Mary Lee at the age of fourteen stitched this fine band sampler with a good assortment of flowers, birds, swans, squirrels, and other traditional motifs. Worked into the center of a band, in tight and precise stitches, is the cautionary aphorism “in thy youth fear the god of truth”. There are three more couplets:

Happy are they who hath a Friend indeed
But they more happy is, who none do’s need

See how the Lillies flourish white and fair
See how the Ravens fed from Heaven are

Happy’s that soul that is content alone,
And needs as Entertainment but its own

Stitched in silk on fine wool tammy, the sampler is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a 19th-century black and gold frame. 21-1/2″ x 12-3/4″ With frame 24″ x 15″

• 

• 

• 

• 

•