Object Details

Susan Smith, 1794

Sampler Archive ID: SA000225
Maker: Susanna Smith
Maker Birthplace: Rhode Island
Maker Age: years
Place Made: Providence, Providence County, RI
School/Teacher:Mary Balch's School
Year Made: 1793-1794
Decade Made: 1790-1799
Owner: Winterthur Museum
Accession Number: 1958.2879
Object Credit: Bequest of Henry Frances du Pont
Contributor: Winterthur Museum


Physical Characteristics

Object type: Sampler
Needlework techniques: Embroidery
Shape: Mostly square
Object Dimensions: 16.70 H x 16.70 W (inches)
Framed Dimensions: H x W (inches)
Borders: None
Decorative Bands: None
Dividing Lines: None
Enclosures:
Cartouches: No
Text types: Personal name, Date, Verse, Maker signature, Motto or aphorism
Text medium: Stitched
Let Virtue be A Guide to thee
Oct r 29. 1793.
      S   S         
Susan Smith 
Was born May 28 1783 and 
Wrought this May 9 1794
In thy fair Book of life divine My God inscribe this Name
There let it fill some humble Place
Beneath the slaughtered Lam[b]
Motifs/Symbols: Animals, Architectural, Birds and insects, Floral and plant, Human made object
Scenes/Pictures: None
Ground: Linen
Ground Condition: Wear:
Cleanliness: Clean
Loss: none noted
Thread: Silk
Thread Colors Front: Blue, Brown, Gold, Green, Red, Tan, White
Thread Condition: Borders: Slight loss
Text: Intact
Symbols: Intact
Other Materials: None
Stitch Types: Straight, wrapped spider web stitch in basket lower left
Thread Count: Vertical:
Horizontal:

Maker History

Sources for the following information may be viewed by clicking on the links."

Sources for unlinked items are coming soon.
Birth Name:
Rhode Island, Births and Christenings, 1600-1914
Birthdate:
Rhode Island, Births and Christenings, 1600-1914 Rhode Island, Births and Christenings, 1600-1914,tombstone
Birth Location:
City: unknown
County: unknown
State Rhode Island, Births and Christenings, 1600-1914
Death Date:
tombstone
Death Location:
cemetery records
Religion:
Journal of Proceedings of the ... Annual Session of the Rhode Island Episcopal Convention, Volume 106 [she left property to the church in her will]
Parents:
Rhode Island, Births and Christenings, 1600-1914
tombstone
tombstone
Rhode Island, Births and Christenings, 1600-1914
tombstone
tombstone
Marriages:
Spouse:
Rhode Island, Marriages, 1724-1916
Birth:
tombstone
Death:
tombstone
Date:
Rhode Island, Marriages, 1724-1916
Place:
Rhode Island, Marriages, 1724-1916
Children:

Object History

Previous Owners:

Name: Henry Francis du Pont
Relation to maker: none

Conservation:
Exhibitions: Title: Let Virtue be a Guide to Thee: Needlework in the Education of Rhode Island Women, 1730-1830
Host: Rhode Island Historical Society
Location: Providence, RI
Date: Nov. 1983

Literature:

Author(s): Susan Burrows Swan
Title: Plain and Fancy: American Women and Their Needlework 1650-1850
Publication/Publisher: Curious Works Press
Date: 1995

Author(s): Betty Ring
Title: Girlhood Embroidery: American Samplers & Pictorial Needlework 1650-1850
Publication/Publisher: A. A. Knopf
Date: 1993

Author(s): Betty Ring
Title: Let Virtue be a Guide to Thee: Needlework in the Education of Rhode Island Women, 1730-1820
Publication/Publisher: Rhode Island Historical Society
Date: 1983

Author(s): Susan Burrows Swan
Title: Plain & Fancy: American Women and Their Needlework 1700-1850
Publication/Publisher: Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Date: 1977

Author(s): Susan Burrows Swan
Title: A Winterthur Guide to American Needlework
Publication/Publisher: New York: Crown Publishers
Date: 1976

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