Forgive the picture quality on this sampler, but those who were looking yesterday for the inspiration in Sarah Bartlett for the lovely vase of flowers may have been confused! So today I thought I would show where those came from. Other than the 15 horizontal very fancy embroidered samplers of that type with the oval and heavy embroidery, there is a large grouping of related pieces from Newburyport as well. These I like to call the Vertical Shady Bower format. They share the same motifs and trees but often contain a vase of flowers, which I interpreted on my Shady Bower set of accessories made to go with the original May Your Hands set.
What I didn't know at the time was that there was more than a bit of correlation between these two sampler types. I don't want to spoil the story, but if you add yourself to the online course, you will find out that one lady drew all of them for many teachers and her story. I am still researching this story and trying to identify which of the teachers I have found taught which variation by tracing the girls footprints through Newburyport. I have been lucky to identify over 200 samplers from this town over a 150 year period and a great story is emerging.
This sampler by Sarah Smith is the latest discovery and was sent to me by a friend who saw it at an antique show. The very, very poor condition of the center made it valued very low in the sampler trade and so it just had to hang on my wall - can't thank the friend enough for alerting me immediately so I could claim the piece. It might not be valued highly, but to me it is priceless to examine and think about every time I pass it. Surprising what you notice when you stare at something over and over. The piece is in tatters in several places, but I don't care!
What do you think? I haven't used that cow or sheep motif yet on the May Your Hands series. Do I hear Needlework Nibble?
Even though I took the May Your Hands set awhile ago, I do love critters, especially sheep! I'd love to have a Nibble to go with the set.
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