$9,400
Needlework Sampler, "Martha Davis Evesham School 1813," New Jersey, silk threads and metallic sequins on a linen ground with a floral bordered oval reserve stitched with a verse entitled "Extract," and the maker's name, school and year, flanked by birds; the center stitched with a sequined arch above a view of the Westtown school which is flanked by trees, with animals, birds, and flowers within the fenced front lawn, all enclosed in a flowering vine bordered by a ruffled silk ribbon, (toning), 26 x 19 in., mounted in the original mahogany veneered frame. Literature: A nearly identical sampler is illustrated in Girlhood Embroidery Vol. II, by Betty Ring, Alfred A. Knopf, publisher, New York, p. 476. The school depicted in this sampler, while not the school Martha Davis attended, is discussed by Betty Ring on p. 188 of the same volume, "The Friends Westtown Boarding School in Chester County, Pennsylvania, has been in continuous operation since May 6, 1799...Westtown quickly became the most respected Quaker boarding school within this stronghold of Quaker culture, and both its procedures and its needlework were widely copied by its students and others who opened schools in this region during the early 19th century."
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2005-11-06
