Object Name: Sampler
Object ID: 1945.017.02
Creator: Huse, Rebecca (1810-1882)
Place of Origin: Hopkinton, NH
Date: 1827
Description: Sampler. Made by Rebecca Huse (1810-1882), Hopkinton, NH; 1827. Oval center filled with alphabets and a verse: first, an alphabet of large block capitals worked in cross stitches, followed by "RH" in squares of satin stitches and "RH" in eyelet stitches (similar to Algerian eye stitch, but pulled tighter to create a hole); second, script capital letters in cross stitches; third, block capitals on a small scale in cross stitches, followed by numbers one through nine. Below this is a verse: "Plain as this canvass [sic] was as Plain we find / Unaltered unadorn.d the female mind / No fine ideas fill the vacant soul / No graceful coloring animates the whole / With close attention carefully inwrought / Fain education Paints the Pleasing thought / Inserts the curious lines in ProPer ground / Completes the work and scatters roses round." At center bottom below the oval frame is cross stitched the inscription: "Rebecca Huse of HoPkinton Aged 16 yrs / Wrought this November the 2 1827 Under the / Instruction of Miss M. Hoyt." Around the simple oval sawtooth frame are scattered sprays of roses and grapes. An unidentified flower appears at center top. Quarter fans in corners. Stitches in the border and sawtooth frame include surface satin and satin, split, New England laid, chain, French knots, and outline stitches. Colors are predominately pale aqua, shades of cream and yellow, and tan, but inspection of the back reveals that original colors were pink, brown, and darker green. Hemstitched edges. The verse was among verses written for the samplers of three young ladies, published in the Poetical Essays section of The Boston Magazine for May 1784, p. 296.
Material: Textile
Silk
Dimensions: H-16.5 W-17.8 inches
Provenance: Donor is the granddaughter of Rebecca Huse Blanchard (1810-1882), married Sawyer Blanchard, 1837.
Credit Line: Gift of Marie E. Blanchard
People:
Huse, Rebecca (1810-1882),
Hoit, Mehitable (1804-1854),
Blanchard, Marie E. (1882-1945)