Sampler by Martha L. Strode

Date1817 (dated)

Artist/Maker Martha L. Strode (1805-1886)

OriginAmerica, Delaware River Valley or Pennsylvania

MediumSilk embroidery threads on a linen ground of approximately 58 by 72 threads per inch

DimensionsUnframed: OH 12 1/2" x OW 14"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1995-9,A

DescriptionThis is an almost square needlework sampler worked in what was originally shades of green, black, pink, yellow, and tan silk embroidery threads on a linen ground. The sampler is hemmed on all four sides in a 3/16" to 1/4" hem.

The sampler is enclosed in the popular "Westtown" undulating vine and leaf border with an eight-leaf design at top. Within this border is a block of text titled "Extract." The title is underlined with an undulating line. The first verse reads: "Oh thou! who dry'st the mourner's tear/ How dark this world would be,/ If when decivd [sic.] and wounded here,/ We could not fly to thee." An undulating line of cross stitch separates this verse from the second, which reads: "That sacred gloom those fires divine,/ So grand, so countless, Lord are thine./ Moore." An undulating line of cross stitch separates this verse from the signature line, which reads: "Martha L Strode/ 1817". Flanking the verses are two rosebuds, two sprays of flowers, and two baskets of flowers/fruit.

Stitches: cross (over 2), half cross (over one), hem, satin, and stem

The sampler frame probably dates to about 1870, when the sampler was mounted on an albumen print and framed.
Label TextMartha likely worked this sampler at a Quaker school. This style of American sampler is derived from the Westtown School in Chester County, Pennsylvania. However, Martha L. Strode does not appear in the general catalogue of students.

The verses that appear on Martha's sampler are from Thomas Moore's A SERIES OF SACRED SONGS, DUETTS AND TRIOS (1816). The first is titled "O Thou Who Dry'st the Mourner's Tear" and the second is titled "Thou Art, O God, the Life and Light."
Inscribed"Extract./ Oh thou! who dry'st the mourner's tear/ How dark this world would be,/ If when decivd [sic.] and wounded here,/ We could not fly to thee."

"That sacred gloom those fires divine,/ So grand, so countless, Lord are thine./ Moore."
ProvenanceHistory of Maker:
Martha Levis Strode was born on December 23, 1805 to Joseph Strode (1766-1827) and Esther Cheyney (1768-1827). She had six siblings: Caleb, Sarah, Joseph C., Edith, Ann, and Esther. In 1829 she married Caleb Brinton (1804-1892). She died on November 23, 1886 and was buried in the Birmingham-Lafayette Cemetery in West Chester, Pennsylvania.