Phoebe Cooper,

This praiseworthy and very refined sampler offers a highly appealing, balanced composition with a strong Quaker influence and almost impossibly fine stitching. That the maker, Phoebe Cooper, was only 8 years old, when she made it is remarkable. The various motifs - sprays of flowers, floral arrangements on two-handled urns, some with miniature birds, garlands, and grape leaves – serve as embellishments for the classic sampler verse, a moral entreaty. A delicately stitched borderer provides the perfect visual framework for the sampler. 

We don’t know what school Phoebe attended but the initials of her teacher were likely HEP, which appear inside a wreath. Her own initials are inside the centered medallion. 

The sampler was worked in silk on wool and is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in its original rosewood veneer frame.

photo of reverse