Images(4)

Sampler by Mary Eliza Harbison

DateJuly 1838 (dated)

Maker Mary Eliza Harbison (1824 - 1856)

OriginAmerica, Kentucky, Shelby County, Shelbyville

MediumSilk embroidery threads on a linen ground of 26 wefts by 23 warps per inch (microscopic fiber identification)

DimensionsOW: 17 ½”; OH: 23”

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Friends of Colonial Williamsburg Collections Fund

Object number2017-295

DescriptionThis is a rectangular sampler worked in shades of red, green, brown, ivory, peach, navy blue, and blue silk embroidery threads on a natural color linen ground. From the top the sampler consists of:
"A-S" uppercase block in cross stitch
Band of cross stitch
"T-Z" uppercase block; "1-12" in cross stitch
Band of cross stitch
"A-L" uppercase block in double cross stitch
Band of double cross stitch
"M-U" uppercase block in Algerian eyelet stitch
Band of herringbone stitch
"A-G" "[H?] I K L" uppercase script in cross stitch
Band of cross stitch
"M-V" uppercase script in cross stitch
Band of eyelet stitch
"a-z" lowercase block in cross stitch
Band of cross stitch Below alphabets is the verse worked in cross over one: “Have mercy upon me O God according to thy loving/ kindness. According unto the multitude of thy tender/ mercies blot out my transgressions/ Ps 51st vi”.
The bottom portion of the sampler contains a story and a half brick house with a hipped roof sporting a central pediment and two dormer windows. The impressive front door features a fanlight above and sidelight on either side. Flowers flank the entry and a picket fence surrounds the yard.
To the right of the house is the inscription “Shelbyville/ Rosalie/ July/ 1838” and to the left of the house is the signature line “Mary/ Eliza/ Harbiso[n]/ Sampler.”
The sampler is enclosed on all four sides in an undulating flower and vine border with an outer border of decorative hemstitch on all four sides. The sampler has selvages at sides and a 3/16” hem at top and bottom.

Stitches: Algerian eyelet, cross over one and two; double cross, eyelet, hem, and herringbone.
Label TextKentucky schoolgirl samplers are rare and even rarer are ones that are signed, dated, and include a place name like this sampler marked "Shelbyville/ Rosalie/ July 1838.” The agricultural town of Shelbyville was established in 1792 and became the seat of Shelby County, Kentucky. Located on the west bank of Clear Creek, the town was near a route between Louisville and Frankfort, Kentucky. Schools for the education of Shelbyville’s youth were established early in the town’s history and include the Shelbyville Academy established in 1798; The Science Hill Female Academy in 1825; and the Shelbyville Female Seminary in 1839. The identity of the Shelbyville teacher or school responsible for the design of this sampler has not been identified. Yet to be also identified is the place name of “Rosalie.”
Inscribed“Have mercy upon me O God according to thy loving/ kindness. According unto the multitude of thy tender/ mercies blot out my transgressions/ Ps 51st vi”
ProvenanceNo known provenance of sampler.

History of sampler maker:
Mary Eliza Harbison was born February 4, 1824 in Shelbyville, Kentucky, the sixth child of William Harbison (1785-1826) and Elizabeth Mahon Harbison (1780-1862) Of Ulster-Scots heritage, her maternal grandparents were key figures in early Virginia Presbyterian education. Mary Eliza never married. She died on March 24, 1856, and is buried in the Grove Hill Cemetery in Shelbyville, Kentucky.