Kitty Kay Pennington

A very small and unusual sampler, this was made by Kitty Kay Pennington, age 11 in 1784. The characteristics of the sampler have a decidedly American feel. The wonderfully appealing organic nature of the scene in the lower register resembles those found on American needlework, however all research points to a specific English samplermaker. Perhaps Kitty visited the United States and made this sampler while there? 

The lower register depicts a couple sitting under a tree enjoying the bucolic landscape. Little black birds with clouds interspersed fly over a structure with a banner flying from its dome top roof. The carefully worked chain-stitched border grows from the hilly landscape and frames the composition well. A fine, narrow inner border of eyelet stitches surrounds the verse and inscription. The verse is unusual; it was written by Issac Watt and published in Reliquiae Juveniles: Miscellaneous Thoughts in Prose and Verse on Natural, Moral and Divine Subject; Written Chiefly in Younger Years (London, 1742). When published, this was suggested as an inscription for a sundial but is fitting advice in the overall. 

Kitty Kay Pennington was baptized on April 13, 1772, in Harworth, Nottinghamshire, located about 18 miles east of Sheffield. Her given name was Catherine Kay, but many records show her specifically as Kitty Kay. She was the daughter of William and Susanna (Kay) Pennington, who were married there in 1771. 

In 1799, Kitty married Benjamin Straw of Yorkshire. They had a son, James Kay Straw, who was born in 1801. She died in 1805. 

The sampler was worked in silk on linen and is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in its excellent, original carved and painted frame.