SKINNER American Furniture & Decorative Arts

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212.
Needlework Sampler, “Rebecca Whites Sampler worked in the twelfth
year of her age 1797,” possibly Lancaster, Massachusetts, stitched
with silk threads on a linen ground, with rows of alphabets over a large
potted flower, flanked by baskets of fruit and flowers and enclosed on
three sides with a sawtooth border and a wide geometric flowering vine,
(toning), 17 1/2 x 11 3/4 in., unframed.
Note: This sampler is possibly the work of Rebecca White (b. April 10,
1785), the first child of nine born to Joseph and Rebecca (Hoar) White
of Lancaster, Massachusetts. The sampler was found in the 1970s, in
the home of a relative of Mary Elizabeth Sawyer (Mary of the nursery
rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb”) of Sterling, Massachusetts (Sterling
was once part of Lancaster). The name “Mary L. Sawyer” is inscribed
on a paper label stitched to the upper left of the sampler.
$600-800
213.
Large Needlework Sampler, “Abigail Walker AE’t 11 Y/1796,” possibly
Quincy, Massachusetts, area, worked in silk threads on a linen ground
with rows of alphabets over a pious verse and borders of ladies, birds
on a tree, and potted flowering plants, enclosed on three sides with a
sawtooth border and a wide geometric chain border with stylized flower
motifs, (toning, fading, scattered stitch losses), 21 x 15 1/2 in. (sight), in
a later molded wood frame.
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Literature: A sampler with similarities in composition is illustrated
in American Samplers, by Bolton & Coe, originally published by the
Society of the Colonial Dames of America, Massachusetts, 1921, on p.
81. The sampler was made by a girl from Quincy, Massachusetts.
$300-500
14 additional information and photos at www.skinnerinc.com