Sampler by Sabra Morrill

Datepossibly 1822 or 1823

Made under direction of N. Parker (b. 1795)

Maker Sabra Morrill (1812 - 1893)

MediumSilk embroidery threads on a linen ground of 24 x 26 threads per inch (fiber identified in textile lab), with later paint embellishment over the stitches

DimensionsOW: 18" x OH: 16 1/4"

Credit LineAnonymous gift

Object number1971-1477

DescriptionThis is an almost square sampler worked in polychrome silk threads on a coarse and open weave unbleached linen. There are a series of five alphabets in different sizes, fonts, and stitches, as well as a single series of numbers. The second alphabet is missing its "I" and has "XYZ" stitched to the right of it. The inscription reads, "Sabra Morrills Sampler Wrought at the age of 10 at the School of Miss N. Parker." The bottom features three bowls of flowers with 4 small creatures, which are possibly, dogs, placed among them. The right and left sides have been hem stitched. The bowls of flowers, pink-orange alphabet, and turquoise alphabet have all been painted over in an attempt to make them more colorful.

Stitches: cross over one, cross over two, eyelet, and satin stitch
Label TextThis sampler, made by Sabra Morrill when she was 10 years old, is typical of nineteenth-century American samplers, with multiple alphabets, an inscription, and floral motifs. Sabra Morrill, who possibly lived in Merrimack, New Hampshire and was born in 1812, stitched, "Sabra Morrills Sampler Wrought at the age of 10 at the School of Miss N. Parker," commemorating her name, age, and name of the teacher who taught her. At some point in its history, two of the alphabets and the bowls of flowers at the bottom of the sampler were painted over, probably to make the sampler as vibrant as it once was.
InscribedFive alphabets and one set of numbers
MarkingsNone
ProvenanceGift of Mr. and Mrs. Roy E. Tomlinson, Montclair, N.J.