Object Name: Sampler
Object ID: 1947.016.01
Creator: Merrill, Lucretia (1776-1866)
Place of Origin: Epsom, NH/Pembroke, NH/Stratham, NH
Date: 1802
Description: Sampler. Made by Lucretia Merrill (1776-1866), Epsom, Pembroke and Stratham, NH; 1802. Sampler of alphabets and verses worked in silk twist on very sheer, loosely-woven linen. The sampler is a fragment of the original, as it appears that it has had sections cut out of it, perhaps to make it fit into a frame. Across the top is a remnant of an alphabet of block capital letters worked in Algerian eye stitch; this strip is seamed to the next section of the sampler, which consists of a script capitals alphabet, with the letters T through Z and an ampersand on the second line flanked by the numbers one through three and four though nine. The next line is a small-scale alphabet of capital block letters in cross stitch; followed on the next line by an alphabet of lower-case letters, an ampersand, and numbers nine and ten. This section is seamed to the rest of the sampler, again indicating a missing section. The following verses and inscription are worked on this lower section of the sampler: "I know the right and I approve it too / I know the wrong and yet the wrong pursue [with "pursue" on the above line because she ran out of room] / Death parts united hearts [followed by conjoined heart designs] / Life how short, eternity how long. [followed by a coffin design] / Lucretia Merrill's sampler Wrought in / Epsom Pembrock and Stratham 1802 / Surviveing [sic] friends when this you see / Mourn mourn for sin and not for me." A narrow border of motifs of birds, stylized flowering plants, and a basket of fruit appears across the bottom. The sampler is almost entirely worked in cross stitch, with some satin and outline stitches used in the border design. Three sides of the sampler are cut and left raw; the left side is hemmed. A simple chevron border is cross-stitched inside the left and lower edges. The first quote: "I know the right and I approve it too / I know the wrong and yet the wrong pursue" is a variation on a translation from Book 7 of Ovid's Metamorphoses.
Material: Textile
Linen
Silk
Dimensions: H-12.75 W-13.25 inches
Credit Line: Gift of Charles H. Batchelder
People:
Merrill, Lucretia (1776-1866),
Batchelder, Charles H. (1876-1948)
Subjects:
Coffins,
Birds,
Flowers,
Hearts,
Embroidery