Sampler by Nancey Semple
Date1798 (dated)
Artist/Maker
Nancey Semple
OriginAmerica, Delaware
MediumSilk embroidery threads on a linen ground of 38 x 34 threads per inch (fiber identification by Textile Lab)
DimensionsOH 15 5/8" x OW 14 1/8"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1992-10
DescriptionThis is an almost square needlework sampler work in silk embroidery threads on a natural color linen ground. The sampler is hem stitched on all four sides. The sampler has a wide outer border consisting of four large realistically stitched flower sprigs, two large flower bud sprigs, one large berry sprig, a large vase of flowers, and eight birds, each one holding a sprig. The inner section of the sampler consists of a rectangular region outlined in dark blue/green decorative stitches. Within the rectangular region the upper portion consists of:
"A-H" upper case block in eyelet stitch
Band done in cross stitch
"I K-Q" upper case block in eyelet stitch
Band done in cross stitch
"R-X" upper case block in eyelet stitch
Band in cross stitch
"Y Z" upper case block in eyelet stitch; followed by "Nancey Semple" in cross stitch
Band in cross stitch
The lower portion consists of the verse: "Kind angels watch my sleeping dust/ To Jesus comes to raise the just/ Then may I wake in sweet surprise/ And in my Saviour's [sic] image rise." Below this is the date "Anno Domini 1798." A vine with seven flowers is to the left and above the verse. Two flowers are to the right of the verse.
Stitches: chain, cross, eyelet, hem, outline, and satin
Label TextNancey Semple's sampler is one of the earliest of a regional sampler style worked by girls from Maryland, Delaware, and possibly other Mid-Atlantic states. Nancey lived in Mill Creek Hundred and it's likely that she worked her sampler at a fashionable girl’s school in Wilmington, Delaware.
Inscribed"Kind angels watch my sleeping dust/ To Jesus comes to raise the just/ Then may I wake in sweet surprise/ And in my Saviour's [sic] image rise."
"Anno Domini 1798"
ProvenanceNo provenance other than vendor is known.
History of sampler maker:
Susi Slocum, sampler specialist, has identified Nancey Semple as living in Mill Creek Hundred, Delaware.
1827 (dated)
1812 (dated)
1823 (dated)
1787 (dated)
ca. 1833
1824 (dated)
ca. 1821
ca. 1805
182[6 or 8]
April 29th, 1834 (dated)