Description:
Stitched sampler featuring three rows of alphabets above rows of oversized flower baskets and buildings, surrounded by a border of stylized strawberry vines. Inscription reads: “Wrought by Sophia Stephens Springfield, Age 11 Years, 1831” The condition of the sampler is good with some fading of the silk threads and an overall browning of the ground fabric.
Label Text:
Sophia Stephens of Springfield stitched this sampler in 1831. Sophia was the daughter of Josiah Stephens (1784-1871) and Mary Chapin (1778-1866) and later married Warren P. Cowles in 1846. Information attached to the sampler indicates it came out of the Asa Colton House in Longmeadow; however, no connection can be made between Sophia Stephens Cowles and the Asa Colton House at this time.
Sophia’s sampler features an unusual composition. Three small rows of alphabets are confined to the top third of the sampler with the rest of the sampler filled with oversized baskets and buildings. The central building is distinguished by a tall steeple and is probably the Old First Church (Congregational) in Court Square, Springfield, a structure that is still standing today. An early sketch of Court Square done by Samuel Bowles in 1826 depicts the church and several double-chimney buildings that look like those flanking the church in Sophia’s sampler. A later drawing of Court Square done by J.W. Barber in 1840 includes the First Church but is missing the double-chimney buildings which are replaced by newer structures. One thought is that the building to the right of First Church in Sophia’s sampler is the old Court House. A photograph in the Springfield Museum collection depicts the building around 1870 when it had been repurposed into a barn and clad in wood siding yet still retaining the windows and roof.
Historic Deerfield has two other samplers in the collection that feature Springfield structures, one worked in 1830 by Sophia Bodurtha (96.050) and an earlier one made in 1823 by Hannah M. Smith (2005.8). The compositions of these two samplers are quite different. Not only is the scale of the buildings smaller, but the structures are not identifiable.
Subjects:
Textile fabrics; Linen; Silk Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2025.3 |
