Object Name: Sampler
Object ID: 2004.032
Creator: Hastings, Esther (1816-1843)
Place of Origin: Lyman, NH
Date: 1830
Description: Sampler. Made by Esther Hastings (1816-1843), Lyman, NH, 1830. Silk twist on linen, worked with five alphabets: first, script capital letters in cross stitch, followed by numbers one through ten; second, block capital letters worked in squares of satin stitch; third, small-scale block capital letters worked in cross stitch; fourth, large block capital letters worked in eyelet stitch (similar to Algerian eye stitch, but pulled tighter to create a hole); fifth, lower-case letters worked in cross stitch. Following the alphabets, which cover the upper half of the sampler, are two verses: "Wisdom to gold prefer for tis much less / To make your fortune than your happiness," and "Jesus permit thei gracious name to stand / As the first effort of Esther hand / And Whilst her fingers oer this canvas moove [sic] / Engage her tender heart to seek thy love." Below this is the inscription, "Esther Hastings / Wrought this in 1830." Within her verses, Esther works her "s" letters backwards. Flanking and below the lower inscriptions are scattered stylized floral motifs; this area is unfinished. A border of an hourglass chain edges the sampler. Top and bottom edges of the linen are hemmed; sides are selvage. The design resembling an "A" at the lower center appears to have been added later by an unschooled hand, as the cross stitches are not worked over counted threads. Colors of silk thread used are predominately black and green, and cream that was probably originally pink.
Material: Textile
Linen
Silk
Dimensions: H-16.5 W-17.6 inches
Provenance: According to a letter attached to the back of the frame, from Mattie E. Martin of Waban, Mass, dated Nov. 17, 1954, the sampler was given to Mattie by her aunt Annette when Mattie was a little girl. Esther Hastings was Mattie's paternal grandmother. Mattie gave the sampler to Mrs. Eva S. Johnson, a "distant relative," of Waban, Mass., in 1954.
Credit Line: New Hampshire Historical Society Purchase, Katharine Prentis Murphy Fund
People:
Hastings, Esther (1816-1843)
Subjects:
Alphabets (Writing systems)