Sampler

Period1784

MediumPlied silk thread, natural linen ground

Dimensions16.63 × 12.5 in. (42.2 × 31.8 cm)

SignedBeneath the second verse is the inscription, "Margaret Paschall / Her Sampler Made In / The Twelveth Year / Of Her Age In The Year / Of Our Lord 1784."

ClassificationsNeedlework

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Julia Hartshorne Trask, 1946

Object number2084.36

DescriptionA rectangular sampler is worked on an evenly woven linen ground in plied silk threads. The back of the sampler gives an indication of the embroidery's original colors of deep forest green, olive green, clear sky blue, pale golden yellow, rich brick red, russet brown, bright lilac, and pearly white. The sampler features two verses. On the top half in a rectangular border formed by a simple long and short stitch banding is the verse "The Bed Was Earth The Raised Pillow / Stone Whereon Poor Jacob Rest His Head / His Bone Heaven Was His Cannophe [canopy] The / Shades Of Night Was His Drawn Curtain / To Exclude The Light Poor State Of Jacob / Here It Seems To Me His Cattel Found As / Soft A Bed As He Yet GOD Appeared There / His Joy His Crown Yet GOD Is Not Al- / ways Found In Beds of Down." Tiny single floral motifs are used at the ends of some of the verse lines as spacers. On the bottom half of the the sampler is a narrow rectangular border formed by a simple long and short stitch banding with a second verse "Blest Are The Humble Souls That See / Their Emptiness And Poverty / Treasures Of Grace To Them Are Given / And Crowns Of Joy Laid Up In Heavn." A small pine tree, a short strawberry vine, and a single floral element serve as spacers after several of the verse lines. Beneath the second verse is the inscription "Margaret Paschall / Her Sampler Made In / The Twelveth Year / Of Her Age In The Year / Of Our Lord 1784." A wide floral and foliate border is worked along the top, left, and right sides of the sampler and between the top and bottom verse rectangles, depicting flowers including tulips, carnations, and roses, with two birds perched amid the foliage. Along the bottom of the sampler is a pictorial scene of three small green hills with small floral sprays, a short-eared brown rabbit, and a leaping fox.
Curatorial RemarksMargaret Paschall's sampler is the finest 18th century American example in the Association's extensive collection of needlework. In general, eighteenth century Quaker parents made sure that both their sons and daughters received good educations. Although it is unknown where or with whom Margaret Paschall studied, it is clear that her needlework instruction was excellent. Her sampler design, with virtually no unembroidered linen ground, features striking and exuberant floral and foliate designs worked in stitches that used a large amount of expensive silk thread. Margaret's unknown teacher may well have been someone who learned her needlework in England, as the sampler has much in common with those produced in Great Britain during the golden age of English embroidery. It was common for newspapers in America to feature advertisements placed by foreign female instructors describing their sophisticated needlework skills to parents, relying on the cachet of European training to garner pupils.NotesTwelve year old Margaret Paschall completed her elaborate sampler in 1784. Born on 13 September 1772 in Chester County, Pennsylvania, Margaret was the second of twelve children of Dr. Henry Paschall (1746 - 1835) and his wife Ann P. Garrett (1752 - 1820). The Paschalls and their ten daughters and two sons appear frequently in period Quaker records. Margaret was age thirty-five when she married Robert Hopkins in 1807. The couple apparently had only one child, a daughter named Ann Paschall Hopkins (1807 - 1902), who married Joseph Biddle. Although Robert Hopkins' birth and death dates are not known, he died some time prior to 1850 as Margaret Hopkins was listed in the federal census taken that year as a widow and head of household with her daughter Ann and granddaughter Elizabeth Biddle. She was also noted as being deaf. In 1860, Margaret was living with grandnephew John Hopkins. By 1870, she returned to living with her daughter Ann and granddaughter. Margaret was a relatively well-off widow. In the 1870 census, her real estate holdings were valued at $10,000 and her personal estate at $60,000. Margaret outlived all but one of her siblings, dying on 10 November 1871 at the age of ninety-nine. She was buried in the Darby Friends Cemetery alongside other family members. Her tombstone includes the inscription "Mrs. Margaret P. A. Hopkins," the letter "A" suggesting that she might have been married prior to her husband Robert Hopkins.

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