Pair of Samplers by Ann Finn

How fortunate that these two samplers, the work of Ann Finn and made as a pair, have remained together! Ann arranged her motifs in a traditional balanced and symmetrical manner, but each sampler also has a playful, somewhat whimsical quality. 

The 1832 sampler features a multicolored urn of pink and red carnations, a pair of geometric stars, birds, trees, and flowers and a very striking fat brown rabbit under arching branches. On her 1833 sampler, Ann varied her motifs and included two large-beaked birds, a chicken and an owl. 

The choice and scale of the various elements as well as the exuberant color and outstanding condition serve to make this pair of samplers truly delightful. 

Worked in silk on linen, they are both in excellent condition, conservation mounted in complementing frames, one being cherry with a maple bead and the other maple with a walnut bead.

Ann Finn (1832)

Ann Finn (1833)