Elizabeth Simpson

This handsome Quaker sampler was made by Elizabeth Simpson, a ten-year-old schoolgirl from Solebury, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. She included an excellent assortment of classic Quaker sampler motifs. Interestingly, she also featured an unusual style of lettering for her very large alphabet – these curlicue letters have their origins in Scottish samplers made in the early 18th century. We know that cultural influences cross many boundaries within the sampler world and always enjoy finding further examples of this. 

Born on December 30, 1805, Elizabeth was the eighth child of John and Elizabeth (Blackfan) Simpson, members of the Wrightstown Friends Monthly Meeting. She may have attended the Fallsington School which was associated with the nearby Falls Monthly Meeting as some very fine Quaker samplers were made at this school. 

The Quaker motifs featured by Elizabeth include some of our favorites. Notable are the white swan under a fruited bower, a geometric half-medallion which had its origins in the samplers made at the Ackworth School in Yorkshire, England, and the low, handled basket piled high with fruit, which was influenced by the sampler motifs from Westtown School of Chester County, Pennsylvania. Also included is a bird centered in a tree branch, a strawberry sprig and a pair of facing birds.

A long listing of family initials was worked by Elizabeth, representing her parents John and Elizabeth and their children: Robert, Hannah, James, Eleanor, Elizabeth, Martha, Ruth and Isaac. Their births were recorded at the Wrightstown Monthly Meeting. In 1834, Elizabeth married a well-to-do farmer, Mark Wright, a fellow Quaker and member of Falls Monthly Meeting where the births of their five children were recorded in the ten years following their marriage. Elizabeth died in 1844 at age 38. Photocopies of original Quaker Meeting records accompany this sampler, along with other family research. 

This sampler was worked in silk on linen and is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in a beveled figured cherry frame with a maple bead.