Sampler
Maker
Emma Bennet
Period1813
MediumPlied silk thread on linen
Dimensions19 × 10.75 in. (48.3 × 27.3 cm)
SignedThe sampler is signed "Emma Bennets Sampler / Wrought in the 10th year of / her age Stockbridge July 1813."
ClassificationsNeedlework
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Julia Hartshorne Trask, 1946
Object number2084.24
DescriptionAn elongated rectangular sampler of closely woven soft white linen retaining its selvedge along the bottom edge and hemmed edges at left, top, and right sides. Embroidery is done in gray-blue, light blue, golden tan, and dark brown in both cross stitch and satin stitch. The top third of the sampler is taken up with six rows of alphabets. The first row begins with a three-quarter inch upper case italic alphabet, from A to M, with no "J" included. The second row includes N through W, with X, Y, and Z on the third line, followed by an ampersand spacer. Immediately following is a smaller half-inch upper case alphabet, beginning with a to v, including both the long "s," appearing as "f," and the regular "s." The sixth line includes the remaining w through z, and a numeral run from 1 to 13. Between each alphabet row are narrow and varied repeating bands. The middle third of the sampler features the inscription "Emma Bennets Sampler / Wrought in the 10th year of / her age Stockbridge July 1813," with two tiny diamond shaped elements as spacers after "Sampler" and "year of." Below the inscription is a narrow chain link repeating band. The lower third of the sampler contains a verse reading "Jesus permit thy gracious name to stand / As the first efforts of an infants hand / And while her fingers o'er the canvas move / Engage her tender heart to seek thy love / With thy dear children let her share a part / And write thy name thyself upon her heart." Two random single elements are embroidered in the spaces to the right of the verse and include a small "X" and an inverted double fish hook motif. Below the verse, along the bottom of the panel, is a stylized landscape. A large weeping willow atop a tiny mound is centered within the scene, flanked on either side with a double handled urn and pairs of willow saplings. What appear to be jagged mountain peaks loom in the background. A narrow sawtooth edge band, worked in satin stitch, runs along all four edges of the linen panel. A narrow pulled thread border is worked just inside the narrow hemmed edges.Curatorial RemarksAccording to the inscription, Emma Bennett was ten years old when she finished her marking sampler in the summer of 1813. As part of her design, Emma chose to incorporate the verse which begins "Jesus permit thy gracious name to stand." The composition is usually attributed to John Newton (1725 - 1807), an Anglican clergyman and hymnist best known for "Amazing Grace." Newton is said to have composed the verse for his niece to use on her own embroidery. Although Emma's sampler appears almost monochromatic in its color scheme, her even stitches and bold scenic design indicates that the little girl's unknown needlework instructress was a talented teacher. The soft bleached linen on which Emma embroidered her letters and motifs is of a quality more associated with clothing use such as shifts or shirts.NotesThe maker of this sampler is probably Emma Bennett who was born on 19 April 1804 in Stockbridge, Berkshire County, Massachusetts. She was a daughter of Abraham S. and Catherine Bennett. Nothing further is currently known about this family.
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