Object number1960.9.21
Sampler
Datec. 1750
Artist
Jean Baird
(English)
CultureScottish
Mediumsilk threads on linen
DimensionsSight: 14 3/4 x 12 in. (37.47 x 30.48 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mrs. James W. Packard (Elizabeth Gillmer, class of 1894)
On View
Not on viewPeriod18th c
Classification(s)
SignedJean Baird
InscribedAB/GB/MF/IB / AB REMEMBER THY CREATOR AND RED/ EEMER IN THE DAYS OF THY YOWTH/ JEAN BAIRD WAS BORN THE 29 MAY I S THIS WAS SEWED THE YR 175_ M D WB
Exhibition HistoryPoughkeepsie, New York, FLLAC, Vassar College, "Modeling Femininity: Art and the Moral Education of Nineteenth-Century Women," January 27-March 15, 2000.DescriptionThe Jean Baird sampler is composed of 4 decorative bands in the upper half of the sampler above a scenic band and an inscription framed within an elongated horizontal lozenge. The top band is an arcade incorporating linked diamonds and supporting alternating upright and pendant single flowers and foliage. The arcade of the second band enfolds a repetitive formal motif of basket and flowers. The third row is a balanced arrangement of confronting peacocks and parrots centered on an urn of round fruits. The Scottish motif of hares and pine trees [See Notes] in the fourth row is centered on a recumbent deer and interrupted by a female figure in a pink dress with a little dog and embellished with flowering plants and birds. The baronial castle and red-coated official carrying a mace that dominates the scenic band is a frequent motif of Scottish samplers. The scene here includes 4 crowns, 6 initials, a flanking pair of flowering trees with birds, one with a squirrel, and flowering plants in urns. Within the lozenge is a verse, the name of the maker, her birth day but not year, the date of the sampler, and two more sets of initials. The composition is framed by a simple flowers and berries border. Predominant colors are red and green and secondary colors are yellow, pink, brown, black, blue, cream, and white.
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