Name/Title
Jane Darlington Family Record SamplerEntry/Object ID
2001.2.1Tags
Family Trees, SamplerDescription
The sampler with a cream linen field bordered by stylized floral meander enclosing two inscriptions, "let Innocence My Heart Surmount/Let Love Reside Within My Breast/Let Envy Ne'er In me Be Found/Nor Discontent My Peace Molest," and "Teach Me to Feel Another Smart/Teach My Tears to Flow/Teach Me to Soother the Sorrowing Heart?And Give Relief Woe;" and family geneology above two mourning trees flanking a central floral urn. Antiuqe mahogany frame; glassContext
Jane worked her sampler in Chester County, Pennsylvania and it is part of a group of well researched and published samplers.
The Darlington family sampler includes many of the distinguishing characteristics of this group: the feathery willow trees on hillocks, large two-handled flower pot with heart decoration, open-blossomed flowers worked in crinkled silk and listings of relatives by category. Interesting to note is the fact that the names of the deceased relatives were worked in black thread, a custom common to Chester County throughout the first quarter of the 19th century. The needlework is accomplished on almost impossibly fine linen gauze, another characteristic of this school. Additional information on this group of samplers in including in Betty Ring's Girlhood Embroidery, vol. II, figure 440.
The Darlington family lived in East Bradford Township and descended from Abraham Darlington, who was born in 1690 and came to America as a young apprentice to a saddler in the early years of the 18th century. He joined the Society of Friends and settled in Birmingham, 22 miles west of Philadelphia. A copy of the book, Darlington Family Record 1580-1900 by Gilbert Cope, is a companion to this sampler, as well as a file of further documentation, which supported the identification of the samplermaker as Jane Darlington. Recorded on the sampler are the names of the sampler maker's parents, Edward and Hannah (Townsend) Darlington, and her grandparents, Thomas and Hannah (Brinton) Darlington and John and Joanna (England) Townsend.The column listing "Sisters and Brothers Names" includes William, Thosmas, Ziba, Sarah, Samuel, and Edward. Jane Darlington was born in 1796 and died quite young in 1817; it must be assumed that she worked the sampler towards the very end of her life. Jane's brother Edward inherited this sampler and it descended through his family for many generations.Collection
ERS Sampler CollectionMade/Created
Date made
circa 1816Time Period
19th CenturyPlace
* Untyped Place
East Bradford Township, Chester County, PennsylvaniaInscription/Signature/Marks
Type
InscriptionLocation
Cartouche at top centerTranscription
let Innocence My Heart Surmount/Let Love Reside Within My Breast/Let Envy Ne'er In me Be Found/Nor Discontent My Peace MolestLanguage
EnglishMaterial/Technique
Silk embroideryType
InscriptionLocation
Cartouche in the centerTranscription
Teach Me to Feel Another Smart/Teach My Tears to Flow/Teach Me to Soother the Sorrowing Heart?And Give Relief WoeLanguage
EnglishMaterial/Technique
Silk embroideryType
InscriptionLocation
Left center below urnTranscription
Grand Parents names/Thomas & Hannah/Darlington/John and Ioanna/Townsend/Parents names/Edmund & Hanna/DarlingtonLanguage
EnglishMaterial/Technique
Silk embroideryType
InscriptionLocation
Right side beneath urnTranscription
Sister & Brothers names/William/Thomas/Ziba/Ziba/Sarah/Samuel & Edward/DarlingtonLanguage
EnglishMaterial/Technique
Silk embroideryLexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Tertiary Object Term
SamplerNomenclature Secondary Object Term
EmbroideryNomenclature Secondary Object Term
Tree, FamilyNomenclature Primary Object Term
NeedleworkNomenclature Primary Object Term
ChartNomenclature Sub-Class
Graphic DocumentsNomenclature Class
ArtNomenclature Class
Documentary ObjectsNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication ObjectsGetty AAT
Hierarchy Name
EmbroideryConcept
occasional poems, samplers (embroidery), family papers, genealogical tablesDimensions
Dimension Description
SightHeight
21-1/4 inWidth
20 inDimension Description
FrameHeight
25 inWidth
23-1/2 inParts
Count
2Parts
File of genealogical records; Darlington Family REcord 1580-1900 by Gilbert CopeMaterial
Fine linen gauze, Embroidery thread (silk)Color
Green, Yellow, CreamCondition
Overall Condition
Very Good
