Sophia Mosley, 1795
Name/Title
Sophia Mosley, 1795Entry/Object ID
2000.3.1Tags
Alphabet Sampler, Canvas work, Embroidery, Counted-thread embroidery, SamplerDescription
The sampler with a dark blue border with green floral vines enclosing a further serrated border with seven horizontal registers including two alphabets, a set of numbers, trees, and the inscription: "this needlework of mine can/Tell I in my youth was learned we/ll and by my elders also taught/not to spend for naught"; stained wood frame, glassContext
Sophia's sampler is part of a group of samplers from the western Massachusetts town of Westfield, worked between 1788 and 1796. Betty Ring discusses this group in Girlhood Embroidery, Vol I. According to Mrs. Ring, these "samplers are usually small and vertical. They were entirely worked over the linen ground by girls between the ages of seven and eleven years. At present they date from 1788 through 1796...three of the Westfield samplermakers had a parent named Mosely, and one married a Mosley." Sophie worked her sampler at age 10 in 1795. Her sampler contains all of the important characteristics of this group. It is fully worked (with the exception of a small portion of the background at hte lower right which remains unfinished) and possesses a dark outer border of four-petalled flowers that surrounds it on three sides, peaking at the top center with a delightful little bunch of grapes on a vine. A sawtooth inner-border, a pot of flowers and a pair of fruit trees add further to the composition. The verse chose by the Sophia addresses the importance of filial duty and of industry, two popular themes of the period. Sophia was born in Westfield on May 24, 1785, the daughter of William and Lydia Mosley, and married Abner Stevens of Westfield in 1808.Collection
ERS Sampler CollectionCategory
Sampler