Sampler by Harriot Bulkley

Date1803

Maker Harriot Bulkley (b. 1794)

OriginAmerica, Connecticut, Wethersfield (possibly)

MediumSilk embroidery threads on a linen ground of 31 x 31 threads per inch (fiber identification by eye)

DimensionsOH: 8 1/8" x OW: 15 5/8"

Credit LineGift of Lilian Taylor Howard in memory of Kathryn Bane Lindsay

Object number2015-348

DescriptionThis is a rectangular needlework sampler worked in faded shades of green, brown, black on a natural color linen ground. The sampler consists of decorative bands and alphabets at top followed by the verse: “With joy with grief that healing hand I see/ The skys inform’d and yet it bled for me;” and signature line: “Harriot Bulkley AE 10 1803.” The bottom portion of the sampler consists of human figures—one of which is on horseback--as well as chickens and trees.

Stitches: chain, cross, outline, and satin
Label TextHarriot Bulkley decorated her sampler with miniature human figures, minute versions of the people she would have seen in her hometown of Wethersfield, Connecticut. Her sampler is a slightly simplified version of the samplers that came from Wethersfield in later years, made by students taught by Abigail Goodrich and then one Miss Butler.
InscribedOne upper-case alphabet, one lower-case alphabet, numerals 1 through 9.
"With joy with grief that healing hand I see/ The skys inform’d and yet it bled for me”
MarkingsNone
ProvenancePer donor, the sampler was located in a Tennessee home.

Harriot Bulkley may be an individual born November 9th, 1794 in Wethersfield, Connecticut. Her father's name was David. No other information has been found. Given that this sampler was made in 1803 and Harriot was born in 1794, Harriot would only have been eight or nine when she made the sampler, not ten. This discrepancy requires further research.