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2021.608.2, Sampler
Sampler by Mary Milloy
2021.608.2, Sampler

Sampler by Mary Milloy

DateMay 7, 1851
Maker Mary Milloy (b. ca. 1838)
OriginAmerica, Michigan, Monroe County, Frenchtown
MediumSilk and wool embroidery threads on a linen ground of 28 x 28 threads per inch; wooden frame with leather trim; Plexiglass (fiber identification by eye)
DimensionsFramed: OH: 20 1/2" x OW: 27 1/4"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase, James L. Mullins in memory of Dr. Kathleen Stiso Mullins
Object number2021.608.2,A&B
DescriptionThis is a framed rectangular embroidered sampler worked in shades of red, cream, pink, green, blue, black, yellow, and purple silk and wool embroidery threads on a linen ground. Within a sawtooth inner border, from the top: “A-G” “KJL-R” uppercase script;/ wave band in cross stitch;/ “S-Z” uppercase script, “a-t” lowercase block;/ herringbone band;/ “u-z” lowercase block, “A-V” uppercase block, cross motif;/ band of cross stitch;/ “W-Z” uppercase block, “&” “1-9 0” “Mary Milloy’s Sampler”;/ band of undulating flowers and leaves;/ “wrought in her 14th year at the Sisters of providence. May the 7th Frenchtown Monroe”;/ band of cross stitch; “Michigan. 1851.” The bottom third within the sawtooth border consists of a blue church on the right with a large bird perched on the roof, a large container of flowers, and two large birds, one of which is perched on a pedestal of sorts. To the left of the church is the verse: “The name above is mine/ Frenchtown is my dwelling place/ And ireland [sic] is my native land/ But Christ is my salvation.” The sampler is enclosed in an outer border of an undulating vine of flowers and leaves. It is framed in a black wooden frame that is edged with a leather trim.
Stitches: cross, herringbone
Label TextMary Milloy's sampler is an extraordinary needlework project that reflects the multicultural nature of America and its diversity. The sampler was created by a thirteen-year-old Irish girl in Frenchtown, Michigan, a town populated by French fur traders. Mary worked her sampler at the Sisters of Providence School, a predominantly white school co-founded by Mother Theresa Maxis Duchemin (1810-1892), the first US born religious sister of color.
Inscribed“The name above is mine/ Frenchtown is my dwelling place/ And ireland [sic] is my native land/ But Christ is my salvation.”
ProvenanceOther than vendor, there is no known provenance.