Mary Keeling 1796

Description

With an extensive palette of twenty three colors, this finely stitched English sampler reflects the traditions and motifs of two centuries of samplermaking. A four-sided stylized floral border surrounds three main pictorial and pattern sections: the first with large stags and flying angels; the second with verses and an arcaded carnation and diaper motif band reminiscent of the seventeenth century; and the lower scene with Adam and Eve in the Garden, with celestial forms, billowing clouds, and trumpeting angels above. With the intricately worked short verses interspersed with pictorial sections and pattern bands, especially the seventeenth century style arcaded band, and the freehand stags, this sampler is very similar to one stitched by ANN HAIR in 1762, in the collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum, which is also available as a kit through THE SCARLET LETTER. Stitches used in Mary Keeling’s sampler are cross, tent, stem, satin, and tiny bit of Queen. On 40 count linen the finished sampler will be closest in size to the original. Our model was stitched on 40 count linen with silk floss.