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1979-57, Sampler
Sampler by Mary Ogilvie
1979-57, Sampler

Sampler by Mary Ogilvie

Date1768
Artist/Maker Mary Ogilvie (ca. 1759-1827
OriginAmerica, New York, New York City
MediumSilk and metallic embroidery threads on a linen ground of 36 x 34 threads per inch (fiber identification by textile lab)
DimensionsOH: 15 3/8" x OW: 16 1/2"
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Edwin Phelps
Object number1979-57
DescriptionThis is an almost square needlework sampler worked in faded shades of green, blue, brown, tan, gold, black, and pink silk embroidery threads. There is a 2 1/2" arcaded floral and geometric border around the entire piece. At the top of the central portion directly underneath the border is the inscription, "MarY x OGlivie x her x WorK x AGed x 9 x YearS x / 1768 x This x WorK x in x hands x MY x Friends x MaY / HaVe x When x I x Am x Dead x AnD x Laid x in x / The x GraVe." The remaining central portion is divided into five biblical vignettes possibly derived from Dutch delft tiles. The scenes have been identified as, from top left to bottom right, Adam and Eve with the tree and serpent, the tree of life, standing man with trees (the birds and little mounds may indicate the Sower or possibly Elijah feeding the ravens), a man resting against a rock (representing either Jesus resting before feeding the multitudes or Saint John the Evangelist receiving the Book of Revelations on the Isle of Patmos), and Jacob's Ladder.

Stitches: cross, eyelet, and queen
Label TextThis sampler, made by nine-year-old Mary Ogilvie in New York City, relates to a larger group of samplers made in the city by girls from families associated with Trinity Church. These samplers date between 1746 and 1768, and, because of their many similarities, were likely created by schoolgirls taught by the same teacher. This sampler group features the same religious vignettes -- including Adam and Eve, the Sower, and Jacob's Ladder -- as well as solidly-worked grounds and wide arcaded borders.
Inscribed"MarY x OGlivie x her x WorK x AGed x 9 x YearS x / 1768 x This x WorK x in x hands x MY x Friends x MaY / HaVe x When x I x Am x Dead x AnD x Laid x in x / The x GraVe"
MarkingsNone
ProvenanceNothing is known of the donor, Mrs. Edwin J. Phelps.

History of sampler maker:
Margaret "Mary" Ogilvie, ca. 1759-1827, was born to Catherine Susanna Symes (d. 1769) and Reverend John Ogilvie (1724-1774), who was the pastor of Saint Peter's Anglican Church from 1749 to 1760. He worked at several parishes, and became the assistant minister at Trinity Church in New York City in September 1764. He and Mary's mother, Catherine, married in Trinity Church in 1751. Mary Olgilvie and her family were loyalists with close associations to the Anglican Church, but Mary married Barent Roorbach (b. 1745) a man of Dutch descent who had been christened in the New York City Dutch Reformed Church. The pair married on October 17, 1777 in New York City. Nothing is known of the couples' lives after their marriage.