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D2006-CMD-1579
Sampler by Julia Ann Caverly
D2006-CMD-1579

Sampler by Julia Ann Caverly

Date1824
Artist/Maker Julia Ann Caverly (1810-1898)
Made under direction of E. Ransom
OriginAmerica, New York
MediumSilk embroidery threads on a linen ground of 39 x 46 threads per inch (identification of fibers by eye)
DimensionsOH: 11 3/4" x OW: 15 3/4"
Credit LineGift of Mr. Lewis Ludington Young, II
Object number1966.608.1
DescriptionThis is a rectangular sampler worked in black, blue, and white embroidery threads on a natural color linen ground. The sampler is hemmed on all four sides. The sampler includes five alphabets and an inscription, which reads, "Julia Ann Caverlys Samplaer [sic] markeb [sic] in the fourte/-enth Year of her age February the twenty third 1824/and wrought under the care of E. Ransom Preceptre" and
"The rose had been washed just washed in a shower/Which Mary to Anna conveyd/The Plentiful moisture encumbed the flower/And weighed down its beautiful head." The four-line verse is part of a larger poem entitled "The Rose" by Englishman William Cowper, but perhaps came from The Columbian Songster, an American publication with several editions throughout the late eighteenth century. The bottom of the sampler has two birds and a small flowering tree and is bordered by one straight line and three zigzag lines.

Stitches: cross over two and eyelet
Label TextJulia Ann Caverly made her sampler when she was fourteen years old, under the direction of one Ms. E. Ransom. Julia's work includes the typical sampler features of multiple alphabets and biographical information in the form of a name, age, date, and teacher's name, as well as a verse from a poem that was popular throughout the nineteenth century. The poem, written by William Cowper and entitled "The Rose," was first published in Britain and then in the United States over a decade later. The inclusion of the poem on Julia's sampler points to the spread of children's rhyming verses from Britain to America and the popularity of stitching them on one's sampler.
Inscribed"Julia Ann Caverlys Samplaer [sic] markeb [sic] in the fourte/-enth Year of her age February the twenty third 1824/and wrought under the care of E. Ransom Preceptre"

"The rose had been washed just washed in a shower/Which Mary to Anna conveyd/The Plentiful moisture encumbed the flower/And weighed down its beautiful head"
MarkingsNone
ProvenanceThis sampler was "donated as a gift to posterity from a beloved great Aunt, Julia Ann Caverly, a niece of the American Revolutionary heroine Sybil Ludington, who at the age of 16 years rode all night April 26, 1777 rousing her father's militia against the burning of Danbury, Conn. by the British" by Lewis Ludington Young II. Given as a gift to the museum on March 14, 1966.

History of sampler maker: Julia Ann Caverly was born on August 21, 1810 in Ulster County, New York and died on December 14, 1898 in Passaic County, New Jersey. She never married. Caverly was the niece of Sybil Ludington, a hero of the American Revolution who, on April 26, 1777 and at 16 years old, roused her father's militia to battle against the burning of Danbury, Connecticut by the British.