MARY FORD 1802

English sampler depicting flying cherubs, a stag, dogs, a cow, and sheep, stitched with silk on linen in three tiers.  The first tier includes two lines of alphabet and numerals above her name, followed by “Born October 20 1788”.  A sun’s face peers out from beneath a bank of cheerful clouds, beside Adam and  Eve and the Tree of Life.  The lower reserve depicts a man and a woman in period dress, with sheep crooks, standing in a meadow with elaborate and stylized trees and flowers on either side.  Stitches used in the sampler include cross, petit point, and eyelet.

While the sampler sustains holes (some of them have been patched by hand, unsuccessfully) the color remains vibrant.

It is framed in a mid-20th century frame and measures 16″ x 12-1/2″ (with the frame 21-1/2″ x 18-1/2″).  This sampler has been about 50% charted by The Scarlet Letter but never published.