A RUTHY ROGERS
RUTHY
ROGERS
www.scarlet-letter.com
DOÑA DOROTHEA
GAZANO y GARCIA
LATE 18TH-EARLY 19TH CENTURIES
MASSACHUSETTS
Ruthy Rogers’s bewitching composition features a piquant wasp-waisted, floral-crowned figure amid giant
blossoms and curious birds. Unfettered by instructive
alphabets or pious maxims, it suggests a happy schoolroom of little girls guided by a cheerful and imaginative
schoolmistress. This sampler represents one of four fascinating forms that emerged in Marblehead, Massachusetts, in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth
centuries, but which eluded the recognition of collectors
and scholars throughout most of the twentieth century
until an appealing piece by Betsy Gail appeared at auction
in 1980. It featured a winsome figure in profile, much
like another in a then unpublished 1789 sampler by Hannah Stacy. Both the Gail and Stacy families have been
traced to Marblehead, and the recognition of Marblehead’s exceptional samplers grew quickly.
The Marblehead samplers are now attributed
to schoolmistress Martha
Tarr Barber (1734-1812),
although few specific
facts about her teaching
have been found. She evidently commenced keeping school after having
become a widow for the
second time in 1780.
Eventually the Barber
school spanned the entire
Federal period, for Martha’s youngest daughter,
Miriam, born in 1775,
became her mother’s
assistant and continued
teaching until her death
in 1830.
Ruthy Rogers was the
daughter of Marblehead
tailor William Rogers (1747-1835) and Ruth Vickery
(1751- ?). She married shipmaster Benjamin Andrews Jr
(1775-1821) on June 28, 1799, and died of consumption on
May 4, 1812, at age 34. She was survived by three of their
five children. Her husband married Mary L. Smith of
Salem on November 25, 1812, and one of their three sons
lived to adulthood. Captain Andrews drowned off
Sumatra “by Overseting the Boat.”
Stitches used in Ruthy’s sampler are cross, stem filling, Queen, outline and counted satin.
ADVANCED
35-count linen — 9 1/2"x13 1/2"
Kit with cotton floss—$74.00
Kit with silk floss—$120.00
Graph only—$22.00
B DOÑA DOROTHEA
GAZANO y GARCIA
Whether this is a Spanish, Mexican or Guatemalan sampler is uncertain but it exhibits design characteristics of
all these cultures including the oblong shape as well as the
pattern bands worked in a variety of stitches. The
attribution “De Mano De Doña Dorothea Gazano y
Garcia” is suggestive of a Spanish origin since she provides
the surnames of both her father (Gazano) and her mother
(Garcia). This line translates as “from the hand of” (i.e.,
made by). The title Doña is an honorific that is used with
a first name to indicate a woman of aristocratic birth or
who is deserving of respect for age and/or wisdom.
The checkerboard stag in the upper right appears on
several Mexican samplers in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The naturalistic
Berlin style floral bands in the third register date this
piece to post 1830.
The alphabets on the sampler vary and have some tales
to tell. The first alphabet begins with the letter A and
runs through J, L, M, N, Ñ (again) … U, V, X, Y, Z. This
is a Spanish alphabet: there is no letter K nor letter W,
and the Ñ is also included. The second alphabet includes
the letter K, but omits the letter W. Words with the letters K or W in Spanish are not unknown, but are all loan
words from other languages.
Traditional symbolic motifs include the stags, cockerels, ewes, and the crowned lion. The crowned lion is a
symbol that appears frequently not just on Spanish samplers but also on the Spanish flag, coat of arms, coins,
etc. It makes its appearance beginning with Isabel I who,
when she married Ferdinand of Aragon in the 15th century, united the historic kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. Isabel was from Castilla-Leon: the crowned lion
symbolizes the kingdom of Leon (meaning “lion”). Not
surprisingly a castle (castilla) is also depicted on the flag.
The structure in the upper left of this sampler appears to
be a church. The Greek key motif in the lower right of
the sampler appears on many other Spanish samplers.
Stitches used are cross, back, and counted satin. The
original sampler is in a private collection.
INTERMEDIATE
30-count linen — 19 1/2" x14"
Kit with cotton floss—$90.00
Kit with silk floss—$150.00
Graph only—$22.00
MARY WILLIAMS
DOROTHY
WALPOLE
JANET BURNET
COMING IN
2012
HANNAH CARTER
Boston, circa 1748
PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE
FOR MORE DETAILS
C MARY WILLIAMS
E DOROTHY WALPOLE
1804 • AN IRISH SAMPLER
It’s rare to find family groups of samplers particularly
those which span more than one generation. This sampler
is one of a rare group of Irish samplers providing a tangible record of the education received by Mary’s mother,
Dorothy Walpole, in 18th century Ireland and passed on
to her daughters at a Quaker school in the next county
over from where she lived with her husband, Christopher Williams.
Dorothy Walpole’s two daughters worked their samplers at a school in Mountrath in the County Laois between 1804 and 1809. Mary’s sampler shows evidence of
the development of needleworking skills at their Quaker
school, but it also enforces the belief that map samplers
were often the final task worked by young women at
such a school. This reproduction of one of Mary’s first
samplers clearly illustrates the Quaker influence. The
verses she used derive from Isaac Watts, a perennial
favorite, and an anonymous publication titled “Poetical
Frenzy, or a Venture in Rhyme,” a piece named ENTHUSIASM.
BEGINNING
35-count linen — 12 1/2" x15 1/2"
Kit with cotton floss—$56.00
Kit with silk floss—$90.00
Graph only—$17.00
1774 • AN IRISH SAMPLER
Dorothy Walpole was born in New Garden in the
Painestown Parish of Carlow, Ireland. On August 25th,
1794, she married Christopher Williams also of New
Garden which was home to a large Quaker community.
Where Dorothy worked her sampler is not known, but
it seems likely she attended a small private school in the
locality. Certainly her family owned land in the area and
enjoyed a reasonably comfortable lifestyle. Embroidered
on unbleached linen, this beautiful band sampler employs
Florentine, cross, petit point, queen, herringbone and
counted satin stitches. It is divided into sections within
a simple strawberry border comprising alphabets in a variety of stitches, a four-line verse, a wide band of Florentine work and flowers on curling stems with the
petals dramatically outlined. (See also the sampler by
her daughter, Mary Williams.)
We can substitute the linen to any thread count that
you prefer, for an additional fee which will vary according to the linen specified (please call or email
samplers@scarlet-letter.com for substitutions).
INTERMEDIATE
40-count linen — 9"x 24"
Kit with cotton floss—$90.00
Kit with silk floss—$145.00
Graph only—$22.00
D JANET BURNET
1830
Displaying the traditional color scheme of Scottish samplers, this beautiful and delicately stitched piece also
employs a variety of interesting counted thread stitches
including queen, double-running, four-sided, back,
counted satin filling, cross, Algerian eyelet, and cross
over one (petit point).
Initials of family members appear after the alphabets
in the upper reserve. The name M. Gowan after the
attribution at the bottom most likely refers to Janet’s
teacher. The maze and carnations above this hark back
to seventeenth century samplers.
INTERMEDIATE TO ADVANCED
35-count linen — 11" x 14 1/4"
Kit with Cotton Floss—$64.00
Kit with Silk Floss—$110.00
Graph Only—$20.00
F A NEW ENGLAND SAMPLER
GREEN LINSEY WOOLSEY,
Frida
P.O. BOX 397
SULLIVAN
WI 53178
CIRCA
1810
Few samplers were stitched on this unusual dark green
linsey woolsey fabric that combines linen and wool to
create a dramatic dark background color to highlight
brightly colored floss. Most of these
samplers were made in the coastal
towns of Massachusetts up to New
Hampshire. Surrounded by a Greek
key border, this unsigned sampler begins with a classic Quaker-style alphabet, A through Z, executed in cross
stitch, followed by another in eyelet
stitch, the next in rice stitch followed
by an alphabet in four-sided stitch.
Below the alphabets is a jumble of
flowering plants and a bird.
Two groups of initials flank the
eyelet stitched letters WXYZ, which could represent
initials of the maker’s maternal and paternal family members. The initials on the left side are DS, PS, NC, MC,
SC, MC, and on the right they are JF, EF, PF, DC, SS,
and LS. This sampler could easily be adapted to include
your own family’s initials.
The original sampler is in the collection of The Scarlet Letter.
ANY SKILL LEVEL
Green linsey woolsey — 14"x18"
Kit with cotton floss—$62.00
Kit with silk floss—$85.00
Graph & linen (NO floss)—$40.00
Graph only—$18.00
BOOKS
AUTOPSY OF THE
MONTENEGRIN
STITCH: EXHUMED
by Amy Mitten
Amy has removed both the
mystery and the mayhem for
those of us who love to reproduce samplers, embroider
costumes and approach
new and daring needlework
challenges. This new and
expanded edition includes
larger, clearer stitch diagrams, and has a coil binding
allowing the book to fold
back for easy reference as
you stitch. 112 pages, $36.00
collected and restored a magnificent group of fine early
needleworks. This book
contains superb, detailed
photography of part of their
collection, and inside the
jacket there is a graph of a
17th century band sampler
from the collection. Hardbound, 215 pages, $85.00
SAMPLERS AND
DESIGNS: THREE
CENTURIES OF
EUROPEAN
SAMPLERS
by Mootz and Hundt
The book is 144 pages. 44
samplers are photographed
THE NEEDLEWORK
for the book, with 16
COLLECTION: 1
charted. There are 8 large
by Micheál &
sheets folded into the pocket
Elizabeth Feller
Over several decades Mich- which contain the graphs.
SAMPLER
eál and Elizabeth Feller have $65.00.
WORKBOOK:
MOTIFS & PATTERNS
by Caroline Vincent
This design sourcebook
$0.00 to $14.99 . . . . .$6.00
contains motifs and patterns
derived from traditional
$15.00 to $25.99 . . . .$7.00
Shipping
themes, together with origRates within $30.00 to $46.99 . . .$9.00
inal designs by the author.
Patterns for a range of subContinental $47.00 to $65.99 . . .$11.00
jects include animals, birds,
$66.00 to $85.99 . . .$13.00
USA
buildings, trees, figures,
$86.00 to $129.99 . .$15.00
flowers and borders, pre$130.00 to $199.99 .$20.00
sented in graph form with
Over $200.00: Special Quote Required some stitched examples.
The book is presented to
appeal to a variety of skill
If you have ordered items that don’t weigh much such as
silk floss, the cost of shipping will be adjusted accordingly. levels. Softbound, 128 pages.
$26.00
PRINT CATALOGUE: $15.00 (DOMESTIC) — $25.00 (OVERSEAS)
THE WEBSITE IT KEPT CURRENT.
PLEASE NOTE THAT PRICES ARE ALWAYS SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
www.scarlet-letter.com
Email: samplers@scarlet-letter.com
CONNECTICUT
NEEDLEWORK:
WOMEN, ART, AND
FAMILY, 1740–1840
by Susan P. Schoelwer
Masterworks from the extraordinary needlework collections of the Connecticut
Historical Society. Connecticut women have long been
noted for their creation of
colorful and distinctive needlework, including samplers
and family registers, bed rugs
and memorial pictures, crewel-embroidered bed hangings
and garments, silk embroidered pictures of classical or
religious scenes, quilted petticoats and bedcovers, and
whitework dresses and linens.
This volume offers the
first regional study, encompassing the full range of needle arts produced prior to
1840. Seventy entries showcase more than one hundred
fascinating examples—many
never before published—
from the Connecticut Historical Society’s extensive
collection of this early
American art form. Produced
almost exclusively by women and girls, the needle arts
provide an illuminating vantage point for exploring early
American women’s history
and education, including family-based traditions predating
the establishment of formal
academies after the American
Revolution. Extensive genealogical research reveals
unseen family connections
linking various types of needlework, similar to the multi-generational male workshops documented for other
artisan trades, such as woodworking or metalsmithing.
Photographs of stitches,
reverse sides, sketches, design
sources, and related works
enhance understanding and
appreciation of this fragile art
form and the talented women
who created it. Softbound
$30, hardbound $60 (limited
supply).