Images(8)

Sampler by Elizabeth Willson

DateMarch 25, 1708 (dated)

Maker Elizabeth Willson (born 1692)

OriginEngland, Ipswich

MediumSilk embroidery threads on a linen ground of 42 x 52 threads per inch (fiber identification by textile lab)

DimensionsOH: 29 1/4" x OW: 6 1/2"

Credit LinePurchased with partial funds raised by the Friends of the Textile Collection

Object number2008-18

DescriptionThis is a long and narrow band sampler completed by Elizabeth Willson under the direction of Rebecca Thomson on March 25, 1708. The sampler consists of nine bands of varying widths and designs, including flowers, hearts, acorns, and "S" designs. The first two bands feature two strips of zigzagging leafy vines with white and blue flowers. Below this is a single line of red eyelet stitches. The third band continues this theme of zigzagging leafy vines with flowers. Below this is a narrow band of flowers with white and blue petals. The fifth band, which also features these oscillating vines, features two flowers that are each flanked by acorns. The left-hand flower has striped red and white petals, and the second flower, which is upside down, has red and white petals with are not striped but are alternating. The sixth band is narrow, with white and red hearts. The seventh band has two multi-colored "S" designs surrounded by red and white flowers. The eighth band is very narrow, with upside flowers with two petals each. The ninth band, which is significantly wider, consists of a red zigzagging line, from which red, yellow, light blue, and white flowers bloom from both sides. Below this, the tenth band has alternating strawberries and acorns.

Below these bands is an inscription which reads, "ELIZABETH WILSON LOOK/WHeLL TO WHAT YOU/TAKE IN HAND/FOR LARNING/IS BeTTeR THeN HOVSe e/OR HAND WHeN LAND IS GON/AND MONeY IS SPeNT THeN/LARNING IS mOST [EXCeLeNT]." The band below this has, in small script, the inscription, "MARCH THe 25 ADGeD 16 1708 12345678910." Below this is the largest band of all. The top features two flowers in pots. The one on the left has red and white petals, and the one on the left has all white petals. Between these flowers are two red hearts, a white and blue crown, and a red, blue, and white heart. There are also two birds, next to what is possibly a bird and a dog. These smaller animals are unclear. Below these potted flowers are two blue and white columns. The base and top of the columns are blue and white checkerboard, while the centers of the columns consist of blue and white diagonal stripes, creating a zigzag pattern. Between these two columns is a large carnation, which has several petals that are made of white and red checkerboard. Flanking the bottom of this flower are two striped stags. The stag on the right has a blue eye. Both stags stand on a line of grass.

Below this is a capitalized "R" and "T," both in blue thread. Below the "R," which is on the left side, is an "E" in yellow thread. Below the "T," which is on the right side, is a yellow "W." "R" "T" are the initials of Rebecca Thomson, the sampler instructor. "E" and "W" are for Elizabeth Willson, the maker of this sampler. Below this pair is a red "C" and "S." Who these initials stand for is still uncertain. Between these three sets of initials is a square box, lined in a border of green and another of white. In this are six diamonds, with "E" and "W" on each side of center, and a red heart in between the two letters. Below these initials is a pineapple, flanked by red, green, yellow, white, and blue flowers. At the very bottom of this sampler is the inscription, "THe LOVe TRV I OW TO/YOV ELIZABeTH WILLSON."

Stitches: back, buttonhole, cross, detached buttonhole, double running, eyelet, running, satin, stem

Label TextElizabeth's long band sampler worked in a variety of silk stitches with a neat reverse is typical of seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century English and American samplers. Unlike most early samplers, however, this one is associated with an identified needlework teacher who was responsible for the design and instruction of the embroidery. It is one of a group of fifteen known samplers in various public and private collections that were worked by pupils of Judith (or Juda) Hayle and her daughter, Rebecca Thomson, in the town of Ipswich in East Anglia, England. The sampler group ranges in date between 1691 and 1710, and all share a number of similar motifs and patterns, as well as a moral verse. Many of the samplers include inscriptions that read, "[maker's name] is my name and with my needle I wrought the same and Iuda Hayle was my dame" and "larnin [learning] is most excellent." Each includes the maker's initials, as well as Judith Hayle's or Rebecca Thomson's initials.
Inscribed"ELIZABETH WILSON LOOK/WHeLL TO WHAT YOU/TAKE IN HAND/FOR LARNING/IS BeTTeR THeN HOVSe e/OR HAND WHeN LAND IS GON/AND MONeY IS SPeNT THeN/LARNING IS mOST [EXCeLeNT]"

"MARCH THe 25 ADGeD 16 1708 12345678910"

"R T"
"E W"
"C S"

"THe LOVe TRV I OW TO/YOV ELIZABeTH WILLSON"
Markings"RT," "EW," "CS"
ProvenanceElizabeth Willson is possibly Elizabeth, the daughter of Christopher and Elizabeth, who was baptized on January 29th, 1693 or 1694 at St. Peter's Church in Ipswich. The problem with this attribution is that according to her sampler she was sixteen, not fifteen, when she completed it on March 25th, 1708. No records of another Elizabeth Willson baptized in Ipswich in around 1692 have been found thus far.