Sampler

Object Name: Sampler

Object ID: 1969.504.05

Creator: Hart, Lydia

Place of Origin: Boston, MA

Date: 1731

Description: Sampler. Made by Lydia Hart (1719-17? ), Boston, MA; 1731. Band sampler worked in silk twist threads on plain-woven linen with approximately twenty different decorative bands in a long and narrow configuration. Colors used include pale blue, cream, two shades of green, lavender, pink, yellow, and red. The bands include geometric as well as stylized floral designs in cross, satin, eyelet, and long-armed cross stitches. About one-third of the way down the sampler is worked an alphabet of capital block letters [without a J or U], and two more lines below the alphabet is the inscription: "LYDIA HART IS MY NAME / AND WITH MY NEEDLE I / WROUGHT THE SAME BUT IF / MY SKILL IT HAD BEEN / BETTER I WOULD HAVE / MENDED EVERY LETTER." This inscription is worked in tiny eyelet stitches. Several more lines down appears another alphabet [the same as above], and close to the bottom is a further inscription: "LH FEBRUARY THE 4 DAY / 1731." The sampler is conservation-mounted in a frame that is sympathetic to the period style, with a gilded inner lip.

Material: Textile
Linen
Silk

Dimensions: H-18.4 W-7.75 inches

Credit Line: New Hampshire Historical Society Collection

People: Hart, Lydia (1719- )

Subjects: Domestic life, Education, Embroidery, Sewing, Women's education

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