Object Name: Sampler
Object ID: 1903.015
Creator: Hemphill, Achsah (1798-1888)
Place of Origin: Windham, NH
Date: 1810 circa
Description: Sampler. Made by Achsah Hemphill (1798-1888), Windham, NH; c.1810. Silk twist embroidered on loosely woven tan linen with three alphabets, all in cross stitch: first, capital block letters in alternating green, cream, brown, and black colors; second, script capitals with one line in brown, second line in black, third line in green, and fourth line in cream, followed by an ampersand and two flower baskets. Below this is the third alphabet, of lower-case letters in alternating green and brown, with the second line flanked by flower baskets. In the lower half of the sampler is cross-stitched the verse: "A sinful creature I was born / And from the womb I strayd / I must be wretched and forlorn / Without thy mercys aid / But Christ can all my sins forgive / And wash away their stain / And fit my soul with him to live / And in his kingdom reign." At the bottom is a design of a double-handled urn of flowers flanked by flowers on trunk-like stems. The sampler is bordered on the sides with a zig-zag vine of strawberries and rose buds. The rose buds are worked in queen stitch. Other stitches used in the borders and decorative lines that separate the elements of the sampler are Algerian eye, satin, slant, long-and-short, and buttonhole. The bottom edge of the linen is selvage; the sides are hemmed, and the top is raw. "Made by Miss Achsah Hemphill abt. 1810. / Gift of Mrs. Horace Berry, Windham, N.H. / December 23, 1903." typed on white paper label with red border that had been attached to back of frame. Verse from The Dying Exercises of Susannah Wright, of Weekly, near Kettering, A Child Under Twelve Years of Age; In A letter From Her Mother to Mr. Andrew Fuller, Kettering, 1802, 6.
Material: Textile
Linen
Silk
Wool
Dimensions: H-18.9 W-12.4 inches
Provenance: Harriet G. H. Berry was the granddaughter of Margaret Hemphill Cochran (1782-1851), the younger sister of Jane Hemphill (1771-1867), the mother of Achsah Hemphill.
Credit Line: Gift of Harriet G. H. Berry
People:
Hemphill, Achsah (1798-1888),
Berry, Harriet G. H. (1844-1905)
Subjects:
Embroidery,
Needlework