Images(3)

Sampler by Polly Ann Smith

DateDecember 21, 1781 (dated)

Maker Polly Ann Smith (1774 - 1825)

OriginAmerica, South Carolina, Charleston

MediumSilk embroidery threads on a linen ground of 30 x 30 threads per inch (fiber identification by eye)

DimensionsSampler size: OH 16¾” x OW 10¼” Framed size: OH 18¾” x OW 12¼”

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number2017-306

DescriptionThis is a small rectangular alphabet sampler worked in shades of brown/black, green and rust silk embroidery threads on a natural color linen ground. The sampler is hemmed at top and bottom and has selvedges at sides. From the top:
Band of eyelet stitch
"A-I" "K" uppercase block in eyelet stitch
Band of eyelet stitch
"L-T" uppercase block in eyelet stitch
Band of eyelet stitch
"U-Z" uppercase block; "1-3" in eyelet stitch
Band of eyelet stitch
Zig-zag band of eyelet stitch
"4-12" in eyelet stitch
Zig-zag band of eyelet stitch
"A-I" "K" uppercase block in eyelet stitch
Double band of eyelet stitch
"L-T" uppercase block in eyelet stitch
Zig-zag band of eyelet stitch
"U-Z" upper case block/ "1-3" in eyelet stitch
Band of eyelet stitch
The bottom fourth of the sampler contains the signature line: “Polly Ann Smith/ Her Sampler Done/ In The Eight Year of Her Age/ December the 21 1781.” Worked in eyelet and marking cross stitches.
Band of marking cross stitch

Stitches: eyelet and marking cross

Label TextEighteenth-century Charleston, South Carolina samplers are relatively rare when compared to the northern port cities of Philadelphia, Newport, and Boston. Polly Ann Smith's alphabet sampler, which is dated 1781, descended in the Charleston family of origin. It is worked in reversible stitches, a characteristic found in other southern coastal schoolgirl needleworks.
InscribedFamily notes from the paper on the back:
“Sampler made by/ Polly Ann Smith/ at 8 years - / December 21, 1781/ Charleston. S.C.”
“Polly Ann Smith, an aunt of/ my great grandmother,/ reared my great grandmother,/ Eleanor Harriet Scott Smith, / Her sister Harriet Smith Scott died/ when Eleanor Harriet, her daughter/ was 12 years old.”
ProvenanceMary / Polly Ann Smith was born on Sept. 30 1774 to Henry Smith (1727-1780) and his second wife, Elizabeth (Ball) Smith, daughter of John Coming Ball. She was the 7th of their 9 children, remained single and died on July 5, 1825 at age 51. A note on the back of the sampler read: “Polly Ann Smith, an aunt of / my great grandmother, / reared my great grandmother, / Eleanor Harriet Scott Smith, / Her sister Harriet Smith Scott died / when Eleanor Harriet, her daughter / was 12 years old.” Indeed, as per the family note, her sister Harriet Smith Scott died in 1822 leaving a daughter Eleanor, who our samplermaker presumably raised. This sampler along with a second one created by Jane Isabel Morgan, descended in the family through Eleanor Harriet's line.

Henry Smith’s (samplermaker's father) first wife was Ann Filbein (1736-1762) and their first born was Thomas Smith (1757-1822). He married, as his second wife, Jane Isabel Morgan, the maker of the second sampler.