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2022-16, Sampler
Sampler by Delilah D. Sherman
2022-16, Sampler

Sampler by Delilah D. Sherman

DateMay 20, 1834
Maker Delilah D. Sherman (1820-1852)
OriginAmerica, Indiana, Wayne County, Centerville
MediumSilk embroidery threads on a linen ground of 30 x 28 threads per inch (fiber identification by eye)
DimensionsFramed: OH: 22 3/4" x OW: 21 1/8"; Sampler by sight: OH: 19" x OW: 17 1/2" (48.3 × 44.5cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase and Asplundh Textile Endowment
Object number2022-16
DescriptionThis is an almost square needlework sampler worked in faded shades of green, rust, brown, and cream silk embroidery threads on a linen ground. The top third of the sampler consists of the verse: “Lines./ To x a x young x girl x weeping / Oh x waste x not x waste x not x Those x young x Tears / Oh x Trifles x As x They x call / Griefs x May x Be x Thine x In x Future x Years / That x will x Demanb [sic] x Them x All.” The word “Lines” is surrounded on three sides with a flowering vine. Below the first line of the verse is a band of a stylized floral undulating vine. Flanking the verse on the left is a floral or fruit sprig. Flanking the verse on the right is an oversized rose bud sprig and below it a basket of fruit with a small bird perched on top. Below the last line of the verse is a band of a stylized floral undulating vine. The middle of the sampler consists of a densely worked cemetery scene with a grave with four weeping willows. On each side of the scene is an oversized floral sprig. The bottom third of the sampler consists of the signature line: “Wrought x by x DeLiLah x Sherman x / WMay [sic] May x 20 x 1834 x Aged x 14 x Centervill [sic] / Wayn [sic] county x Indiana N Smith,s / A. M Sherman Ann Sherman”. Flanking each side of the signature line is a floral sprig. The sampler is enclosed on all four sides in a stylized undulating vine with rosebuds, carnation-like flowers, and iris-like flowers.
The sampler is in a modern frame.
Stitches: Cross over one and two
Label TextFourteen-year-old Delilah Sherman created her sampler in the bustling town of Centerville, in Wayne County, Indiana. The town was situated along the "National Road," now US Route 40, America's first interstate highway. The 1834 memorial sampler depicts a cemetery scene with a grave flanked by four weeping willows and was likely created in memory of Delilah's mother, Anna Swisher Sherman, who had died about five years earlier. The sampler verse begins with the line "To a young girl weeping." There are several misspelled words and reversed letters throughout the work. In addition to her own name, Delilah included her parent's names, as well as the name "N. Smith," possibly her teacher.
Inscribed“Lines./ To a young girl weeping / Oh waste not waste not Those young Tears / Oh Trifles As They call / Griefs May Be Thine In Future Years / That will Demanb [sic] Them All.”
ProvenanceEx-collection: Amy Finkel

History of Sampler Maker:
Delilah D. Sherman was born in 1820, in Preble County, Ohio, to parents Asa M. Sherman and Anna Swisher Sherman. Her father was a Justice of the peace in Ohio. Following the early death of her mother ca. 1829, her father relocated to Centerville, Indiana, where he gained a judgeship. In 1832, when Delilah was 12 years old, her father married for the second time to Sarah Brooks. Delilah married young to Newton Treadway (1809-1868) in 1835. She had six children from 1837 to 1851, all in nearby Bartholomew County, Indiana (Ann Marie b. 1837; William b. 1839; Franklin 1841-1870; James Albert 1845-1870; Mary Elizabeth 1849-1861; Theodore 1851-1852). She died at the age of 32 on August 15, 1852, and is buried in the Treadway Cemetery in Bartholomew County, with a headstone inscription "Della, wife of Newton Treadway."