Sampler by Martha Ann Ensor

Dateca. 1821

Maker Martha Ann Ensor (1811-1906)

OriginAmerica, Tennessee, Washington County

MediumSilk embroidery threads on a linen ground of 23 x 30 threads per inch (fiber identification by eye)

DimensionsOH: 17" x OW 18" (43.2 x 45.7cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Friends of Colonial Williamsburg Collections Fund and the Edna Medlin Memorial Gift Fund

Object number2015-254

DescriptionThis is an almost square needlework sampler worked in red, peach, yellow, green, blue, cream, and brown silk embroidery threads on a linen ground. From the top the alphabet sampler consists of:
"A-O" upper case script in cross stitch
Band of herringbone stitch
"P-Z" upper case script; decorative motif; "1-9" in cross stitch
Band of eyelet stitch
"A-N" upper case block in eyelet stitch
Band of eyelet
"O-Z" upper case block in eyelet stitch
Decorative band of cross stitch
"A-Z" upper case block in four-sided stitch
Band of double row of cross stitch
"a-z" lower case block in cross stitch; decorative motif; "10-15" in cross stitch
Band of cross stitch in chain motif
"A-J" upper case double row of block in cross stitch; decorative motif in cross stitch
Band of herringbone
"K-S" upper case double row of block in cross stitch; decorative motif in cross stitch
Decorative band in cross stitch
"T-Z" upper case double row of block in cross stitch; eyelet stitch; "1-4" in a double row of cross stitch
Decorative band of undulating cross stitch
The bottom third of the sampler consists of a centered verse flanked by butterflies. The verse reads: “Just like an early rose/ Ive [sic] seen an infant bloom/ But death PerhaPs [sic] before it blows/ Will lay it in the tomb.” Below verse is a cross-stitched branch of flowers.
Centered below the verse and motif is the signature line: “Martha Ann Ensors/ work in her 9th Year.”
The motif in the lower left of the sampler is a fruit tree with three birds. The motif in the lower right of the sampler is a two-handled urn with a flowering plant.
Centered at the bottom of the sampler is a flowering tree-like motif flanked by a bowl/basket of flowers/fruit.

Stitches: cross over one and two, eyelet, four-sided, herringbone
Label TextMartha Ann Ensor was just eight years of age when she created her alphabet sampler. The ca. 1821 work is truly a sampling of stitches and includes cross over one and two threads, eyelet, four-sided, and herringbone stitches. Typical of schoolgirls of this period, Martha included a verse in the bottom portion of the sampler from the hymn "The Lilies of the Field." The large butterflies flanking the verse are a common motif on Tennessee samplers. Samplers created in Tennessee are rare, and even rarer are ones from eastern counties such as Washington.

Martha Ann Ensor was the sixth child of William Talbott and Martha Ann Lasley Ensor. The Ensors were originally from Maryland. Martha married John B. Buckingham in 1834. By 1850 they were living in Barren County, Kentucky. Nine children were born to the couple between the years 1836 and 1865. The 1900 census lists the widowed Martha living with her son John T. Buckingham in Horse Cave in Hart County, Kentucky. Martha died in 1906 and is buried in the Walnut Hill Cemetery in Barren County, Kentucky.

Inscribed“Just like an early rose/ Ive [sic] seen an infant bloom/ But death PerhaPs [sic] before it blows/ Will lay it in the tomb.”
ProvenancePrivate collection, Louisville, Kentucky to Brunk Auction House, Lot 57; purchased by Mary Jo Case from Brunk's Auction House in January of 2008. No further provenance is known.

History of sampler maker:
Martha Ann Ensor was the sixth child of William Talbott and Martha Ann Lasley Ensor. The Ensors were originally from Maryland. Martha married John B. Buckingham in 1834. By 1850 they were living in Barren County, Kentucky. Nine children were born to the couple between the years 1836 and 1865. The 1900 census lists the widowed Martha living with her son John T. Buckingham in Horse Cave in Hart County, Kentucky. Martha died in 1906 and it is not known where she is buried.