Sampler

Object Name: Sampler

Object ID: 1969.504.02

Creator: Knowles, Betsey C. (1808-1882)

Place of Origin: Northfield, NH

Date: 1821

Description: Sampler. Made by Betsy C. Knowles (1808-1882), Northfield, NH; 1821. Silk threads on linen, worked with four alphabets: capital block letters in Algerian eye stitch; script capital letters in cross stitch, followed by numbers one through thirteen; capital block letters in cross stitch; and lower-case block letters in cross stitch. Below the lines of alphabet appears the inscription block: "Betsy C. Knowles / Sampler Wrought / In the Fourteenth / Year of Her Age / Anno Domini 1821." All of the lettering is worked in black silk threads. Flanking the inscription block are inked drawings of trees which were not stitched. Additionally, inked lines of a floral vine and an undulation indicating the ground are only partially embroidered with pink flowers and green leaves in a combination of New England laid stitch, outline, and satin stitches. A band design of a strawberry vine is worked across the approximate center of the sampler; the vine is cross-stitched, while the berries are a petit point cross stitch (worked over one thread instead of two). A chevron design worked in golden brown eyelet stitch frames the lines of alphabets; this border is also unfinished, with only a small portion of green satin stitching filling the zig-zags of the chevron on the left side. All edges are hemstitched with black silk thread. A small section of an intended pink sawtooth border inside the hemmed edge is worked in satin stitch at the upper left corner.

Material: Textile
Linen
Silk

Dimensions: H-14 W-16.25 inches

Credit Line: New Hampshire Historical Collection

People: Knowles, Betsey C. (1808-1882)

View Transcription