Sampler

Object Name:

Sampler

Object ID:

1999.023.03

Creator:

Tibbits, Caroline Augusta (1808-1877)

Place of Origin:

Portsmouth, NH

Date:

1817

Description:

Sampler. Made by Caroline Augusta Tibbits (1808-1877), Portsmouth, NH; 1817. Cream (originally pink) silk twist on green linsey-woolsey (linen warp, wool weft), with five alphabets, all worked in cross stitches: first, capital block letters followed by numbers one through seven; second, small-scale capital block letters followed by numbers eight through thirteen; third, capital block letters followed by numbers one through seven (same as first alphabet group); fourth, script capital letters; fifth, lower-case letters "a" through "z," and then "a" through "r" repeated to fill out the line. The lower half of the sampler features a verse: "Jesus permit they gracious name to Stand / As the first effor [sic] of an infant hand / And whilst her fingerS on the canvass [sic] move / Engage her tender heart to Seek thy love / With thy dear children let her have a part / And write thy name thyself upon her heart / Caroline Augusta Tibbits / ae 9 * 1817." "PORTSMOUTH" is embroidered in eyelet stitch (similar to Algerian eye stitch, but pulled tighter to make a hole) in large letters at the bottom of the sampler, with a sawtooth border above and below it, also worked in eyelet stitch. All of the edges are hemstitched.

Material:

Textile
Linen
Silk

Dimensions:

H-17.4 W-11 inches

Provenance:

From the home of James C. and Mary Pepperrell (Frost) Sawyer (mother of Charles H. Sawyer), related to the Frost-Sawyer-Cowan families of Durham and Dover.

Credit Line:

Gift of Charles H. and Katharine Clay Sawyer

People:

Tibbits, Caroline Augusta (1808-1877), Sawyer, Charles H. (1906-2005)