Page 19 - Demo

15Sarah Matthews, Strait School, England, 1803The stylized composition and mirror-image symmetry of English samplers hold great appeal and this praiseworthy sampler excels in both attributes. Additionally, this samplermaker, Sarah Matthews, presented an extraordinary and highly unusual geometric framework and a great assortment of little animals and other pictorial motifs. She signed it and stitched her birth date, as well as the name of her school, which appears just above the narrow border at the bottom.Quite notably, an almost identical sampler is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Their sampler, which was made in 1800 by Fanny Fletcher Dean, shares all of its salient features, including of course, the geometric composition with our Matthews' sampler; Fanny named the Strait School, as well. This sampler can be viewed on the museum%u2019s website as part of their Educator%u2019s Online Gallery. Fanny Fletcher Dean was from Birmingham and this was likely also the residence of Sarah Matthews. While the MFA%u2019s collection includes samplers from many countries, its collection of American samplers and needlework is highly celebrated and has been the subject of three important, recent exhibitions that have contributed greatly to the scholarship in the world of needlework. We would be remiss not to mention and recommend the newly published Women%u2019s Work: Embroidery in Colonial Boston by curator Pamela A. Parmal (MFA Publications, 2012), a fascinating and excellent book.Sarah Matthew%u2019s sampler was worked in silk on wool and is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted into its fine original gold leaf frame.Sampler size: 15%u201d x 12%u00bc%u201d Frame size: 18%u00be%u201d x 15%u201d Price: $4200.