Catharina Schwartz

Samplers made by Pennsylvania German girls living in the southeastern part of the state are generally distinctive and therefore recognizable. One subset of this genre is a group that features characteristic Pennsylvania German sampler motifs but also includes techniques that are far more indicative of influence from outside their relatively cloistered community. Catharina Schwartz’s sampler is an excellent example of this type, as well as one that offers strong aesthetic appeal. 

The mirror-image composition of motifs with stylized flowers, including the wonderful tulips growing from dark blue urns above her name, and little hearts and stars filling space are all typically Pennsylvania German. The lavish use of queen’s-stitch used to form the outstanding upright flowering tree central to the sampler reflects the 18th century needleworking traditions from outside of their sects. Notable as well is the complex border with variations of the queen’s-stitch used to form strawberries and some of the flowers. Many Pennsylvania German samplermaker inscribed their samplers as Catharina did, with their uppercase lettering spaced out across much of the width of the sampler. 

The sampler was worked in silk on linen and is in excellent condition with some very slight darkening to the linen. It has been conservation mounted and is in a molded and black painted frame.