Object number1997.7.163
Sampler
Date1814
Artist
Lydia Burrough
(American, born Maple Shade, Burlington, New Jersey)
Author
James Thomson
(Scottish, 1700 - 1748)
CultureAmerican
MediumSilk threads and silk ribbon on linen ground
DimensionsSight (Textile): 27 1/2 x 23 in. (69.8 x 58.4 cm)
Framed: 32 1/4 x 28 1/4 in. (81.9 x 71.8 cm)
Framed: 32 1/4 x 28 1/4 in. (81.9 x 71.8 cm)
Credit LineTransfer from Vassar College Libraries, Special Collections, Martha Clawson Reed Collection
On View
Not on viewPeriod19th c
Classification(s)
SignedAt center: Lydia Burrough
InscribedUpper center in black thread: Contemplation / As yet 'tis midnight deep, The weary, clouds / Slow meeting mingle into solid gloom. / Now while the drousy world lies lost in sllep / Let me associat with the serious Night, / And contemplation her sedate compeer; / Let me shake off the intrusive cares of day, / And lay the medling senses all aside. / Lydia Burrough / Chesterford School. / 1814
BibliographyBrooks, Mary Uhl. Threads of Useful Learning: Westtown School Samplers. West Chester, PA: Westtown School, 2015, p. 124, fig. 65; Thanks be to my Friends: Selected Samplers from the Collection of the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center. Poughkeepsie: FLLAC, 2004, n.p. Vassar Exhibitions
Exhibition HistoryThanks be to my Friends: Selected Samplers from the Collection of the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, June 5 - July 18, 2004Label TextRepresentative of the many samplers made as school assignments, this large example inscribed with " Lydia Burrough / Chesterford School / 1814" demonstrates the young maker's multifaceted talents in embroidery. The building does not represent her New Jersey schoolhouse, which still survives today. As part of her assignment, Burrough would have chosen the colors and stitch patterns for each object she depicted. Every element reflects her hand: from the tiny white threads that make up the architectural details on the house to the long shimmery stitches in the arching banner of blue sky. These many different embroidered patterns lend this two-dimensional picture a sculptural quality.
DescriptionIn the top register is an extract from James Thomson's poem Winter, from The Seasons, in typical Quaker style with black thread and black twining wreath. Also contained within the wreath, below a dividing line is Lydia's signature flanked by matching baskets of flowers. The surrounding area is filled with scattered floral sprigs, a signature Quaker motif. The large building depicted below is the famous Quaker School in Westtown, New Jersey that Lydia would later attend. The school building is set between matching pairs of cypress and willow trees within an oval lawn displaying two swans, all under an arching sky. An undulating flowering vine borders the composition. The attached pleated silk border is a feature of Pennsylvania and New Jersey samplers. Thread colors are pink, green, blue, yellow, rust, black, and white.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge.
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