Sampler (2083)

marking | linen ground ~ cream ~ loose weave | silk thread ~ light green ~ pink ~ black | cross stitch | herringbone stitch | hemmed

Marking sampler, silk thread on linen ground. Two upper case alphabets: Roman, taking two lines, the first line half in green and half in (faded) red; then Italic alphabet all in black. Lastly, a lower case Roman alphabet a-v on one line. Last line has maker's name and age. A green zig-zag is at the top of the sampler before the alphabets. First two dividing lines are pale green; additional dividing line on second line in red in herringbone stitch; the remainder are plain cross-stitch lines in black. A border of a single row of pale green cross stitch outlines the whole. Hemmed on four sides.

Provenance Narrative
Sarah Whipple Bruce was born on April 4, 1815 in Grafton, Massachusetts. Her parents were Joseph and Harriet Bruce, also of Grafton, Massachusetts. Sarah was nine years old when she made this alphabetic sampler in 1824.

Place Made
United States MASSACHUSETTS Worcester Co. Grafton

Signatures/Marks
ABCDEFGHIJKLMN
OPQRSTUVWXYZ
ABCDEFGHIK
LMNOPQRS
TUVWXYZ
abcdefghiklmnopqrstuv
Sarah W. Bruce aged 9