Sampler

Object Name:

Sampler

Object ID:

2020.003

Creator:

Eaton, Emily W. (1817-1845)

Place of Origin:

Weare, NH

Date:

1828

Description:

Sampler. Made by Emily W. Eaton (1817-1845), Weare, NH, 1828. Silk twist and floss embroidered on loosely woven linen ground. Three sets of large-scale alphabet of block capital letters and one set of lower case alphabet letters worked in bands above verse: "Now in the op'ning spring of life / Let ev'ry flow'ret bloom / The budding virtues in thy breast / Shall yield the best perfume. / Wrought by Emily W. Eaton aged 10 years / Weare, N. H. 1828." embroidered above scene of trees and flowers at base. Framed by floral vine band around sides and top. Framed; swag design on gilded gesso over wood; no glass..

Material:

Textile
Linen
Silk

Dimensions:

H-17.375 W-18.625 inches

Provenance:

Emily W. Eaton was born on July 27, 1817, in East Weare, NH, to Wheeler and Abigail (Perkins) Eaton. Her father, a tanner and farmer, moved the family to Franklin in 1835. Emily, who married John Shaw (1818-1904) of Franklin in 1841, died in 1845. Although we do not know who taught Emily to sew, she stitched verses from Lindley Murray's "Introduction to the English Reader: Or, A Selection of Pieces, In Prose and Poetry; Calculated to Improve the Younger Classes of Learners in Reading…" onto her sampler. American Quaker lawyer and author Lindley Murray (1745-1826) first issued the Introduction… in 1801. Used extensively in schools, it went through 31 editions over 35 years in England and America. The sampler, lacking a provenance, was found in the collections of the Torrington (CT) Historical Society and deaccessioned in 2019. .

Credit Line:

Gift of the Torrington Historical Society

People:

Eaton, Emily W. (1817-1845)

Subjects:

Flowers, Pineapples