Object number1997.7.139
Sampler
Date1806
Artist
Margaret Doyle
(American)
CultureAmerican
MediumSilk threads on linen ground
DimensionsSight (tall rectangle): 20 3/4 x 17 1/8 in. (52.7 x 43.5 cm)
Framed (vintage frame with glass): 22 7/8 x 19 1/4 x 5/8 in. (58.1 x 48.9 x 1.6 cm)
Framed (vintage frame with glass): 22 7/8 x 19 1/4 x 5/8 in. (58.1 x 48.9 x 1.6 cm)
Credit LineTransfer from Vassar College Libraries, Special Collections, Martha Clawson Reed Collection
On View
Not on viewPeriod19th c
Classification(s)
SignedBC: Margaret Doyle
Inscribed Oh may our follies like the falling trees/Be stript of ev'ry leaf by autumn's wind/May every branch of vice embrace the breeze/And nothing leave but virtue's fruit behind/ Margaret Doyle Aged/ 10 years 1806
DescriptionMargaret Doyle's sampler is a sophisticated and well-preserved composition displaying 3 alphabets, an unusual ligature, and a number sequence 1 -12. The composition is not easy to categorize and there remains the possibility that it is not American. Worked in red, green, brown, yellow , blue , tan and pink silk threads, the sampler displays a formal crenellated outer border of mixed flowers on the sides and variegated queen stitched strawberries at the top and bottom. An inner border of twisted vines and small pink flowers encloses the alphabets, linked diamond frame, the verse within a linked diamond frame and the inscription surrounded by a frame of roses and vines. A dividing line of long-arm cross stitch separates the first two alphabets and decorative lines of pink roses complete the number line and underscore the third alphabet whose line is completed by three birds worked in pink, blue, and red. The verse has not been identified but Bolton and Coe lists 1806 as the first appearance of this verse on an American sampler. The verse also appeared on the Bucks County, PA sampler worked by Maria Thomas in 1828 .(https://archive.org/stream/collectionofpape05buck/collectionofpape05buck_djvu.txt).
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge.
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