$5,333
Rhode Island Needlework Sampler, "Rebecca Westgate her sampler work'd in her ninth year Octobr 1777," Newport, Rhode Island, area, wrought in silk threads on a linen ground, centered with a mansion and a fence with an intricate gate, flanked by a balanced motif of trees, flowers, animals, and birds, and the inscriptions "Give Firft To God The Prime of Youth/Take For Thy Guide The Word of Truth", and "This needlework of mine may tell/in my youth was learned well/And by my --- also taught not to spend my time for nought; " all enclosed in a geometric flowering vine, (toning, stains, fading), 17 1/2 x 13 1/2 in., in a later molded wood frame. Literature: This sampler is similar in design to a group of Newport, Rhode Island "Elegant House" samplers. Two similar samplers are illustrated and discussed in Betty Ring's book Girlhood Embroidery: American Samplers, Pictorial Needlework 1650-1850 Vol. I., Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1993, pp. 176-77. Circular light brown stain at center with a light area to the right of the peak of the house, no evidence of stitch losses or repairs.
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2009-11-08
