Wednesday 26 October 2016

American Folk Art - part 2: Samplers

Continuing a major series on American Folk Art featuring 21 postings. Folk Art encompasses art produced by artists and ordinary folk with little or no training in the arts, and is traditionally utilitarian and decorative rather than purely aesthetic. The period I’m covering is the C18th and C19th.
For an overview of the series with lots of examples see part 1 also.

Part 2 features Samplers and other needlework. The earliest known American Sampler was made by Loara Standish of Plymouth Colony in about 1645. The sampler is embroidered on fine linen using blue. green, pink and red silk thread: 



Loara Standish Sampler c 1645
60 x 18.5 cm

By the 1700s samplers depicting alphabets and numerals were worked by young women to learn basic needlework skills. By the late 1700s and early 1800s schools and academies for well-to-do young woman flourished, and more elaborate pieces with decorative motifs such as verses, flowers, houses, religious and mourning scenes were being made.

This is part 2 of a 21-part post on American Folk Art:


1648 Embroidered Sampler by Mary Pots
silk on linen 87.6 x 21 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

1721 Embroidered Sampler by Anne Chase, Newport, Rhode Island
wool and silk 31.1 x 21 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

1725 Sampler embroidered by Mary Burgess (aged 9), Rhode Island
linen plain weave embroidered with silk 42.6 x 19.7 cm
Museum of FIne Arts, Boston, MA

1739 Embroidered by Ruth Rogers, Boston, MA
silk on linen 46.4 x 22.9 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

1739 Sampler embroidered by Anne Wing (b.1726) Boston, MA
linen plain weave embroidered with silk in reversible cross, eyelet, satin, couching, herringbone, running, and speckling
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA 

1743 Sampler embroidered by Mary Fleet (b.1729) Boston, MA
linen plain weave embroidered with silk in reversible cross, stem, and Romanian stitches
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

1747 Sampler embroidered by Mary Dowrick, Boston, MA
linen plain weave embroidered with silk 43.2 x 21 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

1748c Canvas-work by Hannah Carter
silk and wool on linen 55 x 48 cm

1750-1800 Sampler embroidered by Hepzibah Lord
32.1 x 23.5 cm linen plain weave embroidered with silk and metallic thread
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

1750c Canvas-work linen plain weave with wool and silk embroidery tent stitch
60cm x 60 cm approximately
RISD Museum, Providence, RI

1754c Embroidered Picture by Mary Wright (1740-1828)
linen embroidered with wool and silk thread 19.4 x 19.4 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

1764 Sampler by Dorothy Ashton (b. 1751) Salem, New England
48 x 40 cm linen plain weave embroidered with silk and metallic thread
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

1775 Sampler by Ann Clarkson (American b.  c1765 Britain) New York State
wool plain weave embroidered with silk
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

1786 Sampler by Ann Anthony (b.1776) Newport, Rhode Island
linen plain weave embroidered with silk 45 x 32.4 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

1788 Embroidered Sampler by Mary Munro (b.1776)
embroidered silk on linen 34.3 x 26 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

1788 Sampler by Rebecca Carter, Providence, RI
silk, metallic thread and human hair on linen 48.9 x 34.3 cm
American Folk Art Museum, New York City

1789 Sampler by Caty Field aged 7, Mary Balch's School, Providence, RI
silk on linen 41.9 x 26 cm
American Folk Art Museum, New York City

1790c Sampler "Work-d by Eunice Hooper in The Ninth Year of her Age" Marblehead, MA
silk on linen 53.3 x 54 cm
Private Collection

1791c Embroidered Sampler by Rebekah S. Munro, Providence, RI
40 x 29.8 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

1792c Embroidered Sampler by Patty Coggleshall (1780-1797)
49.5 x 42.2 cm  Bristol, RI
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

1795 Embroidered Sampler by Mary Jones
embroidered silk and linen with gold leaf on linen 38.7 x 33.7 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

1796 Sampler by Anne "Nancy" Moulton aged 10, Newburyport, MA
silk on linen 59 x 50.8 cm
Huntingdon Library Art Collections

1796 Sampler embroidered by Abigail Gould, New York
linen plain weave embroidered with silk and wool 25 x 30 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

1797 Sampler embroidered by Betsy Davis, Providence, RI
linen plain weave embroidered with silk 44.5 x 36.5 cm
Museum of FIne Arts, Boston, MA

1799 Embroidered Sampler by Millsent Connor (b.1789)
embroidered silk on linen 53.7 x 41.3 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

1800 Embroidered Sampler by Laura Hyde (b.1787)
silk on lined 33.7 x 33 cm Franklin, Connecticut
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

1800 Sampler embroidered by Mary Ann Huntting (b.1790) Dorchester, MA
linen plain weave embroidered with silk 62.2 x 56 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

1804 Sampler embroidered by Harriet Boardman (b.1794) Dover, MA
wool and linen plain weave embroidered with silk 43 x 28 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

1807 Embroidered Sampler by Julia Ann Fitch (b.1792)
silk on linen 45.7 x 40 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

1804 Sampler embroidered by Ann Folwill, Burlington, New Jersey
linen plain weave embroidered with silk and metallic thread, paper, pigment 31.8 x 45.7 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

1807 Embroidered Sampler by Julia Ann Fitch (b.1792)
silk on linen 45.7 x 40 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

1807 Sampler by 12 year old Mary Antrim 
(It sold for over $1 million at auction)

1808 Sampler embroidered by Mary Noble (b.1798), Portsmouth, NH
wool and linen plain weave embroidered with silk
Museum of FIne Arts, Boston, MA

1809 Sampler embroidered by Mabel Jenkins (b.1795)
linen plain weave embroidered with silk 47 x 43.6 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

1811c Sampler embroidered by Rebecah French (b.1802) New Hampshire
linen plain weave embroidered with silk 50.5 x 45 cm
Museum of FIne Arts, Boston, MA

1814 Sampler embroidered by Charlotte Green
linen plain weave embroidered with silk 42 x 31.1 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

1820 Sampler by Elizabeth Stone aged about 16
silk on linen 40.6 x 40 cm
Huntingdon Library Art Collections

1826 Embroidered Sampler by Margaret A Cassedy, Washington, DC
silk on linen 41.9 x 39.4 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

1826 Embroidered Sampler by Mary Davis, Baltimore, Maryland
silk and silk chenille on linen
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

1829 Genealogy Sampler embroidered by Mary Crawford Jennings, Massachusetts
linen plain weave embroidered with silk 50.8 x 47.3 cm
Museum of FIne Arts, Boston, MA

1829 Sampler by Jane Hammell aged 9, Burlington County, NJ
silk on linen 44.4 x 42.5 cm

1830 Embroidered Sampler by Mary Ann Stauffer, Lancaster County, East Hempfield, PA
silk on linen 60.3 x 64.1 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

1831 Sampler embroidered by Sarah Ann Buck, Connecticut
linen plain weave embroidered with silk 45.1 x 45.7 cm
Museum of FIne Arts, Boston, MA

1832 Sampler embroidered by Jane Felton (b.1822)
linen plain weave embroidered with silk 47 x 49.5 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

1832c Genealogy Sampler embroidered by Julyann Boyer (b.1816) Berks County, Amity Township, PA
linen plain weave embroidered with silk 43.3 x 43.8 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

1833 Sampler embroidered by Nancy Russell (b.c1819) New England
linen plain weave embroidered with silk 44 x 45 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

1840 Sampler by Isabel Arthur aged 10, Bethel Park, PA
wool on linen 41.9 x 61 cm
Huntingdon Library Art Collections

1844 Sampler by Sarah Maria Hunt aged about 14
wool on linen 41.p x 61 cm
Huntingdon Library Art Collections

1844 Shaker Sampler by Mariah Boil (b.1832)
33 x 29.8 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

1850s Sampler by A A Wilhite, Martha Wilhite, J B Wilhite
52.1 x 47 cm

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