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Sampler 1989-332
Sampler by Mary Victor
Sampler 1989-332

Sampler by Mary Victor

Date1764 (dated)
Artist/Maker Mary Victor
OriginEngland
MediumSilk embroidery threads on a worsted ground of 51 warp x 45 weft threads per inch (fiber identification by eye)
DimensionsOH: 12 1/8" x OW: 12 7/8"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1989-332
DescriptionThis is a square needlework sampler worked in shades of green, yellow, purple, red, blue, black, pink, and gold silk embellishment threads on a natural-colored worsted ground. The sampler is hemmed at the top and bottom with a 1/4" hem and selvages at its sides. The upper portion of the sampler consists of two upper case alphabets (each without the "J" and "U"), an ampersand, wave motifs, numerals "1-3," the vowels, and coronets (two baron, two viscount, two earl, two duke, and one king) with the letters "B", "V", "E", "D", "D", "E", "V", and "B" above each corresponding coronet. The center portion of the sampler consists of a three-story house with a fence flanked by trees and other motifs such as a cow and milk maid, bird, and potted plants. The bottom portion of the sampler consists of isolated motifs such as a man, potted plants, birds, and a squirrel. The signature line reads, "Mary Victor her Work in the 10th Year of her Age Anno Domini 1764." The sampler is enclosed on all four sides with a geometric strawberry border. The worsted ground fabric has five blue threads woven into each selvage.

Stitches: cross, detached buttonhole, eyelet, hem and outline
Label TextThe precise embroidery of Mary Victor's sampler in silk threads on a worsted ground is indicative of British sampler work.
InscribedTwo alphabets, "1-3," "A E I O U," "B V E D," "D E V B," "Mary Victor her Work in the 10th Year of her Age Anno Domini 1764"
Markings"B V E D," "D E V B"
ProvenanceHistory of ownership in the Valentine Museum.

History of sampler maker:
Mary Victor was born in 1754 in Middlesex, England. She married at 17 years old, to Stephen Reinhard, a farmer from Milsted, Kent. It is not known when she died, nor if the couple had children.
Exhibition(s)