Framed size: 27W' x 24"
Price: $38,000.
M. Finkel as Daughter.
est. 1947
AMERICA'S LEADING ANTIQUE SAMPLER AND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
Mary A. Clayton, Pennsylvania, circa 1835 This praiseworthy Pennsylvania German sampler is inscribed, "Needlework July 5th Forget Me Not Miss Mary A. Clayton. " It was illustrated by Tandy and Charles Hersh in their highly respected book, Samplers of the Pennsylvania Germans (published by the Pennsylvania German Society, 1991), as figure 6-46 and the sampler is significant for its unusual motifs. The source of these designs was a needlework pattern book written by Carl F. Egelmann and published in 1831 in Reading, Pennsylvania. Mr. Egelmann captioned these particular and innovative motifs "For Marking on Linen" and they enjoyed popularity with ladies decorating show towels; we find them, very occasionally, on samplers as well. Mary Clayton incorporated these designs onto her sampler, and they appear under the inscription. These Egelmann motifs, along with other uncommon depictions such as the roosters, render this sampler very interesting indeed. The scripted lettering furthers the visual interest and the stitching is very fine throughout the sampler. Worked in linen on tightly woven linen, the sampler is in very good condition with some slight darkening and loss to the linen. It has been conservation mounted Sampler size: 13W' x 11 W' Price: $5200. and is in a black painted frame.
Luigia Caratelli, Italy, 1815 We see far fewer Italian samplers than those made in other southern European countries and it is thought that the samplermaking tradition may not have been as important a part of the education of Italian girls as it was elsewhere. This is an interesting sampler because of its imagery: a dominant portrait of a soldier on horseback alongside a handsome arrangement of flowers springing forth from a basket and a scene of a formal garden of 18th century design. The lettering of the alphabet and inscription was carefully worked and seems to have been spaced to provide a top and a bottom to the sampler's composition. Various birds, butterflies and baskets fill in others areas and tight sawtooth borders frame it on four sides. Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a fine 19th century gold leaf frame. Sampler size: 12 W' x 18" Price: $3800.
est. 1947
M. Finke I ~ Daughter.
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Elizabeth Maurer, Mount Joy, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 1826
_ aunt Joy is a small town located on the Conewago Creek, just northwest of Lancaster with a population, in 1- , of 1552. Amongst the residents was the Maurer family and Daniel Maurer, a cabinetmaker, married atherine Deyer there in 1812. The eldest of their five children was Elizabeth Maurer, born in 1814. In 1826 jzabeth made this delightful sampler and stitched the name of the town after her own. She included a variety :alphabets, assorted motifs and a particularly appealing border with fat blossoms and buds on a leafy vine and -;and orne cornerblocks worked ' -ubtle colors. Elizabeth's sampler well repre- nts the excellent needlework ~ 12ted in this area throughout e decades of the early 19th entury. It descended in her * :nily for generations. Worked - -ilk on linen, the sampler is .., e..xcellent condition. It has -cen conservation mounted - â&#x20AC;˘o a maple and cherry corerblock frame.
Sampler size: 14W' x 17W' ?rice: S5800.
(detail)
est. 1947
AMERICA's LEADING ANTIQUE sAMPLER AND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
M. Finkel e:s Daughter.
Map of England & Wales, Ann Walley, 1797 Needleworked maps were produced in England the 18th and early 19th centuries as an advanced schoolroom exercise, combining lessons in both geography and the needle arts. These were ambitious projects, as the maps tended to be large and the makers were expected to pay exceptional attention to detail. Ann Walley produced this excellent sampler in 1797, with names of counties, towns, seas and oceans worked with tiny and precise stitches and the outlines and boundaries in variously colored silk chain stitch. The title and date are contained within a particularly handsome cartouche with banners and flowers intertwined. A wide border worked in deep brown and gold frames it nicely.
Worked in silk on linen, it is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a Hogarth frame. Sampler size: 22 " x 19t/4'' Price: $5200.
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(detail)
est. 1947
M. Finkel ~ Daughter.
AMERICA:s LEADING ANTIQUE sAMPLER AND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
Catharine G. Briggs, Hyde Park, New York, 1844 Quaker samplers were produced in many Friends communities from New England to Virginia. It is the shared Quaker characteristics rather than regional traits that define these samplers. Catharine Briggs' family was memers of the Crum Elbow Monthly Meeting, and this may also be where she attended school and made her sampler in 1844. Catharine was one of the twelve children of Job Briggs and Patience Greene, born in 1832. Her Briggs ancestor, Clement Briggs, came to America in 1621 on the ship Fortune arriving just days after the first Thanks-:l¡ving, while other of her ancestors were passengers on the Mayflower. Catherine married Henry Stringham in 57 and they resided in Pleasant Valley, New York. atharine's sampler indicates that she was learning to work her letters with a great variety of stitches. The alphaet is structured so that pairs of consecutive letters are worked in specific and difficult stitches, lending an inter.:-ting note to this work. The border is well-designed and beautifully stitched, with little birds on leafy branches -]everly worked into the lower corners. ¡orked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a cherry and maple cornerblock frame. pier size: 163/4'' square
Price: $5200.
est. 1947
AMERICA:s LEADING ANTIQUE sAMPLER AND NEEDLEwoRK DEALER
M. Finkel & Daughter.
Susan Burson, Springtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 1813 Very occasionally one comes across spectacular samplers with enormous folk appeal. Susan Burson, a fifteen year old Quaker girl from Bucks County, Pennsylvania created this outstanding example, a very large sampler and one of the most important of this type of sampler to become available in some years. Large free-form flowers and leaves on thorny stems form a strong central image, while fat white sheep parade across a lush green lawn. A basket of fruit, many birds on branches, an alphabet serving as a narrow border along the top and two wonderfully moralistic verses provide further interest. The needlework was accomplished in an unusually robust manner furthering the folk quality of the piece. Only two other known samplers share these specific and unusual characteristics and each is also dated 1813; the sampler by Elizabeth Funk, 1813, now in the collection of the Cooper-Hewitt I Smithsonian (published in American Samplers by Bolton & Coe, 1921, plate LII), is extremely similar to our Susan Burson sampler and it is obvious that the two girls sat side-by-side as they learned to work their samplers.
(detail)
Susan Burson was born in 1797, the fifth of the six children of Lydia Williams and David Burson, prominent Quakers whose families had settled in the area as early as 1684. Information about the Burson family, including Susan, is published in Early Friends Families of Upper Bucks by Clarence V. Roberts. In 1819 Susan married Charles Stroud, also of the Bucks County Quaker community. The Strouds became the parents of seven children between 1820 and 1835 and later removed to Monroe County, Pennsylvania. Her sampler descended in the family for many generations. Worked in silk on gauze-like linen, the sampler is in excellent condition with minor loss to the linen, having been conservation mounted into a maple frame. Sampler size: 243/4'' x 25"
Price: $35,000.
est.1947
M. Finke 1e:i Daughter.
AMERICA's LEADING ANTIQUE sAMPLER AND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
Susan Burson, Springtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 1813 (cont.)
est. 1947
AMERICA:s LEADINGANTIQUESAMPLERAND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
M. Finkel e9 Daughter.
Roseanna Hammond, England, 1809 We were pleased to have purchased this praiseworthy sampler which belongs to a small and very interesting group of examples that share the same excellent, unusual composition. These samplers feature a stepped diamond arrangement with luxuriant flowers in the four corners, some in bouquets caught with bowknots. Roseanna Hammond, working in 1809, also included other motifs that may be found on these samplers: the pair of stylized deer, little bees and shaded pine trees, with all of the work accomplished in extremely fine needlework. Additionally, decorative bands, crowns and a heart are fitted nicely into this centered arrangement. Worked in silk on wool, the sampler is in very good condition with one area of minor loss. It has been conservation mounted into its original carved and painted frame. Sampler size: 12 1/4'' x 12 W'
Price: $7800.
est. 1947
M. Finkel OJ Daughter.
AMERICA:s LEADING ANTIQUE sAMPLER AND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
Eliza Hemming, England, 1826 ~~~~~~~~~~~
English samplers can offer splendid house and arden scenes, and this outstanding sampler, .,·orked by Eliza Hemming in 1826 when she .,·as twelve years old, is a very appealing example. It has a fresh and naive character with e..xcellent details throughout, but most especially the stately Georgian house, which sits on a richly shaded lawn. The verse is an intere-ting one which is not generally found on a 5ampler; they are the first lines of a poem entitle "Sin's Embrace," and written by Alexander Pope (1688- 1744), the noted English poet. Two stylized trees, many birds and a butterfly rovide further interest. A very good border -urrounds the sampler on three sides and all of the needlework was very finely worked. It - in excellent condition, worked in silk on .,·ool and has been conservation mounted into i - original maple frame with a gilt liner. ~
mpler size: 173/4'' x 13W'
Price: $5800.
Headwork Picture, England, circa 1830 The technique of stitching tiny glass beads onto a linen canvas existed from the 17th century forth, but because it is enormously time consuming, few examples exist. Many of the 19th century examples portray vases of flowers or bucolic landscape scenes and most are neither signed nor dated. In that beads retain their strength of color and are so wonderfully lustrous, headwork pictures hold strong appeal. This is one of the most handsome headwork pictures we have come across, depicting a blue and white vase on a tabletop filled with specific blossoms: peony, anemone, delphinium and lily of the valley. An outer field worked entirely in gold beads is surrounded by a narrow Greek key border. The overall effect is splendid. Worked in glass beads on a linen ground, it is in excellent condition in a 19th century gold leaf frame. ize of the picture: 1OW' x 11 W'
Price: $2800. est. J947
AMERICA:s LEADING ANTIQUE sAMPLER AND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
M. Finkel e9 Daughter.
The Little Cottagers, silk embroidery, American, circa 1800 This endearing silk embroidery portrays a farmyard scene in which a young woman and a little girl feed a chicken and her baby chicks; subjects such as this, depicting people enjoying simple tasks in country settings, enjoyed great popularity in the 18th and early 19th centuries and appear on silk embroidered pictures worked throughout the United States. As with the great majority of silk embroideries, the source of the subject came from a published print that would have been available to schoolteachers. This particular scene was entitled "The Little Cottagers" and has appeared on other silk embroideries, most notably one in the collection of the Allentown Art Museum. It is an excellent example with a graceful compo-
sition and many appealing details. The needlework was executed with great skill indicating the maker's aptitude in the needle art. Worked in silk on silk, it is in excellent condition and is in a period gold leaf frame. Size of the needlework: 133/4'' x 13W'
Framed size: 17W' x 17"
Price: $7800.
Ruins of Rome, silk embroidery, England, circa 1790 In the late 18th century printwork silk embroidery enjoyed a great popularity; these are embroidered pictures which employed black thread and washes of grey paint to simulate the look of fine engravings. This is an excellent little printwork embroidery in which the maker used as her inspiration the work of master printmaker, Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778), whose depictions of Roman antiquity were very much in vogue. Pictured here is a compilation of classical Roman Ruins, including the Temples of Concord and Antonius, the Arch of Titus, Trojan's Pillar and Marcellus's Theatre. The needlework evidences extraordinary attention to detail throughout. Worked in silk and paint on silk with a border of silk chenille, it is in excellent condition in a 19th century gold leaf frame. Size of the embroidery: 7W' x lOW' Framed size: 11 " x 14W' Price: $2850.
tsl. 1947
M.Finkel e:J Daughter.
AMERICA'SLEADINGANTIQUESAMPLERAND
EEDLEWORKDEALER
Oodooville Boarding School sampler, Frances Ann Devereaux, Jaffna, Ceylon, 1863 Missionaries from New England established the American Ceylon Mission in 1816 which was run by the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, in Boston, Massachusetts. They introduced the local Hindu population to their religion, language and culture and provided education for the children. A school for girls, the Oodooville Boarding School, was in operation by 1823 and was considered to be the first ever school for non-whites run by white women. It continued throughout the 19th century and the Missionary Herald, a monthly publication out of Boston, chronicled its activities. Frances Ann Devereaux, whose mother and father were both Hindu (or "heathens" as was noted in the Missionary Herald under her name) entered the school in 1857. In accordance with the tradition of the school, she would have been baptized and assigned a new name; these names often were those of the American patrons who sent financial contributions to the organization. In 1863, Frances Ann Devereaux was one of ten girls in the oldest group of the school where she worked this handsome sampler, a rare example indeed in that very few samplers from this school are known to exist. The English alphabets are followed by the alphabet in Tamil, the native language of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Understandably, the nature of the sampler is very much like a sampler of the same period from the United States as the teacher was no doubt an American missionary schoolteacher. Worked in linen on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition with some minor weakness to the background. It has been conservation mounted into a mid 19th century cornerblock frame. Sampler size: 143/4'' x 1P/4''
Price: $5400.
est.J947
AMERICA:s LEADING ANTIQUE sAMPLER AND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
M. Finkel (:) Daughter.
SELECTED NEEDLEWORK BIBLIOGRAPHY Allen, Gloria Seaman. Family Record Genealogical Watercolors and Needlework. Washington, DC: DAR Museum, 1989. Bolton, Ethel Stanwood and Coe, Eve Johnston. American Samplers. Boston: The Massachusetts Society of the Colonial Dames of America, 1921. Brooke, Xanthe. Catalogue of Embroideries. The Lady Lever Art Callery. Alan Sutton Publishing Inc., 1992 Edmonds, Mary Jaene. Samplers and Samplermakers, An American Schoolgirl Art 1700-1850. New York: Rizzoli, 1991. Herr, Patricia T. The Ornamental Branches, Needlework and Art from the Lititz Moravian Girls' School Between 1800 and 1865. The Heritage Center Museum of Lancaster County, Pa, 1996. Epstein, Kathy. British Embroidery: Curious Works from the Seventeenth Century. Colonial Williamsburg and Curious Works Press, 1998. Hersh, Tandy and Charles. Samplers of the Pennsylvania Germans. Birdsboro, PA: Pennsylvania German Society, 1991. Humphrey, Carol. Samplers, Fitzwilliam Museum Handbooks. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Ivey, Kimberly Smith. In the Neatest Manner: The Making of the Virginia Sampler Tradition. Colonial Williamsburg and Curious Works Press, 1997. Krueger, Glee F. A Gallery of American Samplers: The Theodore H. Kapnek Collection. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1978. New England Samplers to 1840. Sturbridge, Massachusetts: Old Sturbridge Village, 1978. Ring, Betty. American Needlework Treasures. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1987. Girlhood Embroidery: American Samplers & Pictorial Needlework, 1650-1850. Knopf, 1993. Let Virtue be a Guide to Thee: Needlework in the Education of Rhode Island Women, 1730-1820. Providence: The Rhode Island Historical Society, 1983. Schiffer, Margaret B. Historical Needlework of Pennsylvania. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1968. Schorsch, Anita. Mourning Becomes America: Mourning Art in the New Nation. Clinton, New Jersey: The Main Street Press, 1976. Staples Epstein, Kathy, Tinley, Lynn. "Some Honest Worke in Hand ... " English Samplers from the Seventeenth Century. Greenville, South Carolina, 2001. This Have I Done: Samplers and Embroideries from Charleston and the Lowcountry. Curious Works Press and the Charleston Museum, 2002. Studebaker, Sue. Ohio Samplers, School Girl Embroideries 1803-1850. Warren County Historical Society, 1988. Ohio Is My Dwelling Place. Ohio: Ohio University Press, 2002. Swan, Susan B. Plain and Fancy: American Women and Their Needlework, 1700-1850. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1977.
est. 1947
M. Finke I ~ Daughter.
7
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Conservation Mounting of Antique SamplerBecause of the important role that condition plays in the field of anti . .: :: ,....., to insure that these pieces undergo proper preservation while in our arc. B _ tion of the "conservation mounting" process. Our techniques are imp the dust and dirt particles mechanically, never wet-cleaning the te1.iil -. \ ¡c - museum-approved techniques throughout the process. Please call u regard. :J
Carefully clean the piece using our special vacuum process.
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Mount it by means of hand-sewing onto acid-free museum board that has een lip-cased with fabric appropriate to the piece itself, and at the same time stabilize any holes or weak areas. Re-fit the item back into its original frame, or custom-make a reproduction of an 1 th or early 19th century frame using one of our exclusive patterns.
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Supply a reverse painted black glass mat, if appropriate, done in correct antique manner.
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When necessary, install TruVue Conservation Clear glass which blocks 97% of the harmful ultraviolet light. In the framing process, the needlework is properly spaced away from the glass, the wooden frame is sealed, and the dust cover is attached with special archival tape.
Reverse of Collet Fiche Embroidery, France, late 18th century page 17
= ~ ~ ~. .:
detail of silk embroidery, The Little Cottagers, American, circa 1800 page 30
detail of sampler by Ann Jane Gould, New England, 1819 page 14
est. 1947
M. Finkel e:J Daughter. AMERICA' S LEADING ANTIQUE SAMPLER & NEEDLEWORK DEALER
936 Pine Street. Philadelphia . Pennsylvania . 19107-6128 215-627-7797. 800-598-7432. fax 215-627-8199 www.samplings.com