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Lot Essay
Exquisitely crafted and rich in meaning, this needlework pictorial is a poignant testimonial to the forces, both large and small, that shaped a young girl's life during the early republic. Its composition and decorative devices establish the work as a masterful survival made in the celebrated school of Providence, Rhode Island seamstress, Mary Balch (1762-1831), yet the prominent imagery of a ship is unique and distinguishes this example from others from the same school. Along with evidence from contemporary family letters, this needlework can be seen as an emblem of love between a father and daughter and with its maritime reference, a celebration of economic, political or military success. Above all, this piece attests to the pride its maker, eight-year old Nancy Winsor (1778-1850), took in her talents, her family and her larger world.
According to needlework historians, the samplers made by students at Mary Balch's school are the most renowned American group with an identified instructress and this "Ship Nancy" example by Nancy Winsor is "perhaps the most beautiful of all the Balch school pieces" (Betty Ring, Girlhood Embroidery: American Samplers & Pictorial Needlework, 1650-1850, vol. 1 (New York, 1993), p. 179; Glee Krueger, New England Samplers to 1840 (Sturbridge, Massachusetts, 1978), p. 27). Raised in Newport, Mary, also known as Polly, Balch moved to Providence with her family in 1776. Her father died soon after and as indicated by the earliest Balch-school needleworks, Mary had begun teaching alongside her mother by 1785. Her school was a great success and continued to run for over forty-five years, leaving behind a legacy of extraordinary needleworks. Among the distinctive motifs seen in eighteenth-century Balch-school needleworks is the central columned arch delineated in blue and white threads. It appears on the earliest known example from the school, dated March 1785 and remained popular through the 1790s. Also indicative of Mary Balch's tutelage and seen here are the similar depictions of figures of single women, a courting couple and a seated shepherdess.
While Nancy was attending school in Providence, her father, Olney Winsor (1753-1837) was pursuing his mercantile career in Alexandria, Virginia and as his letters to his wife indicate, Nancy's education was foremost on his mind. Nancy was the sole surviving child of Olney and his first wife, Freelove Waterman (1755-1783), who died when Nancy was only five years old. Olney married secondly Hope Thurber and it is in his letters to her that he reveals his direct involvement in Nancy's schooling and a deep concern for his daughter's well-being. Just twelve days after Nancy completed the work offered here, Olney Winsor writes, "Give my respects to Mrs. Balch and Miss Polly to whom I think myself under obligations for attention paid to Nancy's education." Furthermore, he makes several references to his direct correspondence with Mary Balch, noting that he was unable to find an image of a suitable building for a sampler Nancy was working on after she completed the needlework offered here. He further notes, "I hope Nancy is not kept so close to working on her sampler as to injure her eyes, or her health by steady setting - you justly observe that is a great peice [piece] of work for such a child - therefore great care should be taken to give her proper times of relaxation." He also encourages other aspects of her instruction and, at Mary Balch's request, sends her a book on female education "to encourage her to persevere in her reading" and the high importance he places on instilling "early principles of virtue of religion into the female mind (Betty Ring, Let Virtue Be a Guide to Thee: Needlework in the Education of Rhode Island Women, 1730-1830 (Boston, Massachusetts, 1983), p. 99; Letters, Olney Winsor to Hope (Thurber) Winsor, 22 February 1787, 24 March and 4 April 1788, Olney Winsor Letters, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia).
In addition to being a successful merchant, Olney Winsor was a fervent patriot and the central motif of this needlework, the "Ship Nancy," may refer to either the mercantile successes or military victories of the new nation. While in Virginia, Olney was invited to dine with George and Martha Washington at Mount Vernon and his description of the evening provides one of the most vivid portrayals of the future first President and first Lady. He writes to his wife, "the general converses with great deliberation, and with ease, except in pronouncing some few words, in which he has a hesitancy of speech - he was dressed in a plain drab coat, red jacket, buff breaches of white hose. - Mrs. Washington is an elegant figure for a person of her years, perhaps 45 - she is rather fleshy, of good complexion and has a large portly double chin, and an open and engaging countenance, oh which a pleasing smile sits during conversation, in which she bears an agreeable part." Much of the dinner conversation that night focused on efforts to ratify the Constitution and Washington was keen to hear Olney Winsor's view of the position of Rhode Island. In his recounting of the evening to his wife, Olney expresses his outrage at those who criticized the General, stating "how preposterous a part do those now art, who charged him with being a conspirator against the liberties of that very country which he so lately saved from the all grasping hand of a haughty tyrant - to start the idea is ungratefull, - to divulge it, is black infernal ingratitude!...all agree that he was the savior of America" (Letter, Olney Winsor to Hope (Thurber) Winsor, 31 March 1788, Olney Winsor Letters, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia). It is very likely that Olney Winsor's daughter shared her father's hopes for the future of the country. In addition to bearing Nancy's own name, the needlework's ship may be a reference to commerce or a past victory during the American Revolution, both of which were essential for the success of the new republic. There were several American naval triumphs during the War involving a ship Nancy. These included the capture of the British ship Nancy by the American sloop Providence in 1778, an event that also refers to Nancy's hometown and year of birth (Edgar Stanton Maclay, A History of American Privateers (London, 1900), p. 119).
Nancy Winsor never married and in her will, she bequeathed a "sampler" to Rebecca C. Humphreys, possibly the needlework picture offered here. Rebecca was almost certainly the woman born Rebecca Covell Martin (c.1806-after 1882), the daughter of William Brown Martin (1777-1833) and Sally Thurber (1775-1809), who in 1830 married James Humphreys (1804-1873), later treasurer of Providence's Eagle Screw Company. Rebecca's maternal grandparents, Prudence (Waterman) Thurber (1749-1781) and Martin Thurber (1753-1783) were sister and brother to Nancy's mother and step-mother respectively, making Rebecca and Nancy first cousins once removed. In addition to these family ties, Rebecca and Nancy both lived on Angell Street and may have been neighbors in the 1830s and 1840s. In 1864, James and Rebecca Humphreys moved into their newly constructed Italianate mansion at 147 Benefit Street, where Rebecca lived after her husband's death with her unmarried daughter Sarah L. Humphreys (1832-1897). Both mother and daughter are listed as owners of the property in 1882, and it is likely that the same sampler was inherited by Sarah. See Ring 1983, p. 148; Howard Redwood Guild, Ancestry of Calvin Guild, Margaret Taft, James Humphreys and Rebecca Covell Martin (The Salem Press, 1891), p. 16; Providence Preservation Society, "James Humphreys House," Gowdey Files Database, available at https://gowdey.ppsri.org/; US Federal Census records, 1850, 1860 and 1880; Ring, p. 148).
According to needlework historians, the samplers made by students at Mary Balch's school are the most renowned American group with an identified instructress and this "Ship Nancy" example by Nancy Winsor is "perhaps the most beautiful of all the Balch school pieces" (Betty Ring, Girlhood Embroidery: American Samplers & Pictorial Needlework, 1650-1850, vol. 1 (New York, 1993), p. 179; Glee Krueger, New England Samplers to 1840 (Sturbridge, Massachusetts, 1978), p. 27). Raised in Newport, Mary, also known as Polly, Balch moved to Providence with her family in 1776. Her father died soon after and as indicated by the earliest Balch-school needleworks, Mary had begun teaching alongside her mother by 1785. Her school was a great success and continued to run for over forty-five years, leaving behind a legacy of extraordinary needleworks. Among the distinctive motifs seen in eighteenth-century Balch-school needleworks is the central columned arch delineated in blue and white threads. It appears on the earliest known example from the school, dated March 1785 and remained popular through the 1790s. Also indicative of Mary Balch's tutelage and seen here are the similar depictions of figures of single women, a courting couple and a seated shepherdess.
While Nancy was attending school in Providence, her father, Olney Winsor (1753-1837) was pursuing his mercantile career in Alexandria, Virginia and as his letters to his wife indicate, Nancy's education was foremost on his mind. Nancy was the sole surviving child of Olney and his first wife, Freelove Waterman (1755-1783), who died when Nancy was only five years old. Olney married secondly Hope Thurber and it is in his letters to her that he reveals his direct involvement in Nancy's schooling and a deep concern for his daughter's well-being. Just twelve days after Nancy completed the work offered here, Olney Winsor writes, "Give my respects to Mrs. Balch and Miss Polly to whom I think myself under obligations for attention paid to Nancy's education." Furthermore, he makes several references to his direct correspondence with Mary Balch, noting that he was unable to find an image of a suitable building for a sampler Nancy was working on after she completed the needlework offered here. He further notes, "I hope Nancy is not kept so close to working on her sampler as to injure her eyes, or her health by steady setting - you justly observe that is a great peice [piece] of work for such a child - therefore great care should be taken to give her proper times of relaxation." He also encourages other aspects of her instruction and, at Mary Balch's request, sends her a book on female education "to encourage her to persevere in her reading" and the high importance he places on instilling "early principles of virtue of religion into the female mind (Betty Ring, Let Virtue Be a Guide to Thee: Needlework in the Education of Rhode Island Women, 1730-1830 (Boston, Massachusetts, 1983), p. 99; Letters, Olney Winsor to Hope (Thurber) Winsor, 22 February 1787, 24 March and 4 April 1788, Olney Winsor Letters, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia).
In addition to being a successful merchant, Olney Winsor was a fervent patriot and the central motif of this needlework, the "Ship Nancy," may refer to either the mercantile successes or military victories of the new nation. While in Virginia, Olney was invited to dine with George and Martha Washington at Mount Vernon and his description of the evening provides one of the most vivid portrayals of the future first President and first Lady. He writes to his wife, "the general converses with great deliberation, and with ease, except in pronouncing some few words, in which he has a hesitancy of speech - he was dressed in a plain drab coat, red jacket, buff breaches of white hose. - Mrs. Washington is an elegant figure for a person of her years, perhaps 45 - she is rather fleshy, of good complexion and has a large portly double chin, and an open and engaging countenance, oh which a pleasing smile sits during conversation, in which she bears an agreeable part." Much of the dinner conversation that night focused on efforts to ratify the Constitution and Washington was keen to hear Olney Winsor's view of the position of Rhode Island. In his recounting of the evening to his wife, Olney expresses his outrage at those who criticized the General, stating "how preposterous a part do those now art, who charged him with being a conspirator against the liberties of that very country which he so lately saved from the all grasping hand of a haughty tyrant - to start the idea is ungratefull, - to divulge it, is black infernal ingratitude!...all agree that he was the savior of America" (Letter, Olney Winsor to Hope (Thurber) Winsor, 31 March 1788, Olney Winsor Letters, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia). It is very likely that Olney Winsor's daughter shared her father's hopes for the future of the country. In addition to bearing Nancy's own name, the needlework's ship may be a reference to commerce or a past victory during the American Revolution, both of which were essential for the success of the new republic. There were several American naval triumphs during the War involving a ship Nancy. These included the capture of the British ship Nancy by the American sloop Providence in 1778, an event that also refers to Nancy's hometown and year of birth (Edgar Stanton Maclay, A History of American Privateers (London, 1900), p. 119).
Nancy Winsor never married and in her will, she bequeathed a "sampler" to Rebecca C. Humphreys, possibly the needlework picture offered here. Rebecca was almost certainly the woman born Rebecca Covell Martin (c.1806-after 1882), the daughter of William Brown Martin (1777-1833) and Sally Thurber (1775-1809), who in 1830 married James Humphreys (1804-1873), later treasurer of Providence's Eagle Screw Company. Rebecca's maternal grandparents, Prudence (Waterman) Thurber (1749-1781) and Martin Thurber (1753-1783) were sister and brother to Nancy's mother and step-mother respectively, making Rebecca and Nancy first cousins once removed. In addition to these family ties, Rebecca and Nancy both lived on Angell Street and may have been neighbors in the 1830s and 1840s. In 1864, James and Rebecca Humphreys moved into their newly constructed Italianate mansion at 147 Benefit Street, where Rebecca lived after her husband's death with her unmarried daughter Sarah L. Humphreys (1832-1897). Both mother and daughter are listed as owners of the property in 1882, and it is likely that the same sampler was inherited by Sarah. See Ring 1983, p. 148; Howard Redwood Guild, Ancestry of Calvin Guild, Margaret Taft, James Humphreys and Rebecca Covell Martin (The Salem Press, 1891), p. 16; Providence Preservation Society, "James Humphreys House," Gowdey Files Database, available at https://gowdey.ppsri.org/; US Federal Census records, 1850, 1860 and 1880; Ring, p. 148).