Sampler

Object/Artifact

Saco Museum

Name/Title

Sampler

Entry/Object ID

2011.3.1

Description

Marking sampler worked by Eunice Cutts in 1792. Unbleached linen worked in silk thread in cross, Algerian eye, satin, stem, running, rococco, and chain stitches. The sampler is enclosed in a saw-toothed border worked in satin stitch. Two upper case alphabets, one lower case alphabet, and one set of numbers. Below the upper case alphabets is the inscription: Eunice Cutts born Mayth30, 1782 Followed by the verse: Goodness and mercy ever follow those Who share their conduct by Gods holy laws (last word squeezed in above "holy") Below the inscription and verse is a vine with stylized strawberries. At the bottom is a green three-hilled ground worked with three strawberry plants.

Made/Created

Artist Information

Artist

Cutts, Eunice

Role

Needleworker

Date made

1792

Dimensions

Height

16-3/4 in

Width

11 in

Material

silk thread on linen

Interpretative Labels

Label Type

Cultural/Historical Context

Label

Eunice Cutts was born May 30, 1782, the youngest of the seven children of Colonel Thomas and Elizabeth Scamman Cutts. Eunice and at least two of her older sisters attended the female academy of Eleanor Druitt in Boston. Since Eunice was only ten when she made her sampler, it may have been completed in Saco before she attended Druitt’s academy. Cutts married Samuel Nye of Boston in 1803. Between 1806 and 1824, she gave birth to nine children and died in Saco on October 26, 1853, having outlived her husband, all of her siblings, and four of her children.

Label Type

Object Label

Label

Eunice Cutts (1782–1853) Marking sampler, 1792 Worked at an unknown academy Silk thread on linen Cross, Algerian eye, satin, stem, running, rococo, and chain stitches Collection of the Dyer Library and Saco Museum