Sampler by Elizabeth Martha Sturgis

DateMarch 1847 (dated)

Artist/Maker Elizabeth M. Sturgis (1834-1914)

OriginAmerica, Virginia, Accomack County

MediumSilk and wool embroidery threads on a cotton ground of 28 x 31 per inch (fiber identification by eye)

DimensionsOW: 17 1/4" x OH: 21 1/2"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1997-72

DescriptionThis is a needlework sampler worked in shades of red, green, maroon, brown, blue, orange, yellow/gold, gray, pink, purple, black, and white silk and wool embroidery threads on a cotton ground. The sampler is hemmed at top and bottom and has selvages at sides.
From the top the sampler consists of:
Band worked in cross stitch
"Elizabeth M Sturgis' Work March 1847" worked in cross stitch
Band worked in cross stitch
"A-I" "K-R" upper case script worked in cross stitch
"S-Z" upper case script, "a-i" "k-u" lower case block worked in cross stitch
Bud and vine border worked in cross stitch
"A-N" upper case block worked in double cross stitch
Band worked in eyelet stitch
"O-Z" upper case block "&" worked in eyelet stitch
Band worked in four-sided and double cross stitches
"Elizabeth Martha Daughter of Thomas &" worked in cross stitch
"Esther Sturgis was born November 3 1834" worked in cross stitch
The bottom half of the sampler consists of a large container of stylized flowers/fruit with a bird and floral spray, butterfly and floral spray, and a flying bird. This rests on a lawn of green that has been worked in a zigzag pattern of Irish stitch.

Stitches: cross, double cross, eyelet, four-sided, Irish, and outline
Label TextElizabeth Martha Sturgis combined elements of old and new in this colorful sampler. One of the alphabets and several of the designs are seen in earlier samplers made in the Chesapeake region of Virginia. Elizabeth modernized these design elements by using the newest and most fashionable material available for needlework: merino wool embroidery threads. Some of her motifs in the bottom section of her sampler also suggest the influence of Berlin work, the latest fashion in needlework.
Elizabeth was the daughter of Thomas (1773-1835) and Esther Holt Sturgis of Accomack County, Virginia. She lived her entire life on the Eastern Shore of Virginia and is buried in Onancock. It's likely that Elizabeth was either attending a boarding school or living with her mother and step-father, Lewis Snead, when she worked her sampler in 1847. The school where Elizabeth worked her sampler has not been identified, although the Margaret Academy, which opened in 1807 in Accomack County, Virginia, is a candidate. It is possible that Elizabeth's niece, Elizabeth Sarah Gunter, worked a sampler at the same school. Both samplers are stitched in silk and wool embroidery threads on a cotton ground and were made just three years apart.
Inscribed"Elizabeth Martha Daughter of Thomas &"
"Esther Sturgis was born November 3 1834"
ProvenanceThere is no known provenance.

History of sampler maker:
Elizabeth Martha Sturgis was born to Thomas P. Sturgis (1773-1835) and Esther W. Dixon Holt (1802-1880) on November 3, 1834. We can presume that Elizabeth was either attending a boarding school or living with her mother and step-father, Lewis Snead (1802-1874), when she worked her sampler in 1847. Elizabeth married James G. Floyd on November 17, 1853. She died on March 18, 1914 and is buried in Onancock, Virginia.