Sampler by Eliza Landells White

Dateca. 1825

Maker Eliza Landells White

MediumSilk embroidery threads on a worsted ground of 45 x 45 threads per inch (fiber identification by eye) Wooden frame and glass

DimensionsFramed: OW 14 2/8” x OH 14 2/8” Actual (by sight): OW 12 5/8” x OH 12 5/8”

Credit LineGift of Beatrix T. Rumford

Object number2020-78

DescriptionThis is a framed, square needlework sampler worked in shades of red, green, brown, black, and white silk embroidery threads on a worsted ground. The top row of the sampler consists of nine sets of initials, each of which is surmounted by a crown worked in cross stitch; the initials are worked in four-sided stitch: “IW”, “GW”, “MS”, “IW”, “NW”, “RW”, “IL”, “MN”, “ML”. A verse is worked below the initials: “HE WHO ON GOD DOTH TRULY REST, MUST BE CONTENT, SERENE, AND BLEST.” The first letters of “HE”, “GOD”, and “MUST” are larger than the others. The next section contains another verse: “ALL PLEASURES ARE IMPERFECT HERE BELOW--/OUR SWEETEST JOYS ARE MIX’D WITH BITTER WOE;/THE DRAFT OF BLISS, WHEN IN OUR CUP ‘TIS CAST,/IS DASH’D WITH GRIEF, OR SPILL’D BEFORE WE TASTE”. All of the letters in this verse are in uppercase but the first letters of each line are larger than the rest. Next is a line of isolated motifs worked in cross and four-sided stitch including two hearts, two diamonds, and a short line. The next verse reads: “NOW LET OUR PAINS BE ALL FORGOT,/OUR HEARTS NO MORE REPINE;/ OUR SUFFERINGS ARE NOT WORTH A THOUGHT,/WHEN, LORD, COMPARED WITH THINE.” All of the letters in this verse are in uppercase but the first letters of each line are larger than the rest. The bottom third of the sampler consists of a town scene worked within an octagonal border. The town scene and verse are flanked on either side by isolated motifs including stars, peacocks, flower baskets with birds, trees with birds, dogs, rabbits, hearts, and diamonds. The final line contains the signature: “ELIZA LANDELLS WHITE”. The signature is worked in uppercase but the first letter of each name is bigger than the others. A border consisting of clasped hands surrounded by green, leafy sprigs encloses the entire sampler. Blue threads are woven into the selvedges.
Stitches: back, couched, cross, four-sided, half cross, straight

The sampler is in an old or original black frame with an old or original backboard.
Label TextPious texts and religious verses were an integral part of many samplers. Of the three verses that Eliza Landells White included on her sampler, two can be identified. The first verse, "He who on God doth truly rest," is taken from a hymn written by Samuel Ecking. The hymn was originally published in 1786 in the Pocket Hymn Book, however the version that Eliza included on her sampler was published in 1808 in Ecking's posthumous Essays on Grace. The third verse, "Now let our Pains be all forgot," was originally published in 1707 by Isaac Watts as part of hymn number sixteen in the second book of Hymns and Spiritual Songs.
Inscribed“IW”, “GW”, “MS”, “IW”, “NW”, “RW”, “IL”, “MN”, “ML”

“HE WHO ON GOD DOTH TRULY REST, MUST BE CONTENT, SERENE, AND BLEST.”

“ALL PLEASURES ARE IMPERFECT HERE BELOW--/OUR SWEETEST JOYS ARE MIX’D WITH BITTER WOE;/THE DRAFT OF BLISS, WHEN IN OUR CUP ‘TIS CAST,/IS DASH’D WITH GRIEF, OR SPILL’D BEFORE WE TASTE”

“NOW LET OUR PAINS BE ALL FORGOT,/OUR HEARTS NO MORE REPINE;/ OUR SUFFERINGS ARE NOT WORTH A THOUGHT,/WHEN, LORD, COMPARED WITH THINE.”
ProvenanceBeatrix T. Rumford (b. 1939) purchased this piece in Barnstable, Massachusetts in 1965 and donated it to Colonial Williamsburg in 2020.

History of sampler maker:
Eliza Landells White has not been identified.