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2020-80, Sampler
Sampler by Louisa Hollway
2020-80, Sampler

Sampler by Louisa Hollway

Date1796
Maker Louisa Hollway (1789-1879)
OriginEngland, Somerset (probably)
MediumSilk embroidery threads on a worsted ground of 40 x 40 threads per inch (fiber identification by eye) Wooden frame and glass
DimensionsFramed: OW 13 1/2” x OH 12 1/2”
Credit LineGift of Beatrix T. Rumford
Object number2020-80
DescriptionThis is a framed, almost square sampler worked in black embroidery threads on a worsted ground. The sampler consists of a large block of text, which reads: “HERE here she lies. Oh. could I once more [?]/ Those dear remains: take once more fond adieu;/ Vain wish; now low in earth that form of love/ Decays unseen yet not forgot above./ That winning nature and obliging mein./ Pleas’d to see all by all with pleasure seen./ Smiling and sweet as vernal flow’rs new blown./ Associates now with tempers like her own./ Amidst that gentle throng. how heav’nly bright/ Lovely Maria shines, fair star of light!/ Short, yet how pleasing was her visit here,/ She’s now remov’d to grace a nobler sphere./ There, while thy much lov’d parents mourn below. Thou, happy child! shalt not our sorrows know./ A tribute of affection to my dear Sister MARIA/ Louisa Hollway in the 7th year of her Age 1796”. A line runs along the top of the verse. A wave border encloses the entire sampler.
Stitches: cross over one and two

The sampler is in a modern, black frame.
Label TextAt the young age of six, Louisa Hollway stitched this sampler, which mourns the death of her younger sister, Maria. Louisa likely worked the sampler as a school exercise. In addition to learning sewing stitches, young girls also practiced their literacy skills while working a sampler.
Inscribed“HERE here she lies. Oh. could I once more [?]/ Those dear remains: take once more fond adieu;/ Vain wish; now low in earth that form of love/ Decays unseen yet not forgot above./ That winning nature and obliging mein./ Pleas’d to see all by all with pleasure seen./ Smiling and sweet as vernal flow’rs new blown./ Associates now with tempers like her own./ Amidst that gentle throng. how heav’nly bright/ Lovely Maria shines, fair star of light!/ Short, yet how pleasing was her visit here,/ She’s now remov’d to grace a nobler sphere./ There, while thy much lov’d parents mourn below. Thou, happy child! shalt not our sorrows know./ A tribute of affection to my dear Sister MARIA"
MarkingsAn inscription on the back of the frame reads: "[?] Sampler/ from Julia W. Littleton Collection of Elsie B. Clymer to R.C.R. 1960"
ProvenanceThe first recorded owner of this sampler was Julia Waters Littleton (1874-1961). Julia gave the sampler to her friend, Elsie B. Clymer (1882-1970), who later gave it to her daughter, Rose Clymer Rumford (1912-1998), who then gave it to her daughter, Beatrix T. Rumford (b. 1939). Ms. Rumford donated the sampler to Colonial Williamsburg in 2020.

History of Maker:

Louisa Hollway (1789-1879) was likely born to Joseph Hollway (d. 1805) and Jane Gane (1761-1823) in 1789. Joseph Holloway and Jane Gane were married on May 1, 1786 and had several children, one of whom was a daughter named Maria. Maria was baptized on January 29, 1792 and is probably the same Maria Holloway [sic] who was buried in Lyncombe and Widcombe Parish on February 14, 1796. Secondary evidence also suggests that Louisa Hollway was the daughter of Joseph Hollway and Jane Gane. She married Samuel Fuller on October 26, 1815, and was buried in Bathampton, Somerset, on June 6, 1879.