Embroidered sampler

Embroidered sampler by Harriet F. Burr

Medium

Silk on linen, embroidered

Dimensions

15 5/8 x 16 in. (39.7 x 40.6 cm)

Classification

Sampler

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Museum

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Credit

Bequest of Mabel Herbert Harper, 1957

Accession Number

57.122.551

Art Historical Context

Created around 1805 by Harriet F. Burr, embroidered sampler exemplifies the needlework traditions of early American girls, who crafted these pieces as both educational exercises and showcases of skill. Measuring 15⅝ × 16 inches, it features silk threads worked onto a linen ground, a common medium that allowed for vibrant colors and fine detail. Likely made by a young Harriet in her teens, the sampler would have included alphabets, numbers, moral verses, and decorative motifshallmarks of the form that prepared girls for homemaking in a young republic. Samplers like this one were more than craf...

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