Norfolk Sampler
Artist
Eliza Jane Spratley
(American, 1819 - 1903)
CultureAmerican
Dateca. 1828
MediumCotton and silk
DimensionsOverall, Frame: 30 x 25 in. (76.2 x 63.5 cm)
InscribedThe inscription in the sky states: "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". Below the foreground of the landscape is a broad Vitruvian scroll border and below that the inscription: "Wrought by Eliza J Spratley in her 9th year AD 1828".
Credit LineGift of the Trustees of Nimmo United Methodist Church
Object number2006.7.1
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 ProvenanceEliza Jane Spratley [descended in her family to her great granddaughter] Elizabeth Spratley Nimmo Atwood; Willed to Nimmo United Methodist Church, Virginia Beach, Virginia, 2003; Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, Gift of the Trustees of Nimmo United Methodist Church, 2006. Exhibition History"The Norfolk Rooms," Willoughby-Baylor House, Norfolk, VA, opened August 16, 2014.
Pair/Pair
