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