$6,518
Susquehanna Valley Needlework Sampler, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, late 18th/early 19th century, worked in silk threads on a gauze over linen ground with silk ribbon border, depicting compartmented designs of potted flowers, baskets of fruit, birds in a cage and geometric motifs, the lower register with a house flanked by pine trees, potted flowers, and various animals, all bordering a family record stitched with the vital statistics of Elizabeth Whitley "born the 17th November 1763 in Paxton 4 miles from Harrisburgh in Dauphin County... ", and John Ward (no birth date given) who were married in 1783, and their nine children, (toning, fading, tears to ribbon border), 12 x 14 in., unframed. Literature: Similar examples of Susquehanna Valley samplers are illustrated and discussed in Betty Ring's book Girlhood Embroidery: American Samplers, Pictorial Needlework 1650-1850 , Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1993, Vol. II, pp. 410-21. These samplers and the one offered here share similar designs as ones executed by students attending the school of Mrs. Leah (Bratten) Galligher (later Mrs. Leah Maguire) between 1797 and 1826 at Lancaster, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. On p. 413, fig. 458 Ring notes "the doors of Anne's church are open or unworked, and this is typical of samplers made at Leah Gallagher's school." The doors on this sampler as well as the pine trees are worked the same way.
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2010-08-14
