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1990-39, Sampler
Sampler by Mary W. Tomlin
1990-39, Sampler

Sampler by Mary W. Tomlin

Date1817
Artist/Maker Mary W. Tomlin (b. 1807)
OriginAmerica, Virginia, Spotsylvania County, Greenwood Seminary (probably)
MediumSilk embroidery threads on a linen ground of 30 x 34 threads per inch Fiber identification done on binocular microscope on June 28, 1994.
Dimensions17 1/2" x 17"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1990-39
DescriptionThis is a square needlework sampler worked in faded shades of red, green, brown, blue, black, and yellow silk threads on a natural color linen ground. The sampler has selvages at sides and 3/16" hem at top and bottom.
From the top:
"John W Tomlin. Margaret W Tomlin.. Clifton."
Decorative band in queen's stitch
"A-P", upper case block worked in Roumanian stitch
Decorative band in Roumanian stitch
"Q-Z", upper case block worked in Roumanian stitch, followed by the numerals, "1-7"
Decorative band in four-sided stitch
Decorative band in variation of herringbone stitch
The center of the sampler consists of a two-story house with chimneys at each end and five windows on the second floor and four on the ground floor. Six of the windows are open half way. Flanking the house on each side is a tree with birds sitting in the tree and flying around. Below the house is the inscription "Greenwood Seminary".
The bottom third of the sampler consists of the verse, "Religion is the chief concern/ Of mortals here below/ May I its great importance learn/ Its soveriegn virtue know/ Relig[i]o[n] [s]hould our thoughts enga[ge]/ Amidst our youthful bloo[m]/ [Twill fit us for declin]ing age/ And for the aw[fu] tom[b]". Below verse is a decorative band worked in a flat stitch. Below this is a heavy strawberry and vine border worked in cross stitch.
Signature line at bottom of sampler reads, "Mary W Tomlin marked this sampler in her 11th year." Sampler is enclosed on all four sides by a small geometric strawberry and vine border.

Stitches: cross, double cross, flat, four-sided, herringbone (variation), queen, and Roumanian
Label TextA group of ten related Piedmont Virginia samplers made between 1817 and 1848 hint at a close-knit community of sampler makers. The most noteworthy characteristics of these embroideries are family names and houses with open widows whose styles vary only slightly. Other shared elements are vine and bud borders, identical alphabets, and stanzas from a verse entitled "On Religion."

Three of the earliest are almost identical and were worked by Mary W. Tomlin (1817), Martha Smith (1824), and a daughter of the Terrill family (ca. 1820). Two of the samplers are marked "Greenwood Seminary." A fourth early sampler (1818) created by Louisa Thornley (1818) is larger and features a slightly different house with the inscription "White/ Plains." A fifth simple alphabet sampler by Mahala Jameson (1818) is marked with the teacher's name, Mrs. Hackley, who advertised her Greenwood Seminary for four years in the FREDERICKSBURG HERALD.

Worked by Mildred B. Chewning (1835), Eliza A. Johnson (1840), Martha Cosby (1844), Sarah Reynolds (1848), and Jane Hiter (1848), four of the later five include the teacher's name, first recorded as Miss Lucy Mary Quisenberry, and, after 1835, as Mrs. Lucy M. Montague or Aunt Lucy M. Montague. Lucy Quisenberry does not appear to have been the originator of the "open windows" sampler group; more likely, she was one of the designer's earliest students, possibly at Greenwood Seminary. Mrs. Lucy Mary Quisenberry Montague, who provided instruction in needlework from at least 1835 to 1848, perpetuated a style that illustrates the enduring nature of traditional sampler making.

Mary W. Tomlin was one of six children born to John Walker Tomlin and Margaret Williamson Ball Tomlin of Clifton in Hanover County, Virginia. Mary included her parents' names and the name of her home on her sampler. She married Dr. Corbin Braxton; together, they had at least five children.

Inscribed"John W Tomlin. Margaret W Tomlin.. Clifton."
"Greenwood Seminary"
The bottom third of the sampler consists of the verse, "Religion is the chief concern/ Of mortals here below/ May I its great importance learn/ Its soveriegn virtue know/ Relig[i]o[n] [s]hould our thoughts enga[ge]/ Amidst our youthful bloo[m]/ [Twill fit us for declin]ing age/ And for the aw[fu]} tom[b]".

ProvenanceThere is no known provenance other than vendor from whom the sampler was purchased.
History of sampler maker:
Mary W. Tomlin was one of six children born (1807) at Clifton to John Walker Tomlin (1778-185?) and Margaret Williamson Ball (ca. 1782-1819). John and Margaret Tomlin were married in 1804, and had moved to Clifton by 1805. Clifton is located in Old Church off Route 606, across from Ingleside in Hanover Country, Virginia. The house which stands today was built on the foundation of the old Clifton home which burned in 1890. Mary married Dr. Corbin Braxton and had seven children. (For more information on Clifton and other Tomlin and Braxton homes see: OLD HOMES OF HANOVER COUNTY, VIRGINIA, The Hanover County Historical Society, 1983. For more information on the Tomlin family see the "Barnes Papers" in Swem Library. Library.)