Description:
Framed needlework sampler wrought by Susan A. Stebbins (1771-1782) of Northfield, Massachusetts. Stebbins was the daughter of Elisha (b. 1742 or 1743) and Martha Wright Stebbins, who married on October 29, 1767. The couple had seven children; they lost Susan in her 11th year, on October 9, 1782, less than four months after she recorded the completion of her sampler. The couple then named their last child, a daughter who was born in 1791, Susan. Susan's sampler is important for several reasons. It contains many embroidered motifs that would appear on later, more well-known examples in the so-called White Dove style, 1791-1832 (although there are no white birds outlined in black on this example). This includes the basket of fruit or flowers, small dog or domesticated animal worked in black, and a zig-zag border with strawberry-like fruit. The work also contains some unusual motifs, including an elephant and a lion or baboon, and a vase of flowers, next to the more common basket of fruit or flowers. The inclusion of a house is also rare. Based on its similarities with other, later samplers wrought by girls in the Franklin County area, it appears Susan worked her piece at a nearby school, perhaps one that launched some of the familiar White Dove motifs.
Label Text:
The eighteenth-century's Enlightenment movement influenced all areas of education, including ornamental accomplishments. The quest for exploration and discovery using rational and empirical evidence created educational publications and inspirational prints. In addition to the familiar motifs seen on this sampler from other examples of the region, Stebbins probably used one or more of these print sources to embroider a lion or baboon, and an elephant.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2012.25 |
