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Janey Whitcher, Canterbury school, New Hampshire, 1802 One of the most interesting types of sampler from New England was made in Canterbury and nearby tm ns in Merrimack ounty, New Hampshire. These samplers were %u00b7orked over a period of more than forty years eginning in 1786 and show ohesive regional characteri tics, most of the samplers -hare a highly appealing large basket of beautifully vorked flowers set on hillocks decorated with Jossoms, the scene then opulated with prominent, handsome birds. These samplers were the focus of an important exhiition at the Hood Museum, Dartmouth College, in 1990 entitled \in Silk: Samplers from the Canterbury Region of New Hampshire,\ty-three examples were exhibited. Additional research on this group was done by Betty Ring and published in Girlhood Embroidery, vol II, the section entitled, \The maker of the praiseworthy Canterbury sampler that we offer is Janey Whitcher, who inscribed her sampler, \1 02.\(Sanborn) Whitcher of Northfield, the town just north of Canterbury. History of the Town of Canterbury (Rumford Press, 1912) published much information about the Whitcher family, specifically in regard to Janey's first cousin, Benjamin Whitcher. In 1782 Benjamin and his family joined Mother Ann Lee and the Shakers, donating one hundred acres of land which became the communal home of the Canterbury Shakers. Canterbury samplers that are similar to this by Janey Whitcher are in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the New Hampshire History Society. Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted in its original mahogany frame. Sampler size: 17W' x 12\Price: $26,000. AMERicA's LEADING sAMPLER AND NEEDLEwoRK DEALER M. Finkel e:J Daughter. 11