Sampler

Date1810-1830

MediumSilk embroidery threads on a linen ground of 24 warps x 26 wefts per inch (identification of fibers by eye)

DimensionsOH: 7 3/4" x OW: 7 3/4"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number2005-16,8

DescriptionThis is an unfinished square sampler worked in shades of black, green, red, and gold silk embroidery threads on a natural color linen ground. The sampler is hemmed at top, bottom, and right side with a 1/8-inch hem. There is a selvage on the left side. The top half of the sampler consists of:
"A-K" upper case block in cross stitch
Band of cross stitch
"A-P" upper case block in cross stitch over one
Band of cross stitch
"A-D" upper case block in eyelet; flower motif
Band of chain stitch
"A-F" upper case block in block stitch
Band of buttonhole stitch
The bottom half of the sampler is mostly unworked with practice areas of queen, Irish, and cross stitches.
The sampler is enclosed with a cross stitch border on all four sides.

Stitches: chain, cross over one and two, eyelet, Irish, and queen
Label TextThis small unfinished sampler is part of a rare group of related books, bibles, and needlework owned by the Folger-Crane family. Originally from Nantucket, Massachusetts, the Folger family was in Ohio by 1814. They were members of the Society of Friends, and listed among the founding families of the Cincinnati Monthly Meeting. These artifacts provide a glimpse into the lives of a nineteenth-century family, and illustrate the importance placed on needlework and the education of children.
ProvenanceThis unfinished sampler is part of a group of samplers and books that descended in the Folger-Crane family of Cincinnati, Ohio. The sampler maker was probably a member of the Folger-Crane family. The Folger family, originally from Nantucket, Massachusetts, was in Ohio by 1814. Members of the Society of Friends, they are first listed in Hinshaw's ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN QUAKER GENEALOGY, Vol. V, as transferring to the Miami Monthly Meeting in Warren County, then on to Cincinnati, where they were listed among the founding families of the Cincinnati Monthly Meeting (set apart from Miami MM on March 23, 1814). Sarah Folger married Rufus Crane and the samplers, family bibles, and books probably descended through Sarah's daughters.