Sampler

Maker Ann Hornby

Period1806 or 1808

MediumPlied and flat silk thread on linen

Dimensions20.75 × 17.13 in. (52.7 × 43.5 cm)

SignedThe sampler is signed "Ann Hornby's Work done in the 11th year of her age 180[6 or 8]

ClassificationsNeedlework

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Julia Hartshorne Trask, 1946

Object number2084.8

DescriptionA rectangular sampler on medium weight linen with selvedge edges along the top and bottom and narrow hems on the left and right sides. Both plied and flat silk threads are worked in cross and satin stitches in black, blue-green, pale grass green, scarlet, russet, light golden brown, pale yellow, and off white. A verse appears in the top portion of the sampler within a narrow border, reading "PRAISE FOR MERCIES / When eer I take my Walks abaroad / How many Poor I see; What shall / I render to my Lord For all his Gifts / To me not more than others I deserve / Yet God hath given me more / For I have Food While others starve / Or beg from Door to Door." On the lower portion of the sampler, a two story house, with hipped roof, two dormer windows, and a pair of chimneys, rests atop broad steps on a grassy lawn. A picket fence flanks the house on either side and runs along the bottom of the lawn. To the left of the house, set within a narrow border, is a second verse reading "Love the Lord / And He WILL Be / A tender Father / Unto Thee." To the right, an additional verse, also within a narrow border, reads "I will bless God / And him adoor [sic] / From this time / And Fore evermore." Above each verse are pairs of diamond motifs. Below the house and lawn is the inscription "Ann Hornby's Work done in the 11th year of her age 180[6 or 8]. A blocky vine borders all four edges of the sampler, featuring alternating strawberries and stylized flower blossoms.
Curatorial RemarksAnn Hornby was eleven years old when she completed her sampler. Using both plied and flat silk, she included not one but three separate verse blocks as well as an elegant residential structure in the center of her panel. The main verse includes the first two stanzas of a hymn written in 1715 by Isaac Watts (1674 - 1748). Born in Southampton, England, Watts was a prodigy, learning Latin at four and composing his first verses by the time he was seven. The second and third verses on Ann's sampler have not been specifically identified, and may be paraphrases of the Psalms. At some point in later life, Ann returned to her sampler, this time to pick out the threads identifying the year she completed her embroidery in an effort to disguise her age. The original black threads, however, stained the fabric, and the date can still be faintly read as either 1806 or 1808. This was not an uncommon practice and several samplers within the Association's collection have had their dates or the ages of their makers removed, revealing the gentle vanity of their makers.

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