Object number1997.7.38
Sampler
Date1838
Artist
Currently Unidentified
CultureAmerican
MediumSilk threads on linen ground
DimensionsSight (mostly square): 14 x 12 3/4 in. (35.6 x 32.4 cm)
Mount: 11 7/8 x 10 3/4 in. (30.2 x 27.3 cm)
Framed (vintage frame with glass): 14 x 12 3/4 x 3/4 in. (35.6 x 32.4 x 1.9 cm)
Mount: 11 7/8 x 10 3/4 in. (30.2 x 27.3 cm)
Framed (vintage frame with glass): 14 x 12 3/4 x 3/4 in. (35.6 x 32.4 x 1.9 cm)
Credit LineTransfer from Vassar College Libraries, Special Collections, Martha Clawson Reed Collection
On View
Not on viewPeriod19th c
Classification(s)
SignedAt bottom: APS
InscribedAt bottom: APS 1838
BibliographyBolton, Ethel Stanwood and Eva Johnson Coe. America Samplers. The National Society of Colonial Dames of American, Massachusetts [Boston], 1921DescriptionThe APS 1838 sampler is distinguished by its large, embellished, open-face alphabet worked in cross-stitch. The lettering of the alphabet is in the Benezet style, a lettering style designed by Anthony Benezet, the widely influential Anglo-American Quaker educator (descendant of a French Huguenot family) who, after moving to Philadelphia, published "The Pennsylvania Spelling Book". The alphabet style stitched by APS was published in the 1782 edition of the book and recommended for use on samplers. The style is seen most often on Pennsylvania samplers and Irish Quaker samplers, especially the samplers of the Mountmellick Quaker School. On the APS sampler, the decorative band at the bottom features stylized flowers, confronting birds, strawberries, and scattered diamonds. Thread colors are green, rust, pink, blue, and black. Dividing bands are stitched in a long-arm cross and the decorative band at the bottom includes a queen stitch. The sampler has been mounted on a green cloth.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge.
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