Images(2)

Sampler by Mary Johnson

Date1742

Maker Mary Johnson (b. 1730) (b. 1730)

Maker Anne Hamlin

OriginAmerica, Virginia, New Kent County (possibly)

MediumSilk embroidery threads on a linen ground of 38 x 34 threads per inch (fiber identification by Textile Lab)

DimensionsOW: 9" x OH: 10 3/4"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1987-716,1

DescriptionThis is a small, rectangular sampler worked in red, gold, green, blue, brown, and beige silk embroidery threads on a natural, tabby weave, linen ground. From the top the sampler consists of:
Band of cross stitch
Band of cross stitch
Band of half cross stitch
Undulating band of cross stitch
Band of cross stitch
"A-I", "K", "M-X" upper case block worked in cross stitch
"YZ&", upper case block worked in cross stitch, "de", lower case block worked in cross stitch, "F", upper case block worked in cross stitch, "g-i", "k-w", lower case block worked in cross stitch
"x-z", "&" lower case block worked in cross stitch, zig-zag line of cross stitch
Band of cross stitch
"Favour DeceitFuL Beauty Is"
"vaine But woman that F"
"the LorD she Be PraiseD", zig-zag band of Irish stitch
Band of duplicate stitch
"GIVE HER THE FRUIt OF" quadruple band of cross stitch
"H HANDS aND OWN"
"AKE PRaISE IN TH" band of cross stitch
"GatES", zig-zag band of cross stitch
"AND I HeaRD a VOICE FROM Hea"
"VeN SaYING UNtO W ItE BLeS"
"SeD are THE DeaD WHICH DIE IN"
"LORD FROM HeNCe FORtH"
"Yea SaItH THE THaT"
"THEY EST FROM ThEIR"
"LaBOURS & THeIR WORKS O"
"FOLLOW THEM", diamond motif, "MaRY IOHNSON"
Band of cross stitch
"1742 Mar THe 4," diamond motif
"AGe 15", zig-zag band of cross stitch, crown, "ANNe HaM n"
Band of cross stitch
An area of Irish stitch appears to the right of the third verse.

Three sides are finished with a narrow rolled hem while the right side is a selvage.

Stitches: Irish, marking cross
Label TextMary Johnson’s work may be the earliest extant Virginia sampler. A close inspection reveals a combination of stitching techniques and characteristics that typify early Virginia Chesapeake samplers. Mary worked her piece almost entirely in the marking cross stitch, creating a reverse just as finished as the front. The only other stitch that she used was the Irish stitch, which is consistently found on Chesapeake examples. The sampler consists of text with a single crown motif, also a design found on later Virginia embroideries.

The concern by Virginia's elite to raise virtuous and obedient daughters is reflected in the religious verses stitched on Mary's sampler. The first verse is taken from Proverbs 31:30-31: "Favour is deceitful and beauty is vaine/ But a woman that feareth the Lord she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands and let her own works praise her in the gates." During the eighteenth century, moralists often cited Proverbs 31 when discussing women's conduct, making it an appropriate source for a sampler verse. The second verse is from Revelation 14:13: "And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me write, blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea saith the spirit that they may rest from their labours & their works do follow them."

Mary Johnson was probably the Mary Johnson whose birth in 1730 is recorded in the register of St. Peter’s Parish, New Kent County, Virginia. The sampler along with a tintype of a later family member descended in the Johnson family.
Inscribed"Favour DeceitFuL Beauty Is/ vaine But woman that F/ the LorD she Be PraiseD"

"GIVE HER THE FRUIt OF/ H HANDS aND OWN/ AKE PRaISE IN TH/ GatES/ AND I HeaRD a VOICE FROM Hea/ VeN SaYING UNtO W ItE BLeS/ SeD are THE DeaD WHICH DIE IN/ LORD FROM HeNCe FORtH/ Yea SaItH THE THaT/ THEY EST FROM ThEIR/ LaBOURS & THeIR WORKS O/ FOLLOW THEM"
ProvenanceThis sampler was found in a farm house near West Point, Virginia, along with a tintype of a later family member named Molly Johnson.

History of Maker:

Mary Johnson could possibly be the daughter of James and Jane Johnson, born May 2, 1730, in New Kent County, Virginia.

Ann Hamlin is likely one of two women from Surry County, Virginia. The first possible candidate is Ann Flood Cocke Hamlin (b. 1693), the daughter of Walter Flood and the wife of William Cocke (d. 1732) and Thomas Hamlin. The second candidate is Ann Cocke Hamlin, the daughter of Walter Cocke (d. 1738) and the wife of Thomas Hamlin.