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Lot Essay
Beautifully rendered on a black ground, this multi-tiered sampler is embellished by a basket of flowers within a pastoral landscape. As noted by Marguerite Riordan, this sampler relates to Norwich, Connecticut area examples from the late eighteenth century, including two with solid black grounds as seen on the work offered here (Marguerite Riordan, bill of sale, 1988; Betty Ring, American Needlework Treasures: Samplers and Silk Embroideries from the Collection of Betty Ring (New York, 1987), figs. 33-34, p. 22).
As proposed by Betty Ring, this needlework sampler was probably worked by Mary Ayres (Ayers, Ayer) (1774-1825) of Norwich, Connecticut. Mary, daughter of Joseph Ayer (1733-1793) and his second wife, Mary Bailey (1738-1814), was the fourth of their six children. If she was the seamstress, this sampler would have been made in about 1788 when she was fourteen, the age recorded along the bottom edge. Mary died unmarried in 1825 and is buried in Franklin, Connecticut (Betty Ring, Girlhood Embroidery: American Samplers & Pictorial Needlework, 1650-1850, vol. I (New York, 1993), p. 200; additional information provided by Carol and Stephen Huber).
As proposed by Betty Ring, this needlework sampler was probably worked by Mary Ayres (Ayers, Ayer) (1774-1825) of Norwich, Connecticut. Mary, daughter of Joseph Ayer (1733-1793) and his second wife, Mary Bailey (1738-1814), was the fourth of their six children. If she was the seamstress, this sampler would have been made in about 1788 when she was fourteen, the age recorded along the bottom edge. Mary died unmarried in 1825 and is buried in Franklin, Connecticut (Betty Ring, Girlhood Embroidery: American Samplers & Pictorial Needlework, 1650-1850, vol. I (New York, 1993), p. 200; additional information provided by Carol and Stephen Huber).