Needlework Sampler

Description:

Needlework Sampler, "Dorcas Bradley 1812," Delaware, stitched with silk threads on a linen ground, with a defined central panel with three rows of alphabets over a pious verse, the maker's name and date flanked by undulating blossoms above a solidly worked landscape with two rabbits beside a flowering bush, the panel surrounded by a wide border with central vase of flowers, butterflies, grape clusters, flowers, and a bird, (imperfections),19 x 16 1/4 in., in a later molded wood frame.

Literature: This sampler is similar to some illustrated in Girlhood Embroidery: American Samplers, Pictorial Needlework 1650-1850, by Betty Ring, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1993, Vol. II, pp. 494-97. Ring writes: "An impressive and entirely cohesive group of samplers was worked between 1811 and 1835 by girls from Maryland, Delaware, and probably Pennsylvania. These samplers characteristically have a very wide, all-enveloping fruit and floral border, which rises from a center basket or a large rose and encloses a sharply defined center panel. Within it are one to four alphabets, a verse, and the maker's name and date, usually above a solid scene containing a central tree flanked by paired sheep or rabbits, and large butterflies."
Estimate $12,000-18,000

Under close examination the sampler has approx. 23 small scattered weak, frayed, or threadbare areas to the background linen fabric, somewhat unobtrusive because of a recent framing which the blends the color of the fabric beneath the sampler with the color of the linen, lessening the visibility of the losses. The losses are in the upper third of the sampler.
The linen foundation has some toning and light stains. The silk embroidery is faded to a mellow tone.



The absence of a condition statement does not imply that the lot is in perfect condition or completely free from wear and tear, imperfections or the effects of aging. Condition requests can be obtained via email (lot inquiry button) or by telephone to the appropriate gallery location (Boston/617.350.5400 or Marlborough/508.970.3000). Any condition statement given, as a courtesy to a client, is only an opinion and should not be treated as a statement of fact. Skinner Inc. shall have no responsibility for any error or omission.

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