Sampler by Margaret Chamberlin

Date1787 (dated)

Artist/Maker Margaret Chamberlin (b. 1775)

MediumSilk embroidery threads on a natural color linen ground of 30 x 31 threads per inch (identification of fibers by eye)

DimensionsOH: 15 3/4" x OW: 8 1/2"

Credit LineGift of Mr. & Mrs. Lane Jennings

Object number2001-22

DescriptionThis is a small rectangular alphabet and verse sampler worked in shades of blue, green, brown, purple, pink, gold, and red silk embroidery threads on a darkened linen ground. The sampler is hemmed on all four sides with a 1/8" hem. From the top sampler consists of:
"A-K" upper case block worked in reversible cross stitch with front vertical
Sawtooth band in satin and reversible cross stitch with square back
"L-U" upper case block worked in reversible cross stitch with front vertical
Simple band worked in reversible cross stitch with front vertical
"V-Z" upper case block and "1-6" worked in reversible cross stitch with front vertical
Sawtooth band worked in satin and reversible cross stitch with front vertical
"7-9" "a-m" lower case block worked in reversible cross stitch with vertical front
Band in eyelet stitch
"n-z" lower case block and "&" worked in reversible cross stitch with front vertical
Band worked in reversible cross stitch with front vertical
"Margaret Chamber/lin is My Name and/ With my needle I 1787/
Made the Same" worked in reversible cross stitch with front vertical
Band of eyelet stitch
"A-F" upper case block worked in eyelet stitch, followed by a heart motif
Band of eyelet stitch
"G-I" "K-M" upper case block worked in eyelet stitch
Band of eyelet stitch
"N-S" upper case block worked in eyelet stitch
Band of eyelet stitch
"T-X" upper case block worked in eyelet stitch
Band of eyelet stitch
"Y-Z" upper case block worked in eyelet stitch followed by the verse: "When this you see/ Remember me/ When distant be" worked in cross stitch with front vertical over one and a crown motif.
Sampler is enclosed on all four sides in undulating floral and vine border of carnations, roses, and rose buds worked in cross stitch. An inner border on all four sides consists of double cross stitch.

Stitches: Cross (over 1 and 2), double cross, eyelet, flat or satin, reversible cross with vertical front, reversible cross with square back

Label TextThe upper- and lowercase alphabets, numerals, decorative bands, and undulating floral and vine border on Margaret Chamberlin's work are typical of eighteenth-century American samplers. An integral part of many samplers, the verse includes the maker's name and the date it was made. The crown motif in the lower right corner is a symbol of royalty and power.

Age eleven when she stitched the sampler, Margaret was the daughter of Joseph Chamberlin, a Quaker blacksmith in Newark, Delaware. The sampler descended through the family until it was given to Colonial Williamsburg in 2001.

Inscribed"Margaret Chamber/ lin is My Name and/ With my needle I 1787/ Made the Same"
"When this you see/ Remember me/ When distant be"
MarkingsTyped on very acidic paper attached to bottom of mount: "Notice date 1787, at end of line eight. Sampler was in perfect condition when placed in this frame by a great-grand daughter of the maker, Nov. 28", 1925."
ProvenanceMargaret Chamberlin (born 1775) was the eldest daughter of Joseph, a blacksmith in Newark, Delaware, and Martha Palmer Chamberlin. The family was Quaker. In 1800, Margaret married a non-Quaker, John Cartney (or Carter), and was disowned by the Friends Meeting. John died before 1807 and Margaret married Joshua Johnson, a widower with four children. Because Joshua was a Quaker, Margaret was brought back in the Friends Meeting. They had three children, including Ann, the youngest who eventually inherited this sampler. In 1835, Ann married William B. Silver in Ohio, and her eldest daughter, Margaret Chamberlin Silver (b. 1841) married the donor's great-grandfather, Clarkson Jennings. Their eldest daughter, Anna Silver Jennings (b. May 1867) inherited the sampler and framed it. Anna died childless, and the sampler passed to her younger sister, Elma Fogg Jennings, an unmarried schoolteacher, who raised the donor's father, an orphan. Thus the sampler passed to the donor, Lane Jennings. (References provided by donor to compile sampler history.)