Photograph by Ed Pollard, Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II digital slr-2008.

Images(2)

Photograph by Ed Pollard, Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II digital slr-2006.

Norfolk Sampler

Artist Eliza Jane Spratley (American, 1819 - 1903)

Dateca. 1828

MediumCotton and silk

DimensionsOverall, Frame: 30 x 25 in. (76.2 x 63.5 cm)

ClassificationsDecorative arts

Credit LineGift of the Trustees of Nimmo United Methodist Church

Object number2006.7.1

Terms

Needlework
Sampler
Landscape
Norfolk
White
Yellow
Tan
Red
Black
Brown
Green
Norfolk, VA

On View

Not on view

DescriptionThe sampler, which is worked in a variety of colors on a plain cloth ground, features a landscape. The foreground has shrubbery and a fence with a large tree at the left and a story-and-half gable-roofed building at the right. The middle ground features a body of water with a small rowboat. In the distance at center is a long two-story building with a one-story wing to the viewer's left. To the right of this building is a small two-story building and shed; above these is a cluster of buildings that includes a tower with two windows that rather looks like the tower of the ruined church at Jamestown. A fretwork border consisting of a repeating "7" in red surrounds the landscape and outer edge of the lower inscription; then there is a broad Empire-style flower and leaf border, and finally a scroll border with red highlights.
Frame: Both works were framed en suite in the mid-nineteenth century; the frames have leaves and a shell at their corners and have a pebbly texture, with a narrow lamb's tongue border along the inner edge of the frame.

Label TextEliza Jane Spratley American, 1819–1903 Sampler, 1828 Cotton and silk Samplers were important educational tools for young girls during the late 1700s and early 1800s. In creating this sampler, nine-year-old Eliza Jane Spratley of Norfolk learned to sew and to embroider, both important household skills. The exercise also supplemented her lessons in reading and writing. Eliza’s sampler features an unusually detailed landscape and a moral message: The daughter who loves her home will take a loving interest in all of its concerns and be solicitous to promote the happiness of the little circle of which she is a part. Gift of the Trustees of Nimmo United Methodist Church 2006.7.1