This English silkwork sampler is stitched in a variety of stitches with a meandering floral border. The condition is very good, no stains, no stitch loss (other than to a few spots where there are small holes, that have been backed with matching linen so they are barely noticeable), the colors good and strong and unfaded. The silks are bright and glossy, with no color run, and it has been very neatly and evenly stretched. It is framed in an old wood frame, mounted to conservator standards. The verse reads:

Next unto God, Dear Uncle I address
Myself to you, in humble thankfulness
For all your care, and charge on me bestow’d
The means of learning unto me allow’d
Go on, I pray and let me still pursue
Those golden arts the vulgar never knew.

It is signed and dated “L. Whitear her work Feb. 6th 1816, Twyford School.” It includes a fantastic set of motifs including a school house surrounded by trees, two swans in a pond, a dog, birds, flowers, a man and a woman with walking sticks, birdhouses, butterflies and potted flowering plants. 15″ x 12″.

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